5 mins
A spirit of generosity
STEWARDSHIP emerges from the Garden of Eden, an oasis of abundance on the newly created earth.
Before the General Assembly ever gave an instruction to engage with stewardship the Creator gave the command to: “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” This was the command to all humanity, to be good stewards over all that we have been given.
This was reflected in the General Assembly review of Stewardship in 2018 when it affirmed that: “Christian Stewardship focuses on the gifts of God towards humanity and the ways in which we use those gifts. Its fundamental concern is with God’s love and commitment to the world and its people and our response to that love. While many immediately think of stewardship in relation to our handling of money, it is more holistic. It is about all of God’s gifts to us and therefore about the way we respond with our whole lives. Ultimately, stewardship is about being the people that God wants us to be and about allowing God to live and work in our lives.”
The report concluded: “The Church of Scotland should continue to promote good stewardship as a matter of priority for individuals and congregations. This is both theologically important and practically necessary…”
My own role emerged from that report and stated that: “The National Stewardship Co-ordinator will have a thorough theological understanding of the importance of stewardship. This will include the ability to develop future resources for stewardship education in a digital age.”
There was a need to create a strategic overview to ensure our strategy is sustainable and flexible enough to respond to an ever-changing Church.
During 2019 we embarked on a process to build and resource a stewardship team that is able to respond to the differing and varied stewardship needs of every Church of Scotland congregation, as well as creating a resource that can be tailored to each congregation.
We have explored a method that would allow us to resource congregations with the stewardship tools needed to create a framework for the future model of Church in light of an ever-changing context.
One of the most urgent remits to fulfil on taking up the post was: “to prepare, commission and develop material, in both print and digital form for the teaching and promotion of Christian Stewardship and generosity throughout the Church.”
A new resource – the Narrative of Generosity – was written in response to this remit. In producing new material, we wanted to expand its reach in line with the broader theological understanding of Stewardship. We now have 12 stories that enable congregations to Follow Jesus into Stewardship in a way suited to the context. This holistic approach retains the wellknown time, talents and money, but expands into how we steward the earth, our bodies and our minds, our volunteers, our possessions, our vision, our relationship with God and with other people and how we steward and enable our young people. We were aware that no two congregations are the same, and that each one faces a particular set of challenges and opportunities. This led to creating something that can be adapted for each congregation. The narrative is, therefore, a modular based resource that teaches and reflects the great biblical theme of stewardship. Using stories to motivate and enthuse, it can be tailored to suit all expressions of local church.
One of the more common concerns expressed by congregations is future financial sustainability.
Whilst the Narrative of Generosity opened stewardship into twelve distinct, though not exclusive stories, the Money Story, is being expanded and developed to explore all streams of income. Whilst the money story deals directly with finance, other stories also have a financial impact.
Many congregations are keen to engage with some form of digital giving, yet it has taken some time to assess the technology we need due to constantly changing technology. We have currently identified three main uses for digital payment systems. First is the receipt of donations to large ‘visitor’ churches, second is the regular giving by contactless via the pew. Thirdly there is the ‘event and one off’ uses. This would be events like weddings, baptisms, concerts, sale days and other such irregular gatherings. This is a potential growth area which connects well with congregations being more outward facing and using premises for maximum potential.
We have spent the last year working with suppliers like Goodbox and Data Developments to find the best fit for our congregations.
These systems are founded on the insight that a cashless society is having a negative impact on the charity sector. These suppliers have dedicated themselves to solving this problem. From research and product development, to testing contactless prototypes in live fundraising environments, they have left no stone unturned in the pursuit of technological excellence for charities.
In Scotland we face the fact that some rural churches experience little to no mobile or WiFi connectivity, at Goodbox for example, they have built in offline capability that is especially useful. These donation terminals are also able to process payments which can be particularly useful when having onsite sales.
The coming year will see a strong push to introduce digital technology to all congregations that have a need to engage with a cashless society.
Another financial aspect under consideration is the need to look at new streams of income, and this was affirmed by Dr Sam Wells during the Chalmers Lectures where he promoted the need to think beyond the traditional donor method of church finance.
Whilst there will always be a need to retain our missional focus, the need to be more business minded does not, in our mind, conflict with that focus. We are working hard in this area to support congregations identify these new streams of income.
The coming year will see a strong push to introduce digital technology to all congregations that have a need to engage with a cashless society.
In line with the National Stewardship Team Values we seek to promote and facilitate a spirit of generosity throughout the Church as a reflection of God’s abundant nature. We would encourage congregations to explore our resource via the national website at https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/ resources/stewardship or to contact us directly via email at
stewardship@churchofscotland.org.uk
This article appears in the February 2020 Issue of Life and Work
If you would like to view other issues of Life and Work, you can see the full archive
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