Annual
Giving ...
-
is
the regular practice of returning to God
a portion of all that God has given us. It involves teaching ourselves how to create
a life built upon the notion that all that
we have is a gift from God.
-
is
the portion of what God has given us as
annual income that we give to God each year
through our congregation. In addition
to sustaining and expanding the Mission
and Ministry of the Church where we worship,
are formed and cared for, a portion of this
giving goes to fund the Mission and Ministry
of the Diocese.
- is
Ordinary Stewardship
How
do you raise money for your church's operating
fund?
The
question needs to be asked and answered. Every parish/mission exists for one purpose
- one purpose only - to proclaim Jesus Christ,
crucified and resurrected, until he comes again.
The
parish is one part of the living Body of Christ
and proclaims Christ by continuing in the apostles'
teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of
bread, and in the prayers.
The
teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and
the prayers take place when the parish gathers
to receive and respond to God in Christ.
When gathered, parishioners enter life in Christ
that is not of this world, for Easter takes
us to a new place - eternal life. But
the parish is called to make Jesus Christ known
in the world.
To
do this - make Jesus Christ known in the world
- requires money.
The
annual commitment program (parishioners commitment
to their church) results in ordinary
stewardship. These annual gifts
are regular, repeatable, reliable and usually
upgradeable. They are given in response
to an ongoing awareness that good work is being
done by your church.
The
Annual Giving Consultant Defined
We
know:
- Money represents power, security
and identity in our culture
- Our relationship to money
is a powerful force
- Money can control our lives
We also know:
- Many people come to hear
about stewardship feeling defensive
- Congregations are looking
for a "quick fix" to their financial problems
- Individuals want to respond,
but don't know how and can't deal with the
things that prevent them
- Many stewardship programs
don't work because they focus on moral imperatives
- "shoulds and oughts"
We believe:
- God gives us a choice about
how we use money
- The use of money has spiritual
and material implications
- It is ineffective to only
give people more information about stewardship
and expect that they will change their giving
patterns
- It is more important to create
a safe place for people to experience acceptance,
forgiveness and understanding over the tough
issues of money
We offer:
- An experience of grace that
allows individuals to choose to reorient their
use of money
- An effective stewardship
program that will produce healthier churches,
stronger leaders and a clearer mission
- A process that provides an
opportunity for a "paradigm shift": The Event,
an inner experience that invites reconciliation
of the gap between what we believe and what
we do
We will be able to:
- Respond to an initial request
for evaluation/consultation
- Facilitate meetings with
the clergy, wardens, vestry and stewardship
committee
- Analyze data and prepare
a Stewardship Profile of the congregation
- Facilitate the writing of
a vestry stewardship statement and/or a mission
statement
- Plan an annual commitment
program with the stewardship committee
- Consult on the elements of
an effective year-round stewardship program
- Train congregation's leaders
for their annual commitment program
- Provide and/or facilitate
the acquisition of resources in the form of
materials and speakers
- Evaluate the stewardship
program upon its completion
Committee Chair:
Committee
Members:
- Mike Bridges, St. Bartholomew's,
Corpus Christi
- Ted Burkhart, St. Luke's,
San Antonio
- Stephen Cavender, St. Mark's,
San Antonio
- The Rev. Bur Dobbins, St.
Peter and St. Paul, Mission
- Ty Edwards, Christ Church,
San Antonio
- Kye Fox, St. Luke's, San
Antonio
- The Rev. Jay George, Jr. St. Andrew's, Seguin
- The Rev. John Hardie, St.
Mark's, Corpus Christi
- Herb Hill, Sr., St. Mark's,
San Antonio
- B.J. Kershaw, Good Shepherd,
Corpus Christi
- The Rev. Dan Lauer, Christ
Church, San Antonio
- Phil Miller, Christ Church,
San Antonio
- The Rev. Richard Speer, Epiphany,
Kingsville
Staff Liaison:
The experienced
consultant can be of invaluable assistance in
helping to diagnose and analyze the congregation
in order to identify the best stewardship development
program for a particular time in the life of
a congregation. An experienced consultant will
know which parts of a particular program are
crucial to success and which are optional. She
or he knows how to combine the strengths of
various programs to create one that is right
for a particular congregation. |
