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 Laision :

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.