The Future of Christian Stewardship
When Looked at Through Generational Lenses

 by The Rev. Canon J. Hugh Magers

We old guys are faced with a serious problem. The way we lead in stewardship is experienced as being stomped down by the generations that follow us. And, they are not going to grow, settle down and come to their senses as they mature. The will never be like us.

For the purposes of this brief article, let me identify the generations as:

• the Old Guys, born before 1943-44,
• the Boomers, born 1944-45 to 1961-62, and
• the X’ers, born 1963-64 to 1985.

These dates are “generally” regarded as defining by the folk who do research in this area.

One concern is – why do we trust the church to do faithful and loving things with the money we give? We Old Guys trust the leader. If we don’t trust the leader, we don’t give. We are very loyal. Loyalty to the institution of the church and its leadership is a high value for us. The mission vision we give to is generated by the leaders through institutional processes. In fact, if it is not generated by the leaders through institutional processes, we will not trust the vision or try to fund it.

The Boomers don’t work that way. Loyalty to leader and institution is not a value for them. Mission vision must be personally fulfilling. The task of the leader is to figure out ways to create and carry out various missions’ visions in ways that Boomers find fulfilling. Boomers break rules; Boomers crave excitement and energy. Boomers want to control where their giving goes. I confess that I have heard Boomers say these sorts of things and inside my head wanted to respond, “If you loved God you would just give it and trust the church to use it faithfully.” Being an Old Guy, I don’t like to rock the institutional boat all that much, so I never have said that.

But, it gets worse. The X’er are even more complicated. They have not, in my opinion, been well served by the leadership and institutions in their lives. They have not been well served by the church. Their quest is for authenticity and relationships. They have an antenna that goes 86 feet in all directions designed to pick up inauthenticity. If they do not find authentic relationships in church then there is no possibility that they will give. In visiting with the few that I know that do give, what I hear is, “I am giving to Jesus.” “My best friends in this world are members of our church.” “Our congregation does such wonderful things for and with out children.” “The worship here is real.”

In the light of this, the next question has to be, “Then how do we go about getting them to give?” I have some thoughts on that but they are hunches not proven. First, we must abandon the motion that there is a “one size fits all” solution. It didn’t work with socks; it doesn’t work with stewardship plans. The old “Alabama” plan and its various descendents worked and works well with us Old Guys. It was a brilliant read on a generation. I don’t know if Yon, Stough, Caradine and the other Old Guys who figured it out did it as a reflection on their generation, but they were spot on. But, its virtue for Old Guys makes it less than helpful for most Boomers and X’ers.

So, what does work? I don’t know. But I do have some hunches.

I think we are going to have to set up a process for each of the three generations. This will mean that the task triples and that we will not be treating everyone alike.

For us Old Guys that means sticking with the tried and true. These approaches will always include appeals to duty, loyalty, membership and other ways of talking about belonging. Inductive Bible study will be at the heart of it. It is likely to involve personal calling in offices and homes. Credible, trustworthy leadership will be essential.

I ought to get a Boomer to write this paragraph, but here goes. My hunch is that big, fun events will be a key element. Things like catalogs of giving opportunities will be important. Other opportunities for choice and involvement in mission will be designated for a specific program or expense. I heard one Boomer say, “I give the stipend for the organist."That was obviously fulfilling to him. Bible study will be a key but it is more likely to be in the shape of a fun, partly directive, partly devotional format led by an attractive personality. Since Boomers live closer to the edge financially, three month, or monthly pledges may become a reality.

   The X’ers raise real challenges. The best guess I have is that authenticity and relationships are the key. The Bible will likely be studied in a small group setting as a resource for designing a real way to live. I know X’ers who tithe. But they do it not as an objective but as a consequence of living a life that is grounded in Scriptural family values. Authentic leaders and church life will be an essential environment where stewardship is taught. I can envision stewardship decisions being made in small groups. Children’s ministry issues will be very important.