By Chris Brown
We all hope to change our city. Seeing people come to Jesus is what pastors live to do. But we can’t get there without remembering the simple rule of cause and effect.
You see, healthy people build healthy churches, and healthy churches reach communities. If we ever hope to change our city, we must also consider our congregation. A stewardship ministry is a great way to care for the church.
Do we really need another ministry?
I get it. I really do. As a pastor, I often found myself frustrated with staff and eager church members who kept wanting to add more to the weekly plate of our church. To me, more ministries felt like more distractions.
But then, I had parenting issues. I had financial problems. I had work struggles. I quickly realized that, as a pastor, I needed to focus on the weekend. However, our church members had to spread their focus out over the entire week. They had finances crumbling on Mondays, husbands leaving on Wednesdays, and kids getting expelled on Fridays.
An hour on Sunday is a start, but it’s nowhere near the amount of help our members really need. A love for our people and our city should drive us to support new ministries. Launching a stewardship ministry is just one way for your church to gain strength and vitality.
This is what stewardship ministry is all about: Giving people practical tools to live life on purpose. I’m talking about finances, yes, but not just finances. We want our members to parent on purpose, love on purpose, and show up to work with a purpose.
A purposeful, healthy congregation can impact a city.
Supporting a stewardship ministry will benefit your church in the following ways:
1. Lift all economic categories of members
People who are in control of their finances, instead of controlled by them, find more money in the month. They form positive habits and make huge progress.
By adding a stewardship ministry to your church, you’ll begin to see the struggling become stable, the stable become solid, and the solid become people of surplus. And people of surplus will give.
2. Take the counseling load off of the pastoral team
Stewardship ministry is centered on building a toolbox of helpful resources for your members. One of the most important things we can place in that toolbox is the time and wisdom of trusted volunteers.
When pastors don’t have the time or full confidence to make a heavy decision, adequately trained volunteers can carry some of the burden.
3. Provide permanent solutions instead of temporary fixes
A stewardship ministry teaches people how to fish for themselves. We’re better helpers when the help comes with guidance for the future.
“Next time” situations will be greatly minimized, and before long, once-struggling members will find stability and may even be able to help someone else.
4. Create a hub for stories of changed lives
We all know stories can make a sermon. Good stories—ones where people take ownership of their lives and trust God to transform their mess into something beautiful—are hard to find.
A stewardship ministry will become your first stop for faith-building stories.
5. Build trust between members and leadership
There’s no need to fear money talk in a church that’s successfully running a stewardship ministry.
A stewardship ministry makes the conversation about them, not you; about their finances, not the churches; and about giving to them, not getting from them. Doing what’s best for your people will result in what’s best for your church and your community.
Stewardship ministry understands that healthy, free, purposeful, and progress-driven churches change communities. You can help facilitate this change by supporting or starting a stewardship ministry today!
If you and your congregation need a fresh start in the area of stewardship, Dave Ramsey’s Stewardship Conference is a great place to start. The conference, coming to Nashville, Tennessee, May 16–18, will include a lineup of world-class stewardship leaders, such as Dave Ramsey, Perry Noble, Pete Wilson, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Howard Dayton, Ron Blue and many more. Click here to learn more or to sign up for the Stewardship Conference today.
Chris Brown is a nationally syndicated radio talk show host, carrying the message of stewardship and intentional living nationwide as a Ramsey Personality. Available on radio stations nationwide, Chris Brown’s True Stewardship provides biblical solutions and sound advice for questions on life and money. You can follow Chris online at Stewardship.com, on Twitter @ChrisBrownOnAir, or facebook.com/ChrisBrownOnAir.
