Lutherans Learn Key Stewardship Strategies, Share Ideas

LISLE, ILL. (ELCA) Successful stewardship in the church must be mission- and vision-focused and requires constant attention and hard work. Those were some of the ideas expressed as Lutheran stewardship leaders met here Feb. 3-6 to learn about stewardship in its broader context.
Under the theme "Stewardship at the Heart of the Church," the leaders' conference was sponsored by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Division for Congregational Ministries. It drew 190 participants, including staff from the churchwide office, synods and congregations of the ELCA, and volunteers.
The purpose was to bring the leaders together for fellowship, training and learning about stewardship, said the Rev. Michael L. Meier, director for leadership development, ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries.
"One of the challenges we have is to help the whole church understand stewardship in a deeper and broader way," he said. Stewardship includes gathering funds to support the church's ministries, and it encompasses a person's activities at home, in the neighborhood, at work and at church, Meier said.
"All of these people are involved in networks where they teach and model living the life of a faithful steward with lots of emphasis on education, fellowship, encouraging growth and leadership development," Meier added.
One speaker, Mark Dollhopf, certified fundraising executive, Branford, Conn., discussed giving patterns and fund-raising methods. Stewardship involves responsibility and accountability by which each person returns thanks for God's gifts, he said. Development is a program of planned or systematic growth in which an institution reaches out to its constituents and motivates them to give, Dollhopf said. Many churches need to improve resource development, he said.
"Stewardship is the ideal to which we strive, as well as to teach," Dollhopf said. "Development is a way to accomplish stewardship."
"We fall short as resource developers when we fail to inspire people to give," he said. Dollhopf said congregations need resource developers to plant seeds and work with stewardship directors.
Pastors and bishops are chief fund-raisers for their church organizations, he said. "They must know how to plan, invest people in the mission and inspire them to give," Dollhopf said, however, neither may be the best person to ask specific people for significant financial gifts.
Focus on mission and vision in the church is critical, he said. Successful churches focus on the mission for the benefit of people outside the congregation, Dollhopf said.
"This is hard work," he said. "This is ongoing work. People succeed when there is creative, energizing conversation with people in the pew."
Key speakers also focused on stewardship in its biblical, historical and everyday contexts.
Stewardship is at "the heart of the Bible," said the Rev. Sarah Henrich, associate professor of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.
"How we tend to the work of peace, justice and mercy with what we have been given is the whole question of stewardship," she said.
In a Bible study, Henrich cited stewardship references in Genesis, the Psalms, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Romans and the Gospel of John. John 21:15-17, which discusses love for Jesus, is an important lesson for stewards, Henrich said.
"Loving Jesus has very strong, practical, real-life implications," she said. "People expect the love of Jesus in the feeding and being fed. That's what we're talking about in this conference."
Stewardship is the work of Christ in the world outside the institution of the church, said Dr. Claire Wolfteich, assistant professor of practical theology and spiritual formation, Boston University. A person's identity and his or her vocation are closely related, she added.
"The workplace is a tremendous place for mission," Wolfteich said. "That, I think, is an important area for stewardship."
Wolfteich said she is interested in the changing roles of women in the workplace. A woman's workplace experience may influence church activities and vice versa, Wolfteich said.
"Stewardship is about spirituality in life and cannot exist without it," she said.
Martin Luther spoke openly about stewardship and financial issues, said Dr. Carter Lindberg, professor of church history, Boston University School of Theology.
"Everything in Luther's theology is the theology of stewardship," Lindberg said. "He had no qualms about speaking about money because money had a place in discipleship. Stewardship in Luther's sense is all-encompassing. It involves everything."
Lindberg also said Luther put a strong emphasis on "the common good."
"With this orientation, all of life can be seen as stewardship, as in serving the neighbor," he said. "The gifts and capabilities you have can serve others."
Lita Brusick Johnson, director of the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, said the ELCA Conference of Bishops last year raised the possibility of doubling annual giving to the appeal from its present $12.6 million to $25 million. Last year was the Appeal's 25th anniversary, and gifts increased $2.5 million over 1998, she said.
"This will be a wonderful path to double giving," she said.
In concluding remarks, the Rev. Mark R. Moller-Gunderson, executive director and coordinator for mission support, ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries, thanked the stewardship staff and volunteers.
"There are many, many healthy hearts in the church," he said. "We can thank God for that. There are lots of healthy places with healthy hearts."

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