Stewardship Meetings held in Edmonton
During the week of April 19th, Stewardship meetings were held separately with each of the Joint Boards of the Edmonton Churches (Rio Terrace, Heimtal, Edmonton, Good News, Millwoods, Bruderheim). We were fortunate that Gary Marsh, Director of Stewardship for the Northern Province of Moravian Churches (based in Bethlehem, PA), could lead us in discussions that gave many people energy and new thoughts on what Stewardship is all about.
To start things off, Gary asked us to think about words to describe “Stewardship” – and surprisingly “money” was not mentioned very often! Common descriptions were “compassion, welcoming, dedication, mission, faithfulness, commitment, giving, fellowship, participation, doing and being responsive”. Gary then gave us a survey (rating questions on a scale of 1 to 10 - with 10 being the highest rating) to complete called “20 Proven Principles of Stewardship Success of the Church”. He explained that the questions were to be answered first individually and then would be discussed by the group but each joint board member was to think about their specific church so that we could get a “picture” of what their church believed and practiced. Of course, not everyone choose the same answer but this exercise did bring to light some common areas of successes or concerns and brought about great discussions. Gary recorded the responses and sent back to each church a summary.
As representatives from the District Board (BECD) attended these meetings, we learned so much! We heard about outreach programs that had been done in the community (such as offering community dinners); about the need to have continuous communications regarding how our money supports common ministries; the need to have a clear sense of our mission and ministries; the need to get people “plugged in” to the church so that they use their talents and the need to intentionally invite new people to come to church.
There are plans to have Gary Marsh come to Calgary during this Fall to meet with the two Calgary churches. In these times of economic uncertainty, it is so important to be good stewards of both the church and the community. A training program called “Good $ense” is also offered by Gary to assist people of faith to be equipped to use money in a biblical and God-honoring way including some useful tips on managing finances. (This training tool consists of 6 hour/6 part workshop). Gary has been training leaders to teach these sessions to their congregations and many churches are now using this program – talk with your pastor if you need more information.
Respectfully submitted by Ann Tyrell