Cover Story: Faith-based Fundraising

Among the principles the program addresses:

• Stewardship is about more than money — but money is a good place to start. If we don’t teach our members about meaningful stewardship, society will fill the vacuum. We begin with grace, God’s unconditional love and care, given to all people in all times. The natural response is usually gratitude. Grace and gratitude can shape our understanding of everything — including money. Giving, like everything else, is a spiritual issue.

• Mission interpretation: We have something to support. Church members support a variety of charities, most with sophisticated fundraising strategies. So why give to the church? This is a question the church isn’t used to answering, but it is imperative to help our members remember how God’s assets are being used — and why it’s important.

• Financial development: the fertilizer and fruit of the spirit. In Romans 12:4-8, giving is named as a spiritual gift — between “exhortation” and “leadership.” One responsibility of the church’s leadership is to help its members make informed decisions about their giving, to be honest about money with its members and itself. By empowering individuals to support those ministries they value, we emphasize their freedom under God to decide and commit.

Rich people deserve special treatment. Actually, this is a trick question — because everyone deserves special treatment. It might be fairer to say that those with more capacity to give need more guidance in how to give it. Giving is a pastoral issue, and it is the church’s responsibility to encourage and empower its members to make informed decisions about their giving.