New Years Wishes for 2025

Greetings UU stewardship leaders and Happy New Year.

This is my last post for Stewardship for Us as I am retiring after 17+ years as a UU stewardship consultant. My work with our UU congregations and with you as stewardship leaders has been the most rewarding of my career, and I already am missing it, while at the same time I’m very ready for the next phase in my personal journey.

I’d like to leave you with three wishes for 2025 and beyond, so you can Make Great Stewardship Happen:

1. Recognize the importance of Unitarian Universalism and UU stewardship at this time. We have seen an uptick in visitors to our congregations since the election, and we UUs will be called upon to be a source of solace, resistance, and activism over the challenging months and years to come. Your work has never been more important, so approach it with energy, optimism, and confidence.

2. Be innovative and adaptable. Ever since the start of the pandemic in 2020, we have seen dramatic changes in our congregations in use of technology, changing demographics, and financial challenges. These changes continue and more will surely occur in this volatile time. I encourage you to be adaptable in the face of change, and find the right balance between the proven methods of stewardship and innovative ways to reach out and engage with younger people, families and children, on-line members and friends, aging populations, etc.

3. Focus on education and inspiration as the essence of effective stewardship. Too often our members do not know enough about our congregation’s finances and the pledging process. This is where education comes in. We stewardship leaders must address this – and not just as a one-time need during new member classes, but as an ongoing process to keep people informed, answer questions, and practice transparency. And in particular about the link between stewardship and mission – this is where inspiration comes into play. People are most generous when asked to support mission and ministry. They want to know how their collective pooling of resources makes the world a better place and promotes personal growth and transformation.

So that’s it: three wishes for UU stewardship and for you as stewardship leaders in 2025. I encourage you to continue working with Stewardship for Us; my five consulting colleagues are amazing!  They bring a wealth of insight, skill, experience, diversity, innovation, and energy to UU stewardship, and can help you make these wishes  — and your congregation’s dreams — a reality. They are the best team ever!

Finally, I want to thank all of you for the important and challenging work you do on behalf of Unitarian Universalism, and for the opportunity to work together these 17 years: it has been a wild ride indeed.

Barry

Barry Finkelstein

Stewardship Consultant Barry Finkelstein has been a Unitarian Universalist congregational stewardship consultant since the Fall of 2007 and has worked with over 100 congregations on annual budget drives, capital campaigns, and strategic planning.  This is Barry’s last post as he is retiring effective January 1, 2025.