On What Foundations Do We Build Our Stewardship? Part 2

/ Stewardship / By

By Bill Clontz, UUA Stewardship Consultant

Last month we introduced a set of stewardship principles developed by a UU lay leader and a UU minister that lays out in clear language what a healthy stewardship environment looks like and what standards such an environment called for from UUs.

We reviewed the first five principles last month. Herewith, are the remaining five.  Enjoy and reflect – this is good guidance.

Principles for Healthy Stewardship

6. Human and financial resources are precious, and must be used responsibly.   
Our stewardship program must not depend on large numbers of volunteer leaders or hundreds of hours of professional staff time; nor should it ask our members to make substantial time in their schedules for stewardship activities.

7. A ministry of stewardship needs the consistency and support that can only come from professional leadership. 
Stewardship is such an important ministry in the church that its leadership should come from a minister and/or other professional staff member.

8. Different people are motivated to give for different reasons, and prefer to make their gifts in different ways.  
A complete ministry of stewardship needs to appeal to a variety of motivations, and provide a variety of avenues for giving throughout the church year.

9. Our children are our future, and we need to include stewardship in programs for children and youth. 
The goals of stewardship education are similar to the goals of sexuality education: to remove the stigma through openness and factual information, and to develop healthy attitudes and behaviors.

10. Everyone needs to be part of the conversation. It’s not OK to opt out. 
Practicing liberal religion is at least as demanding as more dogmatic faiths. We believe that talking about stewardship one-on-one or in a small group every year or two is a necessary condition for the health of this church and for our own development as members of a religious community.

Bill Clontz is the Southern Region’s UUA stewardship consultant and a member of the Congregational Stewardship Network. You can reach Bill through the CSN, through the Southern Region staff, or at bclontz@uua.org. Learn more about the CSN at http://www.uua.org/finance/fundraising/index.shtml .

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