The Steward’s Identity

We all have different aspects to our identity, and some are more important to how we “identify” than others. I am a married, middle-aged, male to name a few – not necessarily in that order of priority. I also have identities in my congregation: member, former president, stewardship team member, etc. Someone else might include religious education teacher, gardener, choir singer, or worship associate.

One of the identities I hold in my congregation is that of steward. In fact, steward is one of the most important of my congregational identities to me. What do I mean by that? I mean that part of my understanding of myself, as a Unitarian Universalist and member of my congregation, is as someone who takes care of the organization and its people. As someone said in a workshop I was running recently, “taking care of the plane and the passengers.”

[Tweet “Steward is one of the most important of my congregational identities.”]

This is not the identity held by a casual visitor or someone who is considering membership in the congregation. It must be grown. And for that growth to happen there must be an invitation, orientation, and guidance.

The steward’s identity concept might be more useful to you than trying to have “year round stewardship” or attempts to foster a “stewardship culture.” These last two are broad, ill defined, and ephemeral. In reality, stewardship in your congregation is determined by the individuals who hold the identity of steward.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines identity as, “The fact of being who or what a person or thing is.” After you have become part of a UU congregation, it is a fact that you have become a steward – because that is how our denomination works. There is no avoiding it. We use congregational polity and the democratic process, because our members are the people who “own” and are responsible for our congregations. However, your visitors and new members may not know this, or what to do about it. In fact longer term members may not be aware of their stewardship identity either; I have found this concept is unusual even to long-time UUs.

Suggestion:

• Make a list of your identities in your own congregation. Name all you can think of and then add how would others name your roles or places
• Now put the list in priority order, starting with the most important to you
• Does “steward” appear on your list and if so, how near the top?
• Which identities are more important to you?
• If “steward” could move up the list, how might that happen in your own case?

Now think about growing the identity of steward in your congregation’s members. What activities do you already have in place that would further the growth of that identity for them? What invitation, orientation, and guidance do you provide? And what other activities might help in that development? Please chime in – your ideas are welcome!

Mark Ewert is a stewardship consultant with the Stewardship For Us team. Mark can be reached at mewert@stewardshipforus.com, via the UUA’s Congregational Stewardship Network, (http://www.uua.org/finance/fundraising/index.shtml), or through your regional staff.

This blog has a new posting no less than once a month. You may find it and more at our website, www.stewardshipforus.com. You are welcome to sign up for stewardship updates at the blog. Comments and discussion are always welcome; share your experiences with us.