Pastors, leaders urged to regard giving as an aspect of spiritual life

November 7, 2017

Nonprofits are doing a better job than most churches of compelling people to support their work, says Adam Copeland, a noted stewardship expert. He believes churches need to work harder at telling the stories of their work and the ways the church impacts lives, and ensure church members make the spiritual connection to giving.

Adam Copeland, Director of Stewardship Leadership at Luther Seminary. (Photo by Robyn Davis Sekula )

Acknowledging that churches have competition for charitable giving dollars was part of Copeland’s plenary presentation at Stewardship Kaleidoscope, the annual Presbyterian stewardship conference.  Copeland set the stage for examining all aspects of stewardship by discussing what stewardship means. “Stewardship is an ethic that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources,” Copeland told the audience of roughly 250 attendees. Copeland is director of stewardship leadership at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a researcher and writer on stewardship topics. Recently he edited the book Beyond the Offering Plate: A Holistic Approach to Stewardship, published by Westminster John Knox Press in August.

Stewardship should be seen through the lens of pastoral care, Copeland said, and to do so pastors and stewardship leaders need to understand the full financial picture of the average American household. A few statistics help illustrate the finances of the average American family:

• 63 percent of Americans have less than $500 in emergency savings
• Nearly half of Americans have no retirement savings
• Average American households have $16,000 in credit card debt, $27,000 in car debt, $48,000 in student loan debt and $169,000 in household mortgage

In most churches, 20 percent of the congregation is giving 80 percent of the gifts the church receives. On average, charitable giving in the U.S. is about 2 percent of a family’s household budget. This hasn’t changed much since 1974, Copeland said.

He said this awareness helps church leaders understand the anxiety and stress around money issues in homes, and it changes the conversation. “It changes the process from anxious, apologetic budgeting to inspired discernment anchored in pastoral care,” Copeland said.

It also moves the conversation in a more holistic direction to help congregants understand that God cares about all of their money, not just the percentage set aside for the church. Quoting author Mark Allan Powell, Copeland said, “God cares about how we acquire, regard, manage and spend money.”

 Robyn Davis Sekula, Special to Presbyterian News Service

Today’s Focus:  Stewardship Kaleidoscope Conference

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Henry Stone, PMA
Brenda Stoney, PMA

Let us pray:

Gracious God, we rejoice that you are generous with us. Keep us mindful that you have provided all that we need. Help us to be generous with our loaves, that you might show us once more that what we perceive as not enough may be all we need, with 12 baskets of crumbs to spare. Amen.

Daily Readings

Morning Psalms 42; 146
First Reading Nehemiah 12:27-31a, 42b-47
Or alternate First Reading Ezra 4:7, 11-24
Second Reading Revelation 11:1-19
Gospel Reading Matthew 13:44-52
Evening Psalms 102; 133