Recommendation #2: Have a Dedicated Stewardship Role
The second blog in our Navigating the Path to Stewardship Growth series, which highlights the key takeaways from the 2023 Stewardship Survey, is that a dedicated stewardship role remains an essential part of an effective stewardship strategy. Even if you can’t afford a stewardship pastor, there needs to be a:
- Dedicated stewardship role with Sr. Pastor support
- Clearly defined accountability structure
Among the churches surveyed that didn’t have a dedicated stewardship role, oversight was achieved by leveraging existing resources including:
- Two leaders or a team sharing the responsibilities. Even with a designated stewardship leader, sharing responsibility and accountability across all ministry leaders integrates stewardship through the church.
- A part-time hire or volunteer(s) with related expertise. In smaller churches where the pastor takes a greater role here, this can help with bandwidth constraints.
Expanding on these approaches, we strongly recommend:
- Involving the Senior Pastor
As the most visible and influential leader, successful stewardship efforts typically hinge on the presence or absence of Senior Pastor support. The survey shows greater Senior Pastor involvement in smaller churches where funding doesn’t allow for a dedicated stewardship role. But in this case, conversely, it is difficult for the Senior Pastor to carry the full weight due to bandwidth constraints.
- Formalizing the role(s)
No matter the form your stewardship “role” takes, establish clearly defined accountability standards, goals, terminology and division of responsibilities.
- Kick off with an all-church seminar
Focused on practical financial training and weaving in spiritual components, the event can serve as a funnel for ongoing classes.
Be sure to check out the first post of the series that dives into prioritizing stewardship.