Conference & Church Stewardship Leadership A seminar about how to do it. By Mario Niño, DMin. INSTITUTE OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES www.inter-religioso.com 2015-2020

The Basics Each Conference & Church Leader needs to know five things: 1. The Philosophy of Stewardship. 2. The History of Stewardship. 3. The Theology of Stewardship. 4. The Methodology of Stewardship 5. The organizational Structure of STW.

Philosophy: The philosophy explains why we do what we do. Therefore, the Philosophy of Stewardship explains why the Stewardship Ministries came into existence. The Stewardship Ministries department was organized by the General Conference (1966) with the purpose of helping churches fulfill the mission of the church through a spiritual revival.

The Concept: Talking about stewardship we have: 1. The concept of stewardship, 2. Stewardship as a fundamental belief, and 3. Stewardship as a ministries department organized by the General Conference. When we consider the concept, it is necessary to differentiate the “Broad Sense” and the “Restricted Sense” of stewardship.

The Broad Sense: In a broad sense the word refers to man’s responsibility for, and use of, everything entrusted to him by God –life, physical being, time talents and abilities, material possession, opportunities to be of service to others, and his knowledge of truth.” SDA Encyclopedia, page 1.425.

In a Restricted Sense: “The word stewardship means one’s responsibility for a wise use of the material resources that come into his possession, especially his responsibility to God with respect to tithes and offerings.” SDA Encyclopedia, page 1.425.

Church Manual Committee: On July 15, 1975 the committee submitted to the delegates the following recommendation: “The Department of Stewardship and Development was organized to assist in the implementation of God’s plan of systematic benevolence throughout the church…The department gives assistance in the planning and organization of the church resources for a completed work.”

History: At the 1966 General Conference Session, a vote was taken to change the Development Service of the church (a fundraiser office) into the Department of Development. The Development Service began in North America (NAD) in 1954 at the conference level only, and was used to help individual churches finance building projects (fundraiser) to help churches and academies.

Primary Function: The new department would have as its primary function the promotion of a spiritual revival at the local church level, promoting a spirit of sacrifice, in order to boost world evangelization and the development of the church in general. Three basic programs were organized: 1. Combined Budget, 2. Development Plan 3. Systematic Benevolence.

Theology: The Theology of Stewardship is the fundamental icon in understanding and promoting stewardship. Today we hear several meanings for the word stewardship. What it is stewardship?: Tithing, lifestyle, giving, spreading the gospel. Our definition is: “Stewardship is all of me in response to all of God”. The center here is God.

Methodology: The faithfulness and generosity of the church members do not take place in a vacuum. Generosity is there when appropriate environment is created. If the environment deteriorates, the members are affected. We emphasize that creating and maintaining this environment at the local church level is not only a necessity. It is an imperative!

The Best Way: One of the best methods for promoting stewardship is the Spiritual Revival Program at the local church level . The Spiritual Revival Program is a system of organization and guidelines for development of all the programs and projects that a church defines as its main necessity. As a system is not good or bad by itself and requires emphasis and motivation.

General Ways for trainning. 1. Ministerial assemblies and retreats. 2. Annual worker’s meetings. 3. Seminars with theology students. 4. National stewardship conventions. 5. Stewardship Advisories. 6. Annual spiritual emphasis programs. 7. Stewardship symposiums. 8. Biblical Stewardship Institute. 9. Stewardship Festivals.

Structure: As a world church, we use the denominational structure in order to fulfill our task. The GC personnel has the duty to support the Division’s stewardship director. The Division director supports the Union stewardship director. The Union director supports the local field’s stewardship director. The local field director supports the local church.

What to do? As a Conference & Church stewardship director, you need to: 1. Maintain a permanent communication with the next level stewardship director (two ways). 2. Define the main event of your Conference & Church for the next one or two years (see the list). 3. Process the service request (one or two years in advance). 4. Invite the Conference president and other officers for the main event of the year.

Duties of the Local Church Leader: 1. Education. Systematic sharing of the stewardship principles with the church members. 2. Planning and budgeting. Take a key role in the planning and budgeting process. 3. Finance & Stewardship Committee. Serve as a secretary or active member of this committee. 4. Visitation. The stewardship leader is usually the coordinator of any visitation plan organized in conjunction with stewardship education.

Duties of the Local Church Leader: 5. Stewardship revival week. Coordinate once a year, a spiritual revival with an emphasis on stewardship themes. 6. Monthly Stewardship Promotion. Encourage faithfulness in all aspects of life, sharing experiences by members. 7. Quarterly Report. Present a positive report to the church board & Business meetings about the progress of the stewardship. 8. Cooperation. Work in cooperation with the conference, the pastor and the board.

Conference & Church Stewardship Leadership A seminar about how to do it. By Mario Niño, DMin. INSTITUTE OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES www.inter-religioso.com 2015-2020