And Now, a Message from My Inner Geek

Kenneth Burke,

My Favorite Rhetorician

A Glimpse at My Geeky Side

I received my MA in Communication & Rhetoric from Ball State University and have used this degree to teach Communication classes including undergraduate speech & graduate level persuasion & rhetoric classes. I also have 15 years experience competing and coaching speech & debate. I see stewardship as a rhetorical act and my role is to understand my audience, their values and what they will find persuasive. As such, I consider the context in which I am discussing stewardship. But you don't need a MA in Communication to apply basic rhetorical strategies. I have included one set of questions for you to consider and use for stewardship. (For the rhetoric geeks reading this: In case you didn't figure it out from my picture choice, I'm applying Burke's Pentad...and yes, rhetoric geeks, I'm certain there are more appropriate strategies, but we need a simple starting point!)

Think about your church (Synod, nonprofit, etc) Consider these questions. Invite your counsel or ministry teams to consider these areas. DON'T OVER-THINK THIS--

ACT: "What was or will be done." What happened over the past year in your church? What action has been taken? What will be going on in the months to come? (Example: Did your church hold VBS? Did you feed people? Did you have a choir that sang every week? Is something growing?)

SCENE: "Background, location & context" Where is the action taking place? What is the background situation? What is your context? Is your church located in a town where the factories have shut down and unemployment is higher? Is there a college or university in your town? Are you in a farming community? What is the background of your church? Has your congregation had a Pastor for 10+ years, or has the church experienced a high turnover in staff? How have ELCA churchwide decisions impacted (or not impacted) your congregation?

AGENT: "Who is involved in the act" Think about the people in your congregation, especially those who are involved with your stewardship team. Do they represent your congregation as a whole? Do they participate in the life of your congregation (teach Sunday School, help with outreach, read and assist with Communion)? Are you, as Pastor or leader, involved in this process?

AGENCY: "How the agents act" I covered some of this under "Agent" But this area helps you consider the ways you and your stewardship team respond to stewardship. Do you hold 1 meeting a year to set the budget? Is it generally an uplifting meeting, or one that you dread? Why? How do you and your stewardship team members respond to the ideas presented? How do YOU view stewardship? What is the level of your financial health?

PURPOSE: "Why do the agents act" What motivates you and those who make financial decisions in your congregation? (You ARE motivated by something) Fear? Necessity? Joy? Are you motivated to create a budget because your constitution requires it? Or, do you create a budget to organize your ministries and share the resources you have with the greater community? Why are you supporting certain projects and not others (Why do you have VBS? Why have you increased or decreased giving to the ELCA in the past 2 years?)

What do I do with this information?

Once you have answered the questions above, you will have a deeper understanding of your context and the motivations of you and your congregation. You may like what you see. You may not. This exercise is not intended to judge your context, it's simply to understand why you do what you do. From that point, you can begin to lean into your strengths and work on your growth areas.

For example: Let's say your stewardship team (or congregation) is made up of fiscally conservative people who have the opinion that government spending is out of control and should cut back on "entitlement programs." Your role in a stewardship celebration is not to reinforce or change their opinion. You don't have to agree with their values. Your role is to understand your congregation's values and show that giving to the church is in line with their values. This will allow you to demonstrate to them that you understand and respect their values. A letter may include a line such as:

"We are living in the midst of divided times. Many people have lost faith in the government and in corporations, as they watch the world change around them. But, as Christians, we do not place our faith in a government or in a corporation. We place our faith in Christ, whose message of salvation and forgiveness can unite us in changing times."

But isn't this manipulative, dishonest, or "a game"?

No. Rhetoric helps you understand your audience. You need to understand your audience and context if you wish to be persuasive and achieve your goal--In this case, the goal would be increasing financial gifts and helping people to have a deeper commitment to the mission God has given your congregation. You are also providing assistance to help improve their financial health, which is directly connected to spiritual wellness.

People have a deep spiritual need to be heard, respected, and understood. You can demonstrate to them that the church's values ARE their values. We need to be reformed and renewed. The goal of a stewardship celebration is intended to renew and celebrate the mission of your congregation and encourage people to participate on a deeper level with this mission. Stewardship is the time to demonstrate unity and to focus on the ways people can participate in God's mission.

Financial Health, Spiritual Wellness & Celebration Timelines: Building Excitement for Your Ministry

Many congregations hold a stewardship celebration in October or November. For the next 6 weeks, I will share with you some resources that my congregation developed. My hope is that you will see that stewardship does not need to be a guilt-inducing time. It can be a time for congregations to focus their mission and use their God given gifts to serve others. Please feel free to message me if you would like additional resources or have questions.

Financial Health is Directly Connected to Spiritual Wellness

There is a perception that the people who give the most money are rich or at least have a solid savings account. Some of the most generous givers are not wealthy or any more secure in their futures than anyone else. Instead, many have found that they receive a deep joy by sharing their gifts with others. They are excited to know that their offering helped provide new chairs for the Sunday School rooms and paid the salary of the Pastor who visited a dying member in the hospital. Leaders need to assess their financial health and get help if they need it. If we are not experiencing joy in giving, we can’t expect those we ask to find joy.

People WANT to Give!

I’ve come to enjoy discussions related to stewardship because it is exciting to see the people of God share their gifts with passionate hearts. People WANT to share their resources and help others. We need to ask them! However, when we ask them to give out of obligation, or indirectly say that they, as a congregation, are not generous, people will get defensive and stop giving.

Creating a Time line

An exciting stewardship celebration is not put together in a week. It takes planning, prayer, and the gifts of many people. Pastors should not be organizing or executing a stewardship drive on their own. If they do, it sounds as if, “the Pastor is asking us for money again.” It is important to give people to opportunity to use their gifts and share in the creative process. At our church, though we have a year-round approach to stewardship, we begin planning for the fall stewardship celebration during the summer. I have included our time line to assist you in planning your celebration. I can email you a copy of the Excel Spreadsheet if you would find
it helpful.

JUNE

Evaluate Ministry Teams, Goals, and Mission for the year. Encourage teams to share new goals or ministry ideas they have for the coming year.

JULY:

• Hold Stewardship Team Meeting discuss current ministry team's goals and financial state of the church. Discuss current economic & social climate of the community: How are people feeling about their job security, have the markets been up or down, do people seem hopeful about the economy? What are people excited about in the church? Vacation Bible School? A new Bible Study? This will help the team address the spiritual concerns people have related to finances and begin to build excitement for the church's mission.

AUGUST

• Council Members Pledge
• Create a Missional Budget: This is a budget that narrates the ministries of your congregation. Instead of saying "$5,000 for worship team," the missional budget shares what is done with the $5,000: "Our congregation held 110 worship services in 2011, including midweek Lenten services. We were blessed by the musical gifts of our choir and celebrated with 5 families who baptized their children. We prayed with 7 young people who affirmed their faith and welcomed 8 new families to our community." (I will include more on creating a missional budget next week).
• Make Personal Contacts: Visit inactive members, home bound members, individuals that have had challenges in the past year. This is simply a Pastoral visit demonstrating the congregation's care to others. It is not to be used as an invitation to pledge.
• Sermon Series: As you develop your ideas for your celebration, consider how to tie your sermon to stewardship. This can be done if you use the lectionary, though it is also an opportunity to explore other texts related to giving. Consider your context as you do this: How are the economic conditions in your community? Are there specific needs you can address in your sermon?
• Mission Moments: Invite people to speak about their experiences with the congregation. (It's important to ask them early, and set up a date for them to speak during your celebration in October) How have they personally been touched by the community? Perhaps a member of the prayer shawl team can share a story of giving a shawl to a home bound member. A member of the VBS team could remind the congregation of the energy of VBS during June.

SEPTEMBER

• Mail Out Letters Inviting People to Pledge: Have you ever received a letter from a university or nonprofit inviting you to give? These letters are written with a specific audience in mind. A donor who gave $100 last year will certainly receive a different letter than someone who gave $10,000. Church letters should be no different. The spiritual needs and gifts of your members differ, so your letters should be written with this in mind. Consider writing 3-5 different letters. As always, the focus is on thanking the giver, and inviting them to participate on a deeper level in the mission--it is NOT to make them feel guilty that they don't give enough. (I will share more on this in the coming weeks.)
• Pre-celebration Mailing: Invite the congregation to the celebration. Tell them what to expect and how the congregation will celebrate their gifts and ministry over the past year.
• Book Club or Bible Study: Make use of your education groups. Encourage the group to discuss the struggles and joys of giving.
• Offer Classes Related to Financial Wellness: Thrivent Financial for Lutherans can provide your congregation with budget planning materials, help with estate preparations and address the financial issues your members face. They will lead adult forums and group presentations. While they certainly have products to sell, we have not found that they use such classes to promote materials, but instead address general financial concerns. By acknowledging the challenge finances create for people and offering assistance, the church demonstrates that we care for one another.
• Celebrate Missions: Invite ministry teams to write a paragraph informing the congregation of the ways they participated in God's mission over the past year. Use newsletters, adult forum time and perhaps even a ministry fair where members can talk to team members.
• Share Vision for the Coming Year: Ministry teams shared their dreams in July, now it's time to share what continuing or new ministries your congregation will participate in during 2012. Do you want to continue the prayer shawl ministry? Do you want to start a Tuesday Bible Study? Get people excited about these projects and invite them to join!

OCTOBER

• Emails & Communication: Now is the time to inform members every week of upcoming events. Share your sermon series topic. Tell them about the adult forum schedule. Remind them of the 2012 vision. People need to be reminded of upcoming events!
• Hold Your Celebration Sunday: Last year, we celebrated "Easter in October" on pledge Sunday. We challenged members to experience the excitement of Easter by joining us for worship. Our choir sang an Easter hymn, we held an Easter breakfast, and even did a little decorating. We affirmed our faith that God has a purpose for our community, and invited everyone to join us.

NOVEMBER

• Follow up letters: Thank members who have pledged. Share with them the ministries for the upcoming year. Send a follow up letter to those who have pledged in the past, but didn't this year. Include a pledge card.

Stewardship Celebration!

Live & Give With Joy!

Many congregations hold a stewardship celebration in October or November. For the next 6 weeks, I will share with you some resources that my congregation developed. My hope is that you will see that stewardship does not need to be a guilt-inducing time. It can be a time for congregations to focus their mission and use their God given gifts to serve others. Please feel free to message me if you would like additional resources or have questions.

This is a Stewardship Celebration!

It’s not an “annual campaign.” It’s not a “pledge drive.” It’s an opportunity to celebrate what your congregation has done in the past year and dream together of the ways God will call you in the upcoming year. Stewardship Celebrations include a constant giving of thanks. It doesn't matter how big your bugdet (or your deficit) is—it is time to thank people for what they have given, and to use stories to share the impact of their gifts. This doesn't mean you “sugar coat” a deficit or ignore difficult realities. But, don’t forget to celebrate what HAS happened, and what God WILL call you to do in the coming year. Celebrate God’s work in and through your congregation!

Stewardship Doesn't Need to be “Guilt-Inducing”

In seminary, I listened to a standard, guilt-inducing stewardship lecture. I was told that we as Pastors are obligated to give. That we waste our money on useless things and should consider giving to God instead. That people’s priorities are simply out of touch with God’s plan. When I left the class, I did not make a beeline to church so I could increase my pledge. Instead I went home and watched TV. That afternoon, on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah and Bono were launching the Product Red Campaign. They told me that 50% of profits go to help fight AIDS in Africa. They interviewed an HIV positive pregnant mother and told me that I could give $1 and a mother like her would receive anti-retroviral drugs for a day. If I participated, I could help save a life!!! Every Christmas gift I purchased that year helped support Product Red. I participated because I was told my contribution mattered, no matter the amount, and I could impact people’s lives.

I think the church could learn something from Oprah, Bono and Product Red. I also believe the gifts given to the church can have a far greater impact. But we need a different approach when it comes to telling people the impact of their gifts. Individuals have a need to be a part of something bigger than themselves. When they see the impact their time and financial gifts make, they will be willing and able to participate on a deeper level. People will not give simply to help the church meet budget, and they won’t give more because they are told there is a deficit. But they will give if they know that their gift will help a child learn about Jesus in Vacation Bible School or will provide blankets to a homeless mother at a local shelter. Members will not give because they were asked to increase Synod Benevolence. But they will give, knowing $10 will provide a mosquito net to a family of 4 and potentially save a baby from dying of malaria. It is our job, as leaders, to help people see the impact of their gifts.

Tomorrow: Stewardship Timeline & the connection between Financial Health & Spiritual Wellness

Questions to Consider: What are the challenges you have experienced while ministering during difficult economic times? What has helped you during these times? What are the blessings you have found?

Spinning for Communinty

If you interact with me in person, you're probably aware that I've started doing some significant workouts in the past year. I'd never been an athlete, and started exercising for the health benefits. But, what keeps me coming back is the community I've found at the Yorktown YMCA.

At first I tried Zumba, which can be best described as a bunch of 30 something moms trying to dance like 20 something ladies in MTV music videos. I felt awkward and unsure what was coming next. It seemed everyone already knew the moves, and knew each other. No one really talked to me much. While I liked the music, I never felt like I fit in. I began to think Zumba specifically, and maybe even working out in general, was really for "someone else." Not for a "nonathlete" like me.

But then I found a community of welcoming "spinners" (fast paced stationary biking). The first day I came to class, I was a few minutes late and everyone was already spinning away. The instructor, Angie, got off her bike, introduced herself, and took the time to make sure my bike was set up correctly. She told me 8 years ago she was new, and that I shouldn't be intimidated. She shared words of assurance "just keep peddling, even if you can't do everything. The most important thing is you are here. And we're glad you are." At the end of the class she said she was "proud" that I made it through the whole class that I was doing great. No one had EVER told me they were "proud" of my athletic abilities before! She then invited me to come back to class the following Monday.

I kept coming back. When my legs hurt, I stretched before. When I didn't want to go to class, I pushed myself. When I felt to busy, I found the time. In part, this was because the music was great, and I was seeing results. But the reason I continue to make time, stretch, and push myself is that I've found community in Angie's class. She is living out her faith and using her God given gifts to help us be as healthy as we can be. Angie takes time to learn our names, to ask about our families. We, in turn, do the same. We celebrate retirements, new jobs, and new babies. We support one another through all kinds of losses--the death of parents, job losses, and daily stresses. We notice when someone has missed class and members are encouraged to check in with each other. One day in class, as we were working through an especially tough climb, Angie said "come on ladies, you can do this! You're to good an athlete to quit!" For the first time in my life, I felt like an athlete!

In addition to physical health, spinning has helped my spiritual health. As a Pastor I try to consider how to make Church more like this class. A place where those who have never felt like they fit in can find a sense of belonging. A place where people support one another. A place where people are missed when they don't come. A place where people don't want to miss.

The principles that made me feel welcome in Angie's class are fairly simple. Notice the new person. Encourage one another. Take time to hear one another's stories. Invite people to come back. These simple steps have the potential to transform a person's mind, body and spirit. I won't ever be a spin instructor, but I will use my God given gifts to (hopefully) enrich lives as Angie enriched mine.