Workshops Available to Your Church
Fundraising Strategies for Local CHurches
Prospect Capability Matrix: Who can give how much?
There are five themes here that bear on Endowment and on long-term stewardship practice:
1. There are multiple master-steward relationships: God is the Master; Pharoah is the steward who had a dream God gave him Pharoah is also a master; Joseph is the steward, who set up the first income tax in history and the bureaucracy to make it happen; He's the one who has the signet ring and the cloak and who flies around in "Air Force Two" (Pharoah's second chariot!) But Joseph is also a Master; the middle managers and bureaucrats are the stewards
Going further; the bureaucrats are the Masters ; the farmers and producers of all the goods in the land are the stewards. So that all of us are, at some point in our lives, both masters of others, and stewards who bear responsibility. This becomes even more the case in the situation where we are the stewards of God who set up local church endowments, and we are the stewards who give gifts to the endowment fund. Yet as gift givers, entrusters of substance to others, we are masters, of a sort, and subsequent generations of church leaders are the stewards. They must take good care both of our capital assets given to the endowment fund, and of all the resources God gives the church with which to work.
2. There is an expectation on the part of the master that the steward will take an action, or a set of actions God gives the dream to Pharoah in symbolic terms so that he could not unlock the meaning of the dream by himself but had to rely on God's messenger and manager -- who would turn out to be Joseph. Pharoah, in turn, demands from those about him an interpretation for the dream. And when he finds Joseph, who correctly interprets the dream, he then expects Joseph to carry out the complicated plan he spelled out. This expectation is seen in the fact that Pharoah puts the signet ring on Joseph's finger, the cloak on his back, the staff of royalty in his hand. This gives him the trappings, the symbols, of office.
3. There is an action or set of action taken by the steward. Pharoah took action to find an interpretation of the dream. He went in search of the key that would unlock the secret of the symbols of fat and gaunt cows, and ears of corn. Joseph, on the other hand took action to engage the people of Egypt in laying back a fifth of all that was produced over the seven good years in preparation for the seven years of famine to come.
4. There is a judgment made by the master about the steward's performance. More implicit here in this story than in the ones below. We can assume Yahweh was pleased with Pharoah's action in choosing Joseph, the Lord's annointed, as the manager of the project. And we can assume that since the saga of Joseph turns out right in the end with his whole family being fed by the grain he had put away, that Yahweh was similarly pleased with his efforts.
5. TRUST is the environment within which all this happens, and without the element of mutual trust and respect between master and steward nothing can happen. Though Pharoah was not a Hebrew, he had trust in significant dreams, enough trust to try to find out the meaning of the dreams. When Joseph appeared, fresh from prison where he was placed as a result of an unfortunate mis-interpretation by Mrs. Potipher, he was an unlikely candidate to be believed in the court of the majestic Pharoah. Yet Pharoah did believe him, and took him at his word. Principally because Joseph did not say that the interpretation was his own, but that the dream was God's and the interpretation was God's as well.
The middle managers and bureaucrats that put together the mechanisms whereby the project was accomplished to lay back one fifth of the produce of the land had also to believe in and trust Joseph. In turn, the farmers and handcrafters had to trust the middle managers and bureaucrats to tell them the right things and administer policies and procedures fairly and justly so that God's protection against famine might go forward.
NOW... Take these five principles and apply them to the following Biblical passages;
Appointed to Lead the People -- Story of Shebna (Isaiah 22:15-25
Preparing for the Future – Parable of the Maidens w/ oil (Matthew 25:1-13)
Wise Stewardship - Investing with God – Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)
1. God, the Lord of the Future
The future is one of the things present day Christians in the western world have a lot of trouble with: we don't believe in the future, or have a hard time really paying attention to the need to prepare for the future. Various attitudes presented through many media say things to us like: "We won't be here anyway, so why worry about it?" or "Leave it up to those that come after to deal with it; we had a hard enough time solving the problems we inherited." or "Get all you can now; 'go for the gusto'" or "He who dies with the most toys wins "
This is the type of attitude that is so overbearingly present in our nation and in our western civilization at this point. It makes it hard to be a Christian, knowing that the future will come; knowing that God will be in charge of the future, as God has been in charge of the past and present.
2. God Using Human Beings to Accomplish God's Work
God has a "bad habit," some might say, of using human beings to get God's work done in the world. But we can see from the bibilical tradition and the historical tradition within our church and within the whole Christian church, that this is just what God does. We can anticipate, then, that God will continue to use human beings, and the Church of Jesus Christ on earth, to get God's work done in the world of the future.Therefore, it is entirely appropriate that the church today prepare in part for the future by setting up an endoment fund that will give the church of the future finaicial tools and wherewithal to accomplish God's mission.
3. Ensuring Mission of the Church
Through our local church endowment fund, we set our church up for accomplishment of the mission of the future. We do so in a way that will be unlike the situation we perhaps inherited. While nobody set us up for mission success, we nevertheless have the privilege and the mechanisms today to do this for successive generations of Christians.
Not that God isn't capable of prospering God's own work. But, as God's human workers on earth, we have mechanisms today that haven't been so well applied to the church in the past. And applying them diligently and faithfully can make the work of successive generations of God's faithful more possible, sooner.
4. Stewarding Capital Assets like Cash Flow
We have the ability, through our local church endowment fund to say to Mrs. Smith and Mr. and Mrs. Jones "W'll take just as good care of your gifts of capital assets (your estate) as you did, maybe even better. We'll never actually use the gift itself, but we'll use the earnings from the gift and will multiply the gift many times over, so that the earnings will go for God's work for many ages into the future."
One Foot in the Present; One in the Future
Many Christians today seem to have one foot in the present and one foot in the past. “Standing with one foot in the present and one foot in the future” is a phrase that expresses our trust that God will be there, will use human beings to get God’s work in the world done, and will continue to reign long after we are dead and gone. But many church leaders don’t seem to think that way. They still operate with one foot in the past, relying on past stereotypes, past ways of doing things, and past stories for interpreting how the world works.
In the parable of the maidens with the oil, Jesus has a lesson for all of us: The bridegroom is coming, at a time unknown to us, but we must be ready, and those who are ready will celebrate the marriage feast — the many good things God has reserved for the faithful. Local church endowment is a “foot in the future.“
Statement of Intent for Mission
The setting up of an endowment fund is a clear statement to the congregation that the church is preparing itself for the mission of the future. Particularly if there has been an all-church discussion or dialogue on endowment, the setting up of this particular type of fund prepares the church in a symbolic way for mission in the future. It sets our vision; collectively and individually assures us that the mission will be there; that God will have work for us to do; that God will assist us in doing it; and that we will need resources to get the job done.
Statement of Faith in God’s Future
The setting up of an endowment fund is a statement of faith that there will be a future for our local church, even though today it might not look that way. In some of our smaller churches particularly there seems to be a sense of resignation (maybe even of hope!?) that nothing will change, that we will be "in this fix" for a long time to come and that there will never be a "call" to this church to do anything significant. The endowment fund declares that "we're getting ready" for the future that God is going to give this church. And whether it's fancy and great and big, or whether it is something that's more a continuation of the present, God's work will need to get done and we're ready to do it."
Readiness Today for that which Comes Tomorrow
The endowment fund is a symbolic statement that we are going to start preparing today for God's future tomorrow, and that we have a stake in that future, just as we have roots in the past and being in the present.
Providing for New Challenges
An endowment fund is a way to make a statement that we are giving, today, of our capital assets, our estates, our economic "substance," as it were, for the sake of the new challenges that will be part of this church's tomorrow. We know there will be new challenges ahead; we know that resources will be needed; we are ready to provide part of what will be needed.
Anticipating New Ministries
Through the setting up of an endowment fund we celebrate that communities change, that populations come and go, that new challenges lie ahead due to the fact that new times mean new opportunities to serve, new ministries that must be mounted for the sake of preaching the gospel and tending to the needs of the sick, impoverished, imprisoned and those alienated from Christ and from God.
Preparing for Hard Times
We also know that the church must remain steadfast in its work and mission through good times and hard times. If we are in hard times now, we know that they will return. And if we are now experienceing the good times, we know that they will not always last. So an endowment fund is an economic "hedge" against the hard times that we are preparing to give to those who come after us. As we leave the legacy of faith, so we leave an economic legacy through endowment. Our gifts of today will not ever be used up; but will be around for generations to come to help those who come after us mount those new ministries that will be needed by our community of the future.
Here we shift gears just a bit, because this section acknowledges that there is a real phenomenon that one might call "church politics." And within that sphere, there is a function that the setting up and marketing of an endowment fund can do that is good, helpful and unique.
The first thing we have to do, however, is take the sting, the pejorative meaning, out of the term "politics." Remember your old high school physics teacher, who may have told you,"Power is the ability to get work done?" If you have the economic power (capital) you can do the work of expanding a factory, setting up an educational institution or balancing a city's budget. Similarly, if you have the electrical power (watts and amps) you can use a power tool to nail drywall or cut a board. Again, if you have wind power, water power or nuclear power, you can do the work of generating the electrical power you need to saw that board.
It's not different in the church. If we have "power" we can get the work done. With the right decision-making power we can put a new service program into place. If we have persuasive power we can raise money for the new parsonage. If we have the power of time and voice, we can volunteer for the choir and make a joyful noise! The more power we have the more work gets done. But what about those "politics?"
Well, if "power" is the ability to get work done, then "politics" is the discussion about and deciding "HOW the work is going to be done." Who is it that we're going to listen to and follow? What is the most effective course of action, the best plan? That's the politics of the situation. For example, if we've got the money, are we going to build a new sanctuary or put up a shelter for the homeless? That's a "political" discussion. However it turns out, God's will is going to be done. God doesn't seem to let human frailties and discussions get in the way. Yet for those of us who have to live it out, the political discussion is important. It makes a difference. Yet we have only limited resources so we may have to choose between projects. The process of making that set of decisions is the church "politics."
Typically one has to have both the "power" (the ability to do the work) and the "politics" (the decision on how we're going to do the work) in hand together in order to be effective.
Endowment Opens up New Opportunities for Stewardship
The opening of a local church endowment fund offers the opportunity for the church to help members be good stewards of their capital assets. Since most endowment funds are, in the long run, benefitted most by wills and other planned gifts of capital assets, there is an opportunity to work with congregation members to help them understand ways in which they can use their estates, their capital assets, to further the work of Christ in the world.
For years, the church's members have heard about, and, presumably have grown in, the stewardship of their cash flow. The cash flow puts groceries on the table, a roof over the head, shoes on the feet and a car in the garage. Cash flow alwo fulfills the church pledge, contributes to the building fund, and provides a bit for the advance specials and other special offerings. But capital assets is the distillation of some part of the cash flow over a great many years. For most church members capital assets might be composed of the home, the vacation property, the savings account, the retirement accounts, investments such as real estate, stocks and bonds and the like.
The political impact of setting up an endowment fund in a local church is that it provides the occasion for the church's leaders to teach and to emphasize the stewardship of ALL a of member's hodling, whether cash flow or capital assets. So the endowment fund provides a good reason to further each individual member's stewardship journey with regard to money and possessions.
Endowment Challenges Thinking about our Future
In this culture, particularly, one of the key theological problems members of a local church face is the question of the future. Yet they don't often know it, and are rarely able to verbalize about the future and its meaning for them except in the most general terms. Again, the political impact of setting up an endowment is that it provides occasions in which the church members can come to grips with their own futures, the future of their church, and the future of God's work in the world. This is not something we do every day in the church, but it is a vital area of Christian thought.
One of the things discussion of the future can do is to open people to the importance of strategic planning in the church. A discussion of endowment, and what it can do for the church both in the short term and in the long term, inevitably leads to such questions as: "What will this church be in 50 years>" and "Will we have the kind of church we have today?" Some others are: What will be the ministries of the church? What will be the needs of the surrounding community? What will be the resources that will be needed to carry on God's work in this community? Do we care? Why should we care? Who cares if we care? Is God able to be lord of the future as God has been lord of the past and present? Who gets hurt if we do nothing today to prepare for the future?
Somthing else that can get opened up when we discuss the future has to do with our own individual life decisions that we make as church members, and as Christians, every day. If we start out by asking how the church can prepare for the future, we inevitably have to come around to questioning our own decisions about our future, our destiny, our opportunities for service and for spiritual growth.
Asking these types of questions has a political impact on the church because it can direct the church's worship life, educational emphasis, missional focus, and the entire direction of the local church's ministry. This is wonderfully fruitful soil in which to plant the seeds of future ministry and mission through a process of strategic planning.
Endowment Opens Opportunities for Education
Endowment fund set-up and marketing provides the opportunity to educate in several areas.
What is money? How should Christians use money? What is my stewardship journey? Where do money and possessions figure into my spiritual journey? As a church, how do we understand our use of money? Is it holy? Is it God's or ours? What does God ask of us with regard to the church's use of money and possessions?
The political impact of setting up a local church endowment fund can be a renewed emphasis in the church's teaching about money and possession, from the grade-schoolers right on up to the adults. And don't forget bible study groups, men's and women's groups, support groups, prayer groups and the like. No part of the church should be without an educational emphasis on the role of money and possessions in that group's life and work.d It is, after all, one of the chief cultural problems with which Christians in our western culture have to deal with. Setting up an endowment fund can be the opportunity for renewed pastoral and lay leadership in such educational nurture.
