LIBERTY UNIVERSITY JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Building Your Stewardship Team
CLED 700
A Paper Submitted to
the Faculty of the School of Divinity
in Candidacy for the Degree of
Doctor of Ministry Department of Christian Leadership and Church Ministries
By
Henry Edwin Shikuku
Lynchburg, Virginia
10/2022
Building Your Stewardship Team
Who’s responsible in your church for cultivating generosity and encouraging people to
give? In many churches the job officially belongs to the finance committee. But finance
committees have many other responsibilities and are often populated with people more skilled
in financial management than fundraising.
In some churches it’s seen as the pastor’s job. While pastors do have a critical role to play
in nurturing generosity, research suggests that when seeking financial support for the church is
left solely to the pastor, it can come across as self-interested or create awkwardness. This is
often why clergy feel uncomfortable discussing money or asking people to give.
The sad truth is that in all too many churches nobody claims the job, and the consequence
is poor giving. Forming a stewardship team or generosity committee composed of lay leaders
can be a key factor in fostering a culture of giving. And if your church conducts an annual
stewardship campaign or pledge drive, this type of leadership is a critical success factor.
The benefits of building a stewardship team
Beyond assuring that the critical task of promoting generosity isn’t neglected, forming a
stewardship team accomplishes a number of other important objectives. First, it encourages
laity to learn how stewardship and generosity relate to our faith. Few church members are
motivated to delve deeply into the subject until they are given the responsibility to do so. A
stewardship committee or generosity team can function as an incubator for those who will lead
your congregation in generosity.
When a team of lay leaders is responsible for managing a stewardship campaign, it builds
investment in the process and a sense of ownership in the outcome. If the committee is
representative of the different constituencies within the congregation, it creates organic
connections with potential givers of different ages and interests.
But perhaps most importantly, it puts the pastors in their proper role. Pastors shouldn’t
avoid the subject of money or be uninvolved in the commitment process. But the most
important roles for the pastor are casting the larger vision and preaching and teaching about
the theological aspects of giving, not bearing sole responsibility for giving appeals.
Who should be on your stewardship team?
You’ll want to include as part of a stewardship team some who are already among your
church’s most generous givers. Just as you would want persons well-versed in leading Bible
study, you want those who give generously and can lead by their example. Also, you may be
lucky enough to have folks in your church who’ve done fundraising work either professionally
or for other nonprofit organizations. And you likely won’t know who has these skills unless you
ask.
But don’t lose heart if you’re starting from scratch or in a small church with a limited talent
pool. The number one qualification for a successful stewardship leader is a simple love of the
church — someone who is passionate enough about the church’s mission to want to see other
people support it.
Getting started
If your church focuses on commitment in the fall, now is the time to assemble a team. Just
as with any other recruiting effort, personal invitation is the most effective approach, so set
aside time to talk one on one with potential team members.
If your church has never had a stewardship team or a deliberate emphasis on building
generosity, the team will need to devote time to educating itself on the theology of giving and
strategies for enhancing generosity. The following Lewis Center training resources can provide a
running start.
