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Here is your chance to get your feet wet in stewardship leadership for your parish. The annual TENS (The Episcopal Network for Stewardship) conference is being held this year in Indianapolis, an easy four hour drive from St. Louis, July 30-31. With a great speaker and helpful workshops, The Grace, Gratitude and Generosity Conference offers a wonderful opportunity for every congregation to experience first-hand the wealth of information, materials, and spirit of Stewardship available through TENS. Come and find ways to teach stewardship education in your parish. I can highly recommend this conference for everyone, lay or clergy, involved in stewardship in your parish.
Here are some great online resources:
The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS) is a voluntary network of people who believe our responsibility as Stewards includes maintaining balance in our lives of the God given gift of a set of relationships: to God, to other humans, to self and to the entire created universe. Their website (http://www.tens.org) is a virtual plethora of resources including a "Diocesan Panic Kit" and links to stewardship web sites for other denominations. More information can be found on their website or by calling (800) 699-2669 (in USA) or (316) 686-0470 Their e-mail address is TENS@TENS.org.
If you would like to focus on stewardship, financially speaking, I still really like the "Living With Money" series, available from the Episcopal Media Center ($99). An ecumenical adult education program for congregations, Living with Money challenges participants to think deeply about the subject of money, and consider its meaning in the context of their Christian faith. How do we discern the power and impact of money on our lives? How do we keep money from shaping our every decision? How much money is enough for us? What are our personal values about money? What does the Bible say about it? Living with Money explores these and other questions, and helps participants achieve a balanced and wholesome money life. Living With Money explores these and other questions, and helps participants achieve a balanced and wholesome money life. The complete curriculum package can be used to conduct a four-, six-, eight- or twelve-week class. Find out more about Living With Money at Morehouse's Website at http://www.morehousepublishing.com. Locally you may contact Cindy Heuermann, director of stewardship at St. Peter's/Ladue, at (314) 991-2782. They will begin using the series this fall.
Luther Seminary
The Lutheran Church (ELCA) has been creating and distribution stewardship resources for many years and they are excellent. You can sign up for their email list and receive new ideas on a regular basis or you can just browse their site. There are sermon ideas, book reviews, program outlines, and more.
Endowments and Legacy Giving
Resources from the Episcopal Church Foundation.
Books and printed resources:
Our Stewardship: Managing Our Assets by John L. Golv.
Part of the Congregational Leader Series from Augsburg Fortress Press. Takes a look at our stewardship of what the parish has received and how we manage them for mission and ministry.
50 Ways to Help Save the Earth - How You and Your Church Can Make a Difference by Rebecca Barnes-Davies, from Westminster John Knox Press, 125 pages, paperback, c. 2009
This guide outlines fifty ways in which you, your congregation, and your local community can help fight global warming and enjoy participation in a vital part of Christian discipleship. 50 Ways to Help Save the Earth makes a clear connection, in a practical and unintimidating way, between stewardship of the earth and living one's faith. This easy-to-follow book consists of seven chapters on topics related to global climate change: Water, Energy, Transportation, Food and Agriculture, People, Other Species, and Wilderness and Land Planning. Each chapter begins with a statement on how the content relates to global warming, followed by seven action items ranging from individual efforts to activities that encourage the involvement of the congregational and wider communities. With illustrations throughout, Rebecca Barnes-Davies's book offers a lighthearted way to address global warming while teaching us to reshape our lives to honor rather than destroy God's creation.
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