John R Frank, MA, CFRE

(Over the next few eNewsletters I will share some of my observations of stewardship trends (my dissertation focus) that will affect your development strategies.)

As I continue on my topic of stewardship trends from my Doctor of Ministry-Leadership in the Emerging Culture I examined the role of stewardship education in U.S. churches. The results were very disappointing.

TREND #2- The Lack of Stewardship Education.

I did not find any post-graduate programs that focused on stewardship and development in a seminary or theological school. I found the following programs available:

            MA in Philanthropy and Development – Saint Mary’s University – Winona, MN

            (I received my MA from Saint Mary’s in 1994)

            MA in Philanthropic Studies – Indiana School of Philanthropy – Bloomington, IN

            MS in Fund Raising  - NYU, New York, NY

Through my research of theological schools and also involvement with the development arm of ATS (Association of Theological Schools) I did not find any schools that offered programs, courses, or even classes in stewardship as a ministry. If there were any classes touching on this subject, it was in a church business administration class. In this approach it referred only to the financial aspect of church finances and the pastor.

As you can imagine, this was very disappointing. After all these years of CSA, CMA, and other organizations working on the topic, still no organization of higher learning has seen the need to offer a degree in this field.

So why as development officers should we be concerned with the lack of stewardship education?

Each profession becomes a profession by acquiring a body of knowledge (a library) and then offering education degrees in that profession. The profession of fund raising has been working on this for many years. (www.afp.org)

How can we expect our donors and congregations to see stewardship as an integral part of our lives if our Christian community and society does not see any value in the profession?  Our seminaries are not fostering any research nor offering any courses in stewardship.  Our pastors have not received any seminary training in stewardship as a part of the Christian life.

So the outcome is churches where generosity is not taught, and the latest fund raising strategy becomes the model.

As Christian ministries we must continually be searching for ways to educate our donors in stewardship and the life of a steward. There are many resources to guide us. We as development or stewardship professionals must be advancing our field to bring new and energetic young people into this great ministry of development. Only then will we become a profession that not only trains and equips stewards for kingdom work, but also provides the necessary resources of prayer, volunteers, and finances to fund the work.

Together let us all become educators of biblical stewardship and see God empower us and supply us to meet the needs of our clients, patients, and needy friends.