One-Minute Stewardship: Creative Ways to Talk about Money in Church

ONE-MINUTE

Stewardship

ONE-MINUTE

Stewardship

Creative Ways

to Talk about Money

in Church

Charles Cloughen Jr.

Copyright © 2018 by Charles Cloughen Jr.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher, except the one-minute meditations and then only by the local congregation for its own use in a bulletin, weekly or monthly e-mail, or in a print newsletter.

Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All meditations not otherwise credited were written by the Rev. Charles E. Cloughen Jr.

Church Publishing

19 East 34th Street

New York, NY 10016

www.churchpublishing.org

Cover design by Jennifer Kopec, 2Pug Design

Typeset by PerfecType, Nashville, TN

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Cloughen, Charles, author.

Title: One-minute stewardship : creative ways to talk about money in church /

Charles Cloughen Jr.

Description: New York : Church Publishing, 2018. | Includes bibliographical

references and indexes.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018000863 (print) | LCCN 2018015088 (ebook) | ISBN 9781640650091 (ebook) | ISBN 9781640650084 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Christian giving.

Classification: LCC BV772 (ebook) | LCC BV772 .C568 2018 (print) | DDC 248/.6--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018000863

ISBN-13: 978-1-64065-008-4 (pbk.)

ISBN-13: 978-1-64065-009-1 (ebook)

Printed in Canada

Contents

Acknowledgments

Contributing Authors

Foreword by The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, Episcopal Diocese of Maryland

Introduction

Terminology

Section I      Theology of Stewardship

Section II     Ultimate Stewardship: Don’t Leave a Mess

Section III    How to Construct Your Own Stewardship Meditations and Use Them to Encourage Generous Giving

Section IV    Stewardship Meditations

Section V     Giving Meditations

Section VI    Special Occasion Meditations

Section VII   Planned Giving Meditations

Bibliography

Indexes

Contributing Authors

Acknowledgments

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who assisted in making this book possible. It would not have been published without the hard work and help of:

•    The Rev. Elizabeth Masterson, who supported me in writing this book. She was my primary editor and helped with formatting the meditations, rewriting my Theology of Stewardship, and patiently encouraging me along my journey. Without her this book would not have been possible.

•    Mr. Milton Brasher-Cunningham, my editor at Church Publishing who has worked with me to make this book a reality. Without his help this book would not have been published.

•    Bishop Eugene Sutton, who has written the foreword, and who invited me to become the Director of Planned Giving, Stewardship, and Development in 2009. His support has been unwavering in my work.

•    My beloved wife, Judy, who encouraged and supported me in my ministry for some thirty years, and who entered eternal life on January 10, 2014.

•    My children, Chad, Tamara, Teresa, and Wendy, who have emotionally supported me in my writing of this book.

•    Mr. James Murphy and Mr. Ken Quigley, who have supported my work in planned giving in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

•    Ms. Pamela Wesley, director of advancement at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, who mentored me for some eight years in the importance of personal relationships in stewardship.

•    All those who wrote the meditations on giving, stewardship, church year, special occasions, and planned giving that are a centerpiece of this book.

I want to thank the following persons who have inspired, nurtured, and taught me the essence of stewardship as well as the value of personal relationships these past forty-eight years—Thank you, thank you, thank you:

•    The Rev. James Annand

•    Adam Barner

•    Mary Blair

•    The Very Rev. Rob Boulter

•    James Byers

•    Oscar Carr

•    Thomas Carson

•    Charles and Anna Cloughen

•    The Rev. Roy Cole

•    The Rev. Canon David Crockett

•    Hugh Davies

•    Tom Gossen

•    Kathy Grayson

•    Phoebe Griswold

•    Jason Hoffman

•    Glenn Holliman

•    The Rev. Halsey Dewolf Howe

•    Elizabeth Huntress

•    The Rt. Rev. Robert Ihloff

•    The Rev. Frederick Jellison

•    The Rev. Laurel Johnson

•    The Rt. Rev. Charles Longest

•    Anne Lynn

•    The Rev. Michael Mayor

•    William McClintock

•    Frederick Osborn

•    The Rev. Terry Parsons

•    The Rev. Kenneth Phelps

•    The. Rt. Rev. John Rabb

•    The Rev. Ronald Reed

•    The Rev. George Regas

•    Robert (BO) Rice

•    Frank Robinson

•    The Rev. Austin Schildwachter

•    Dowell Schwartz

•    Sharon Tillman

•    Charles Wilson

My thanks to the vestries and parishioners where I served my ministry and learned through experience the practice of stewardship.

•    St. Martin’s Church, Providence, Rhode Island

•    St. Matthew’s Church, Jamestown, Rhode Island

•    St. John’s Church, Waterbury, Connecticut

•    St. Andrew’s Church, Pasadena, Maryland

•    St. Thomas’ Church, Towson, Maryland

•    And the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland

Contributing Authors

The Rev. Stacy Alan

Chaplain, Brent House, the Episcopal Center at the University of Chicago

The Rev. Melvin Amerson

The Methodist Foundation, Austin, TX

Pastor Hilarion Arenas

Tarija, Bolivia, with Five Talents USA

Mr. Brian Joseph Backe

Senior Director for U.S. Programs and Resource for Catholic Relief Services

The Rev. Jane R. Bearden, STM, Hon.rt.

The Presbytery of Baltimore, MD

The Rev. Dr. William L. Bearden, Hon.rt.

The Presbytery of Baltimore, MD

Ms. Amanda Beyer

Senior Program Officer, Episcopal Migration Ministries

Dr. Mary Blair

Chair, Stewardship Team, Cathedral of the Incarnation, Baltimore, MD

The Rt. Rev. Joe Goodwin Burnett

Tenth Bishop of Nebraska, 2003–2011

Mr. Jerry Campbell

Capital Campaign Consultant, Episcopal Church Foundation

The Very Rev. Stephen Carlsen

Dean and Rector, Christ Church Cathedral, Indianapolis, IN

The Rev. Suzanne M. Culhane

Canon for Stewardship, Diocese of Long Island

The Rev. Mary Davisson

Executive Director/Port Chaplain, Baltimore International Seafarers’ Center

Ms. W. Lee Dickson

Executive Director, Godly Play Foundation, Inc.

The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle

Ninth Bishop of Texas

Mr. Rick Felton

The Episcopal Network for Stewardship

The Rev. Canon Scott Gunn

Executive Director, Forward Movement, Cincinnati, OH

The Rev. Canon Jan Hamill

Director, Episcopal Service Corps, Maryland

The Rev. Dr. Thomas John Hastings

Executive Director, Overseas Ministries Study Center, New Haven, CT

Ms. Constance Hegarty

Retired Organist and Choir Director, Windsor Locks, CT

The Rt. Rev. Robert W. Ihloff Bishop of Maryland, Retired

Ms. Heather Joseph

Senior Program Manager, Foundation Programs, Episcopal Migration Ministries

The Rt. Rev. Chilton R. Knudsen

Assistant Bishop of Maryland

The Rev. Canon Charles LaFond

Canon Steward, St. John’s Cathedral, Denver, CO

The Rev. Dr. James B. Lemler

Rector, Christ Church, Greenwich, CT

The Rev. Kristen Looney

Director of Partnerships, Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute, Washington, DC

Ms. Anne K. Lynn

President, American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem

The Rev. Elizabeth Rust Masterson

Rector (retired), St. Nicholas’ Church, Newark, DE

The Rev. Jeff McKnight

Board Member, Five Talents, USA

Mr. James W. N. Murphy, CFRE

Managing Program Director, Financial Resources, Episcopal Church Foundation

Mr. Jim Oakes

CEO, Five Talents USA

The Rev. Dr. Daniel L. Ogden

Retired Pastor, Reformed Church in America

The Rev. Stephen Parker

Author, Bridges: Embracing Faith and Science, retired Chaplain, Salisbury School, Salisbury, CT

Ms. Julia Pearson

Canon for Evangelism, Cathedral of the Incarnation, Baltimore, MD

Mr. Will Putz

Director of Development, Five Talents USA

Mr. Kenneth H. Quigley

Senior Program Director, Endowment Management Solutions, Episcopal Church Foundation

The Rt. Rev. John L. Rabb

Bishop Suffragan (retired), Episcopal Diocese of Maryland

Mr. Robert W. Radtke

President, Episcopal Relief and Development, New York, NY

The Rev. David A. Rash

Stewardship Matters, Virginia

Mr. Robert B. Rice

Principal and Managing Director, CCS Fundraising

The Rt. Rev. Gregory H. Rickel Bishop, Diocese of Olympia

Ms. Kate Riley

Diocesan Youth Missioner, The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland

The Rev. C. K. Robertson, PhD

Canon to the Presiding Bishop for Ministry Beyond the Episcopal Church

The Rev. Margarita Santana

Canon for Latino Ministry, Episcopal Diocese of Maryland

The Rev. Regan M. Schutz

Director of Communications and Development, Godly Play Foundation, Sewanee, TN

Mr. Greg Sharkey

Senior Philanthropy Advisor, The Nature Conservancy

The Rev. Dr. J. Barrie Shepherd

Minister Emeritus of historic First Presbyterian Church, New York, NY

The Rev. Dr. Laura Sheridan-Campbell

Vicar, Holy Cross Church, Carlsbad, CA

Ms. Julie Simonton

Officer for Congregational Development and Stewardship, The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia

The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton

Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Maryland

Ms. Betty Symington

Executive Director, ERICA—Episcopal Refuge and Immigrant Center Alliance, Baltimore, MD

The Rev. Daniel Webster

Canon for Evangelism and Media, Episcopal Diocese of Maryland

The Rev. Fred Weimert

Vice President of the Board, Central Maryland Ecumenical Council

The Rt. Rev. Carl Walter Wright

VII Bishop Suffragan for the Armed Forces and Federal Ministries

Foreword

Iwas honored when the Rev. Charles Cloughen asked me to write the foreword to this new book, One-Minute Stewardship: Creative Ways to Talk about Money in Church. Eight years ago I asked him to lead the Diocese of Maryland’s efforts to raise money to fund our growing mission initiatives. Let me tell you when and how that hiring decision happened; it’s a true God story!

Charlie had recently retired as a parish priest when he invited me to lunch in June 2009. (Charles had developed a prodigious invite people to lunch ministry, and I came to learn from him over the years that feeding people is a very successful tactic for raising money.) He took me to Germano’s, his favorite restaurant in Little Italy in downtown Baltimore—which later put up a bronze plaque naming Father Charles’ ‘Luncheon Ministry’ as the place in the restaurant where he’s always seated. What Charlie didn’t know is that a few hours earlier the person on my staff responsible for development had just resigned to take on a new job.

At lunch, Charlie and I got to know each other better, and we talked about what made us passionate about the work we do as church leaders. He told me about the book he published in 1997, One-Minute Stewardship Sermons, and how stewardship and evangelism were closely linked—two sides of one coin. He was clearly energized about reaching out to people and funding mission to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. I immediately asked him to be my new Director of Planned Giving, Stewardship, and Development, the position had been open for six hours!

It was one of the wisest decisions I’ve ever made. Since Charlie began in 2009, we have tripled the total number of our donors through several giving portals and increased substantially the total giving to our various ministries. In 2008, the diocese had 335 donors who gave $95,621 through our annual Bishop’s Appeal. In 2015, the last year he was responsible for the Appeal, it had 881 donors giving a total of $214,319.

Charles believes that the basis of stewardship is gratitude, an appreciation for God’s abundant grace and generosity. A spirit of thanksgiving underlies it all. He teaches and lives the belief that the key to development are six key words: Thank you, thank you, thank you! He is constantly thanking people.

Charles also knows that when it comes to stewardship, leaders lead. Throughout his time on diocesan staff he reached out to all our new clergy, both those called from other dioceses and those who received new calls to parishes within our diocese. He invited them all individually to have lunch with him at Germano’s to welcome them to the Diocese of Maryland. He knows that effective stewardship is rooted in the importance of developing personal relationships. People do not give to programs, but to people.

The response to his personal outreach to the clergy was impressive. In 2008, only 34 clergy gave to the Bishop’s Appeal; by the end of 2015 there were 207 clergy donors (almost all of our active clergy and many of the retired ones)—a six-fold increase.

I believe there can be no strong, thriving diocese without having strong, thriving parishes. Effective stewardship must have congregational financial development at its core. An essential part of this development has to be planned giving. When Charlie began his work in 2009, we had a diocesan Legacy Society that consisted of 170 households from 38 parishes. He developed a sermon called Don’t Leave a Mess that he preached in many of our congregations, both large and small, and conducted workshops in the parishes on Planning for the End of Life. As of this year, there are now 341 households in 54 congregations that remember their parish (and in some cases the diocese as well) in their wills. Through Charles Cloughen’s efforts and the planned giving team he has put together, more and more churches will achieve more financial stability in hard times because more of their members are generous in remembering the church at the time of their death.

This book will give you some of the reasons we have been so successful. These meditations give spiritually based and very practical ways of reminding all Christians of their role in moving forward God’s vision for their communities through stewardship. The meditations can be used at the time of the offertory; they can be printed in Sunday morning leaflets, parish newsletters, and weekly parish e-mails. They are also an excellent resource for sermons, containing many good illustrations for solid stewardship teaching.

Instead of writing the book all himself, in typical fashion Charles Cloughen has reached out to church leaders to offer their own wisdom about stewardship. What an expansive model for doing God’s work! By incorporating many voices, the book itself models the way that Charlie raises money to further the mission of God: invite everybody to participate in the community of love known as the body of Christ, ask them to do something big for something good, and then share in God’s abundance.

To my friend and colleague in ministry Charles Cloughen, please know that these six words flow from my heart to yours: Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Blessings always,

The Right Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton

Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Maryland

Introduction

One-Minute Stewardship: Creative Ways to Talk about Money in Church finds its basis in three principles:

•    The first principle: connect the vision and mission of the parish or congregation with its stewardship. How parishioners use their time, talents and abilities, and their money can make this vision and mission a reality. Thank them for the generous giving of their time, their talents and abilities, and their money.

•    The second principle: stewardship preaching and teaching must take place all year long. A parish should not confine it to six weeks in the fall.

•    The third principle: generous giving requires creating good relationships and connections.

How Is Your Congregation Connecting with One Another?

Today we live in a world of connection in ways I could not have imagined when I wrote One-Minute Stewardship Sermons some twenty years ago: weekly e-mails to congregants, Facebook, texting, Twitter, and Instagram. These media are connecting people and are changing our world in ways we are just beginning to understand. Today, many congregations have Facebook pages that highlight activities in the congregation and parishioners’ involvement in these parish ministries. Parishes can send out e-mail blasts with details on the funeral arrangements for a beloved parishioner or to describe a special event at the church. The incredible feature is that these cost nothing to send out; the only expense is a person’s time and talent to compose the e-mail. In some of our smaller congregations, a weekly e-mail from the rector keeps the congregation up-to-date on the ministries that are being done in the name of Jesus. Since many of our parishioners no longer attend every Sunday, the weekly e-mail and Facebook may be the only connections to the congregation. I believe every congregation needs a weekly e-mail that can be used for the teaching and practice of stewardship. My concern is for those who do not have e-mail. I recommend a monthly newsletter to be sent out by both e-mail, as well as through the postal service—for those who don’t have a computer. These can have articles about giving and stewardship.

How Are These Challenging Times for Our Church Community to Keep Connected?

Our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry was asked at an event I attended, What is the most challenging thing facing the Church?

He answered, "I was on my way to preach at the church of one of my vicars in rural North Carolina. I asked, ‘What is your competition: the Baptists, Methodists, or Disciples of Christ?’ As we [the bishop and the vicar] rounded the bend, there was a soccer field with several hundred children and parents. And this was in rural North Carolina on a Sunday morning."

Sunday morning has radically changed in America. The church has major competition from all kinds of activities. For many, it is children’s athletics: traveling soccer and football teams in the fall, and baseball and lacrosse teams in the spring have supplanted Sunday worship. Good parents who value Sunday worship need to say no to Sunday morning