You may have seen yesterday’s article from the Presbyterian News Service of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) by Evan Silverstein titled “Fresh approaches to stewardship needed, Easley says.”  The Easley is General Assembly Council Vice-chair Charles F. Easley and he was speaking to the Presbyterian Stewardship Conference in Fort Worth, Texas.

The article, while associated with the conference, mainly covered Mr. Easley’s plenary speech.  He is quoted as saying that “We have got to devise new ways to tap into the passions of people.”  And the goal?  He pointed out that in the next two years $50 to $60 trillion dollars will change hands from one generation to the next which will “give rise to a new generation of wealthy donors — ages 40 to 50 — who will demand to see ‘measurable results’ for their money before agreeing to contribute to the mission of their churches or other charities.”  In addition, Elder Easley reminded the audience that the pattern in the church today is designated  giving and that the church can not depend on the average person attending church because they have stopped coming.

Mr. Easley outlined programs the PC(USA) might implement to raise awareness and interest in mission giving and a final report will be made to the upcoming General Assembly.  The objective is to “bring resources into the church” once you learn about the passion of its members.  One of the tools proposed in the new mission funding system will be a “season of interpretation.”  This sounds like the mission worker visit we had last fall which was interesting but penetration into the churches in our presbytery was weak.  No further details are given except that the goal is to make this an annual event and that members could chose what they have a passion for.  Another component to the report is encouraging not just the transfer of wealth, but the transfer of stories and knowledge about mission from older to younger generations.  Finally, there are ideas about using on-line social networking sites to promote mission giving through relationship building.

The article concludes with Mr. Easley discussing the ideas of Walter Brueggemann about the “Liturgy of Abundance, Myth of Scarcity” and how much abundance Americans have.

Commentary Mode:  Based on these comments it appears that Mr. Easley is sending the message that “people are not coming to the PC(USA) therefore we need to pursue, court, and build relationships with high net worth individuals to support our world-wide mission because the few left in the pews can’t or won’t do it.”  Sorry if I got that wrong, but that is a major attitude I got from this article.  And I hate to say it but if this is the message that we are sending to the “average person in the pews” they will once again wonder what is up in Louisville and where is my money going?

[In case you want to argue with me here is the quote copied from the article:  “And he said forget about bringing in enough money by depending on those
coming to church. ‘It’s just not going to happen because they don’t
come,’ Easley said.”  Yes, I’m pulling one line out, but there is a strong message sent in that line.  Don’t believe me?  I read it to my wife and her response was “That’s kind of scary.”]

Apart from the emphasis on the “high net wealth” individuals in preference to the “average person in the pews” I think that Mr. Easley is starting down the right track.  Storytelling, interpretation, relationship building are all important aspects of responsible (I will avoid the word “increased”) mission giving.  My congregation is a prime example:  While we do still contribute some money each year to “undesignated” mission giving at all levels of the denomination, far more goes into specific mission projects, several not PC(USA) or of any denomination, that we have a specific relationship with.  And for most of these missions our church usually sends people on mission trips to supply some sweat as well as money and to bring back stories and experience.

This brings me to one of my major concerns about Mr. Easley’s comments and what I can tell about this conference.  (Note: I have come to respect the reporting of Mr. Silverstein so I am going to attribute these to the speaker and not the reporting or editing.)  From his comments, and the list of workshops at the conference, it is pretty clear that this conference was about Stewardship of Money.  In and of itself that is not necessarily a bad thing.  But I believe that Jesus calls us to Stewardship of Our Whole Lives, so that means we need to be responsible about our “time, talents, gifts, and service.”  If giving is down is it because we are only asking for their money?  And with the proposed new Form of Government, how does this approach to stewardship fit into the new Missional Polity.

So, I would encourage the approach of relationship building.  Go the Facebook and MySpace route because one paragraph or one sentence in the Mission Yearbook for Study and Prayer is not enough to build the relationship, and barely enough to give us something to pray over.  I hope the season of interpretation catches on, because we do need to feel connected with those we support.  While the Mission Yearbook is nice it often feels like drinking from a fire hose; find ways for congregations and individuals to effectively connect one-on-one with mission workers.  And figure out more ways that we can also use our “time, talents, and service” as will as “gifts.”  Look at the enthusiasm and participation that the PC(USA) has had in the Gulf Coast through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and the impact it has had on both the area and those who have gone there to work.  And maybe if the average person in the PC(USA) does learn about and own the mission program you won’t have to emphasize high net wealth individuals for mission funding.