I see you, church leader. I see you looking at the calendar and realizing that it is – once again – stewardship season.

When I was asked to write this piece, my response was something along the lines of, “October is too late for a piece about stewardship.” 

What if we take this opportunity to make sure that next fall, we aren’t approaching stewardship season with this familiar dread, anxiety, misgiving, or frustration? 

What if we arrive in October of next year having talked about generosity all year long? What if our team has been noticing beautiful moments of generosity throughout the year? 

What if our worship, bulletins, newsletters, visits and church events have been chock-full of moments to say thank you, or to reflect on how the Kin-dom of God is emerging thanks to gifts of time, talent and treasure?

Merriam-Webster defines stewardship as the careful management of what has been entrusted to our care. By that definition, how we use our time to nurture generosity is itself an act of stewardship. Generosity, after all, is a fruit of the Spirit. 

Five Questions to Engage Stewardship Differently This Year 

My best teaching and leading happen when they are woven through every part of my ministry, not saved for one season of the year. Consider asking these five questions at the beginning of every month of the year:

  1. When is the team meeting? Don’t sell the “stewardship team” as a short-term assignment! Nurture lay leaders who are generous and passionate about sharing good news. Meet about once a month and work through these questions together. Begin with prayer – invite the Holy Spirit to root your shared work in an expectation that God will keep showing up.
  2. What examples of generosity have we seen this month? This question helps your team practice noticing generosity so they can share those stories with the wider congregation. Maybe people stepped up for a service project, or someone took communion to a member who could not be in worship. Once we begin to witness and name generosity, it becomes hard not to see it. 
  3. Where can you tell these stories in the months to come? Pull out the calendar and look at your communications, worship schedule, preaching plans, lectionary texts, and upcoming events. Think about what images support these stories, and make sure someone is snapping photos any time people gather to serve, worship, learn and enjoy fellowship. Weave in stories often and with deep authenticity – in sermons, as part of the offering moment, during the welcome, perhaps even as a children’s moment. Set a benchmark – can your team find three ways to tell a story each month? Five ways?
  4. What relationships require food and water this month? Relationships are organic – they need to be rooted and nurtured. In a time when church is changing and financial landscapes are shifting, I am returning to what I know to be true about “friend-raising”: We can only move at the speed of relationship. Who needs to hear about an emerging program? Who needs to be told how their work makes a difference right now? Who needs a listening ear? We make time for these relationships because people matter, not because we need their money.
  5. Who will you thank? Make a list of people who need to be thanked. Better yet, each week, name three to five people who need to hear that they are appreciated. Then actually make a call, send a note or find a way to say thank you in person.

Now, I am aware that some of the most important work of nurturing generosity is rooted in those last two questions. But I firmly believe that your team will gain wisdom and enthusiasm by talking about what they are observing first.

Here’s the thing, church leader: Stewardship isn’t a campaign we survive each fall. It is part of the larger work of transformational discipleship. 

As people grow in relationship with the triune God, they become more generous – not because we found the perfect words in October, but because they have been changed all year long.

That means our own time and attention are gifts entrusted to our care, too. When we steward our leadership by noticing, naming and giving thanks month after month, we are doing more than preparing for a pledge drive. We are helping people see God at work in their own generosity – and inviting them to join in.

So imagine October of next year. The calendar turns, and instead of dread, you have a team that has prayed together all year, a file overflowing with stories, and a congregation that already knows what its generosity makes possible.

I see you, church leader. And I see what God is already doing through you.

About the author — Rev. Dr. Laura Norvell (she/her) holds a BA from Indiana University and an MDIV from Wesley Theological Seminary. As an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church, she’s recently served in suburban congregations in the Baltimore Washington Annual Conference after serving 12 years in seminary development and administration. Recent work has been focused on congregational turnaround. Beyond the local church, she coaches with a focus on fundraising and leadership.