Church Staffing Advice: Does Your Church Need a Stewardship Pastor?

A trend we’re seeing in our work at Vanderbloemen Search Group is that many churches are expanding their staff to include a Stewardship Pastor.

I’d go even further and state that I believe churches are doing a disservice if they do not have a ministry dedicated to helping attendees steward their resources wisely. Doing so benefits both the church and the members in a variety of ways.  

Let’s take a look at four reasons why your church should consider a Stewardship Pastor.

Reason #1: To champion biblical stewardship

If you were to ask your congregation to define biblical stewardship, how many members could answer correctly? If most don’t know the term, then you likely aren’t talking about the topic enough.

One responsibility of a  Stewardship Pastor can be to help your church community understand the concept of biblical stewardship. A key place to begin is by understanding what it means for individuals and families to steward their financial resources so they can then steward their time and talent.

This can be profoundly helpful. According to Business Insider, “In both the first and third years of marriage, money was most often reported as a topic of marital disagreement. It beat out tensions about leisure, each spouse’s family of origin, children, and religion.”

When the church can help members pursue financial health and freedom, they can then experience joy through tithing, and the church will be able to make a bigger impact on its community.

Reason #2: To carry the vision of giving in action

When churches show people where their tithes are going, they’ll experience the benefits of greater giving. A major responsibility of your Stewardship Pastor’s should be to share stories of how giving has directly impacted your community. Multimedia presentations, like video and pictures, are a great way to give people a vision of what their gifts can accomplish.
For instance:

• Are they giving to a building project? Show a video of the property and cast vision for what God can do through the new building in your community.

• Are they giving to an international project? Show what the community looks like now and share enthusiasm for what can change.

• Most importantly, share your church community’s stories. One church that does this well is Sandals Church in Riverside, CA. Their website is a trove of stories describing how their church community’s lives have been changed through the love of Jesus.

Show and tell is especially important when inspiring Millennials to give. Millennials are cause-driven and want to see where their money is going. Even something as simple as a smartphone video can be used by your Stewardship Pastor to invite your community to join the vision.

Reason #3: To make it easy for people to give

Technology is changing rapidly, and in ways that churches can leverage to meet their congregation where they are. If a church is struggling with a decline in giving but not a decline in attendance, it’s probably because they are only passing the offering plate and hoping people remember to bring cash.

Few people carry cash nowadays. If your church does not offer easy ways to tithe online or through mobile giving, then you are missing opportunities. Your Stewardship Pastor should be responsible for making sure giving is easy, streamlined, and communicated properly for your church.  

Reason #4: To take the pressure off of the Senior Pastor

Many Senior Pastors feel uncomfortable talking about tithing and money from the pulpit. Having a Stewardship Pastor on your staff who is passionate about stewardship and generosity eases him or her from the burden of casting vision for giving. 

Who Would Be a Good Stewardship Pastor?

An effective Stewardship Pastor should have these characteristics:

• Experienced life-change through biblical stewardship
• A counsellor and helper
• An inspirational vision-caster
• Comfortable teaching and leading from stage

When churches provide personnel resources for their church regarding financial stewardship, they are radically changing the lives of their people, families, and church as a whole.