Stewardship Department

Our Mission

Remind the people who are the Diocese of West Texas, that all that we are and all that we have belongs to God.  Everything is a gift from God and we are the stewards - not only of our financial resources, but also of this created earth, our time, our talents, our families, our relationships, life itself, but most importantly God's word.

Provide the tools for churches to develop the financial resources that under gird their own mission and ministry.  Thinking not in terms of what we can afford, but in terms of what we need!

Our Authority

The Department of Stewardship is created and receives its authority through The Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas Canon 5.

"Section 6.  The Department of Stewardship
   It shall be the duty of the Department of Stewardship to maintain a continuous program of education activity to confront the members of the diocese with the larger meaning of Christian stewardship, and to lead them to accept their responsibility as stewards of God' gifts; to confer with clergy, vestries, and bishop's committees on the development of a strong and continuous Christian stewardship emphasis in their congregation; to hold periodic conferences on stewardship, and to distribute literature setting forth God's claim on our time, talents and treasure; and to organize a speakers' bureau which will offer qualified persons, especially lay members, who will be ready to visit throughout the Diocese for a presentation of Christian stewardship as a way of life, and as a practical program in the Diocese."

In gathering money for ministry there are several programs used to generate resources. These tend to happen developmentally and in sequence. They include:

• events/products/and services
• annual drives/offerings
• capital campaigns
• planned giving/endowment building

 These programs tend to happen in an organization in the order listed above.
In the stewardship language of the church, we talk about these activities in the context of three faces (or aspects) of stewardship. These are:

Ordinary Stewardship
Extraordinary Stewardship
Legacy Stewardship

Ordinary Stewardship is the regular practice of returning to God a portion of all that God has given us. It involves teaching ourselves how to create a life built upon the notion that all that we have is a gift from God. This includes teaching the holy habits of keeping Sabbath and tithing and the concept that giving regularly of our time, talent, and money to God¡¦s work on this earth is as much a spiritual practice as prayer and worship.

Extraordinary Stewardship involves the special occasions that arise in the life of Christian communities that call us to give beyond our ordinary habit. They involve increased risk and encourage us to experiment with sacrificial giving in order to help the community realize an especially important goal. The best example of extraordinary stewardship is the capital campaign.

Legacy Stewardship is the way in which we address the matter of disposing of the accumulations of our lifetime. Who will use your ¡§stuff¡¨ when you no longer need it? It is the opportunity to leave a planned gift that constitutes both a legacy to generations yet unborn and a final witness to those whom we hold most dear.

From The Alleluia Fund, A Guide for Dioceses and Congregations, published by the Office of Stewardship, Episcopal Church Center, 2002

During 2002, the department restructured the "stewardship" role into distinct divisions of Annual Giving, Capital Giving, and Legacy Giving to more fully embrace all the facets of Christian Stewardship.  Each type of giving requires a structure and core knowledge appropriate for its process. We have gathered consultants with expertise in each of these divisions who will be of invaluable assistance in helping to diagnose and analyze the congregation in order to identify the best program for a particular time in the life of a congregation.  All of these financial consultants will be tithers, and each will be commissioned as a minister of the Diocese.

Annual Giving

Co-chaired by Kirk Mason and Nancy Stinson, this division is committed to provide educational resources in conjunction with commitment programs to help each congregation with the goal of year-round stewardship.  To that end, extensive resource material from The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS) is available free of charge to each parish or mission upon request.  These detailed action booklets for developing the annual commitment programs include:  The Faithful Member Home Visitation Program, The Cottage Meeting Commitment Program, The Festive Meal Commitment Program and The Personal Note Commitment Program. Trained Annual Giving Consultants who function in teams of two or three will be available to all congregations. As experienced consultants, they will know which parts of a particular program are crucial to success and which are optional.  They will know how to combine the strengths of various programs to create one that is right for your congregation. Click here to see how the annual giving consultant can help your congregation.

Capital Giving

Ed Hodge (St. Luke’s, San Antonio) oversaw the creation of this division with a Capital Campaign Coaches training in October 2002.  For those churches considering capital campaigns, consultants help vestries determine the degree of congregational readiness and then help in the planning of the education process that produces readiness in a congregation, They will do feasibility studies; coach the advance gifts portion of the campaign; and teach the mechanics required for a successful campaign including the development of a realistic timeline of activities.  They will also help determine the need for outside professional assistance and provide a listing of proven consulting firms. Click here to see how the capital giving consultant can help your congregation.

Legacy Giving

Under the leadership of Allan Paterson (Christ Church, San Antonio) a group of attorneys, estate planners and investment advisors specializing in estate planning, taxes and investing for retirement have been gathered.  They have developed a legacy stewardship vestry presentation, a one-hour congregational presentation and a three-hour “Final Affairs” presentation focusing on the meaning of Christian stewardship, wills and the probate process, estate planning tools, and death and dying issues. Because Non-profit organizations receive 90% of their charitable gifts through simple bequests, this division will focus on developing and implementing congregational “Wills Clinic.” The legacy giving section of this website now contains extensive information to better inform potential and current donors and to explain the intricacies of planned giving allowing for individual exploration. Click here to see how the legacy giving consultant can help your congregation.

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A Prayer

For Comprehensive Stewardship

Empower us by the presence of the Holy Spirit to be prophetic voices defining what it means to be a generous giver rather than a calculated taker.

Help us learn how to give of out love rather than from our need to control.
• Out of our faithfulness rather than our duty
• Out of our truthfulness rather than our untruthfulness and apology
• Out of our sense of integrated unity rather than from our sharp edges of disunity

Help us remember that it is in the selfless act of giving the very best that we have that we are able to honor you as the very source of all that we are and all that we will every be.
Help us remember that giving is ultimately far less defined simply by money and far more defined by an understanding that giving frames the very nature of our souls.
Help us show others the great privilege of giving and the great honor of receiving the blessed gifts of an always present Christ who knows us and calls us by name.

Amen

Steering Committee

Serving as oversight and coordination between divisions

Department Chair:

• Ted Burkhart, St. Luke's, San Antonio
  e-mail: ted.burkhart@ubs.com

Division Chairs:

• Kirk Mason, Annual Giving Division
  e-mail: kirkbmason@worldnet.att.net
• Ed Hodge, Capital Giving Division
  e-mail: ed.hodge@compassbnk.com
• Allan Paterson, Legacy Giving Division
  e-mail: agpaterson@coxsmith.com

Staff Laision:

• Nancy Stinson, Diocese of West Texas
  Work: (210 or 888) 824-5387
  Cell: (210) 834-7888
  e-mail: nancy.stinson@dwtx.org