Renewing Stewardship in Challenging Times

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• Renewing Stewardship in Challenging Times

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Lectures

1. The challenging context for financial stewardship
2. Consumerism and Justification/Justice
3. Stewardship as Reformation
4. Stewardship as Spiritual Practice
5. Stewardship for the Next Generation

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Definitions

• Steward manager of anothers property
• Fundraising for the church
• as everything we do after we say we believe.
  (Clarence Stoughton)It is our living relationship
  with God and Gods creation. It is Gods
  un-conditional love and salvation through Jesus
  Christ, and the gift of grace through the Holy
  Spirit. (LSTC website)

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Definitions

• Stewardship means belonging to God, all that we
  are and all that we have comes from God (Mark
  Alan Powell- ELCA website).
• the summing up of the meaning of the Christian
  life.
• A basic orientation to the world.
• The life and work of the church DJH

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Definition

• Stewardship is a holistic way of life, that
  informs everything we do, more so it is a way of
  being, not doing. A joyful living out of a core
  Christian identity and discipleship. A living
  out of the abundance of Gods grace and provision
  in relationship to God, creation and one another.

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Challenging Contexts
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Post-modernism

• Challenges objectivity, universal truths,
  ultimate principles or meta-narratives
• Pluralism, individualism, relativism, skepticism,
  social constructivism
• Fluidity of identity
• Personal contexts rule

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Personal values about money

• Negative

• Positive

• is root of all evil
• Save, Save, Save
• Keep it at home
• Dont ask for money

• tool for good, that enhances values
• Can accomplish goals
• Good to spend, endorse, shape values
• Good to ask money for a good cause

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Challenging Contexts
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Changing role of Church

• No longer social center
• No longer only one providing social services
  lots of worthy organizations
• Graying of church
• Rural churches 75 no longer here in 20 years
• ELCA figures approx. less than 2 of income

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Passing the Plate Smith, Emerson

• 20 of all Christians give nothing to any charity
• Lutherans give 1.7 annual income to all
  charities
• Small minority of generous givers contribute most
  (look for median not average)
• Top 5 mainline gives 57 of all charitable giving

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Changing role of the Church Religion

• A stretch here, but ?
• Compartmentalization of religion
• Faith is about the spiritual, my relationship
  with God
• It is not about MONEY, POLITICS, ECONOMY,
  ECOLOGY..

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Commodification of Religion

• Religion is a thing to provide utility or meaning
  or desire to belong (to be consumed)
• Disconnect between beliefs and practices,
• Religious smorgasbord pick practices but ignore
  beliefs behind those practices, abstracted and
  given new meaning
• Cross as jewelry

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Competing Religions - Consumption

• Sacred Santa Dell deChant
• Consumption as the meaning of life, the basis of
  the ultimate legitimation,
• A comprehensive way of being and living
• Meta-myths of success and affluence
• Seen as natural, as the way things are and ought
  to be
• Shopping therapy

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Competing Religions Therapeutic Moralistic
Deism

• God exists
• God wants us to be nice to each other
• Central goal in life is to be happy and feel good
  about ones self
• God only needed to resolve problems (otherwise
  God is not on the horizon)
• Good people good to heaven when they die

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Prosperity Gospel?

• Difficulties biblical warrants
• Is Gods economy truly one of reciprocity of quid
  pro quo?

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Individualism not individuality

• Choices
• Utilitarianism payoff, return
• Expressive how my choices allow me to express
  myself
• Self-fulfillment

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Individualism

• Sometimes sense of entitlement, exception and
  personal power

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Individualism

• Can abdicate responsibility to others
• View problem as too big for one person
• Get free benefits from corporate goals
  (collective action shirking)
• Civil rights movement
• Church giving

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Individualism

• It is MY MONEY, dont talk about it
• Shenandoah clip
• OR
• Individualistic servanthood/discretionary
  obligation all that I have is from God or is
  Gods but no one, including God can tell me what
  to do with it.

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ECONOMY POWER OF MONEY

• Questions where is the economy?
• Uncertainty about future
• Fear/anxiety
• Sense of scarcity

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Compartmentalization of the economy

• The only social responsibility of a business is
  to make money. Milton Friedman
• Selfishness is a virtue Ayn Rand
• Place for the market economy
• Is it good for the economy? Should we be asking
  other questions?

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Money as taboo
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Money as taboo

• Private dont talk about it
• How much do you make (pastors, teachers)
• Shame, unworthiness
• Anxiety
• Addiction how much is enough
• Idolatry

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Passing the Plate relative deprivation

• Christians have the resources to tithe, but
  tithing would cut into discretionary consumer
  items
• median credit card debt 2,200
• However, people perceive they do not have the
  resources to tithe
• Partially status discontent driven by advertising

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Consumerism

• Major issue that needs to be addressed.
• It will next lecture