DO WE LIMIT OUR DISCIPLESHIP AND STEWARDSHIP?

 

            I’ve blogged before about the relationship of discipleship with stewardship, but I wanted to talk about this again.

            How often has your church come to the end of the year, and there’s a rush to raise a chunk of money to meet the payment of ministry shares and other year-end costs. You and the finance team and leadership spend a lot of time during Advent talking and planning for this, and then come January…you did it! Enough money came in through people’s generosity that everything was able to be paid. Big sigh of relief, right? But it’s a cycle that repeats year after year after year.

 What if we did it differently, not waiting until the end of the year, but throughout the year?

            I know, I know, I hear you.

• ·         We can’t talk about money more than once or twice a year. People don’t like it.
• ·         Stewardship campaigns have to happen in the fall.
• ·         People are giving all they can.
• ·         Etc., etc.

What if we approached discipleship the same way?

• ·         We aren’t going to create and follow a clear and compelling mission statement, because people don’t like it.
• ·         The only thing that’s important is the number of people sitting in the pews.
• ·         We can’t encourage people to join small groups or serve in the neighborhood because people don’t have any more time.

Of course, discipleship should be woven into everything that is done at the church. Jesus said to go and make disciples. If we are Christians and follow Jesus, that is what we must do. Our mission statement compels us to do that. We are disciples and we should be discipling others. That is done year-round.

Just as discipleship is year-round, stewardship must be as well. Stewardship should be woven into the fabric of everything the church does and is.

       So…is discipleship a priority for you?

       So…what is the answer to “We believe God has called our church to _____”?

 

 

Please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or susanranous@unyumc.org if you’d like to talk about this and how stewardship at your church can work together with discipleship and the intentionality of it all!