Speaker: Stewardship calls for being in life of congregation

TACOMA – Keith Mundy, ELCA assistant director for stewardship, was the keynoter for five recent events at synod congregations.
Some 40 persons attended one at Peace Lutheran Church of Tacoma on Aug. 28, where he explained that while 90 percent of people believe all that they have belongs to God, only a few live that out.
"Stewardship is about connecting what we believe with our lifestyle," he said.
Yet our culture teaches us to accumulate and hold onto everything, he continued.
"We have to turn things upside down and look at things differently," he said.
Rather than inviting newcomers to first give generously, congregations should first work to make them part of the life of congregations, he said. Giving follows later.
When congregation members are asked to plan on giving a specific dollar amount, giving increases 70 percent, he said. When they’re asked to give a percent of their total income, giving increases much more, he said.
Lutherans give 1.5 percent of their income, on average, the lowest of any mainline denomination. "There is room to grow," he said.
Mundy said congregation members sharing stories about their history of giving is effective.
In a workshop that followed, Margie Fiedler, vice president of marketing for the ELCA Mission Investment Fund and Jim Leistikow, director of Lutheran Planned Giving Consortium of Western Washington, focused on teaching children about stewardship.
A good place to start is sharing the 10-10-80 rule, they advised. That means putting 10 percent of their money toward savings, 10 percent toward giving, and spending the rest.
The pair suggested getting children involved early in stewardship opportunities at church, including taking part in collecting offering. The Mission Investment Fund has many other opportunities to save and to learn the practice of giving. Fiedler is available to help parents find those paths. She can be reached at (208) 664-7973 or margie.fiedler@elca.org.
Other congregations that hosted the stewardship event include Dungeness Valley Lutheran Church of Sequim, Amazing Grace Lutheran church of Aberdeen, Trinity Lutheran Church of Vancouver and Gloria Dei Lutheran Church of Olympia.