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Stewardship is the nuts and bolts of how we live our lives; stewardship is what we do with what we have. In my young adult years, I did not want to hear about stewardship – about how I spent my time and money. Guilt and shame were a part of my story – I didn’t feel like I made good decisions. I know that my experience is not unique. At some point in my life, there was a shift and I learned from some teachers and mentors about the call to live with my values aligned with my gifts and resources. I learned that giving was a response to my faith and that it could actually be a joy to give. (Trust me, I did not experience that at first.)
My husband and I decided as we got married that we would tithe and for several years, it was a commitment, but I didn’t feel like we gave “joyfully”. But we gave, consistently through the years. And then, I began to notice that something was different. First, I noticed that we had enough. We had enough, even though we tithed. Or maybe, we had enough, because we tithed. I’m not sure which it was. And then I noticed that I began to feel joy in that I could give, to the church, to other causes and organizations and that I was feeling a deeper satisfaction about that than I had expected. That is just a small part of my own story of our “stewarding” of our resources. I believe that we as a Synod need to learn and talk about stewardship and what we do with what we have. As a Synod, I hope that the newly appointed and convened Stewardship Task Force can help to open up the conversation about stewardship. There are two aspects of the topic that are important: one is that people are hungry for ways to live lives of faith with their money and time. The other is that people want to respond to something that means something to them and to give to something that makes a difference. In the next months, the Stewardship Task Force members will be sharing about giving and mission. This group will be meeting regularly to work to address stewardship from a variety of angles and will be sharing that with you all through the News of the Week. If you have questions or comments or would like to know more about how to engage in stewardship, please contact me. May God bless you and your response to God’s grace and love, Pastor Peggy Paugh Leuzinger Director for Evangelical Mission for the Montana Synod
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Dear friends in Christ, I have referred to LEAD,(Living Every Day as Disciples) the organization led by Peggy Hahn in Texas as a helpful and visionary organization working with congregations to address issues that are facing all congregations. As you come to the end of the year, and maybe as you make decisions about how to enter into a new year, the article below about change may be helpful. (I am not advocating that you financially support LEAD....but refer you to the article for the content about facing change. Take a look at the article. Then I encourage you to spend some time examining the three points: Leading change requires support, leading change requires growth, leading change requires discomfort. Maybe these would be helpful to ponder in your text study or with your cluster. I welcome your thoughts, too. Comment on my blog or call me. May you seek light and hope in these Advent days! And may you see and experience the light of Christ! Peggy Paugh Leuzinger Director for Evangelical Mission for the Montana Synod  In the last weeks, in the News of the Week, I have included an invitation and encouragement for pastors and leaders in congregations to engage in the practice of “Dwelling in the Word”. You can find the Dwelling in the Word document on the Montana Synod web site under the “Resources” drop down menu under “Dwelling in the Word”. This is a copy ready document that you might use for your church council meeting, a Bible Study gathering, a family gathering in your congregation or with a youth group. Please use it and if necessary, revise it to make it fit for your context.
If you missed it, I encourage you to refer back to my blog (Rise Up, O Church) on the Montana Synod website to see the rationale for encouraging congregations to engage in this practice. (From Oct. 31st.) If you have tried using the Dwelling in the Word in your setting and you have comments or feedback or examples to encourage others, please contact me! I would love to hear your feedback and stories. Also, please note the continuing education opportunity coming up at Essex with Dr. Pat Kiefert in March. Pat saw the need for Congregational Vitality many years ago and has been working to encourage congregations to shift their emphasis from programs to relationships. I invite you to join in that time of learning together, courtesy of NRIT! The definition of Congregational vitality: communities of Jesus where there are life-changing relationships with God, one another and the world; is not a program to use, but rather a way of thinking about and focusing energy on how congregations function. It is similar to our Montana Synod benchmark; “strengthen congregations.” It is the invitation to each of us to grow in our faith and share that with others. May God bless you and your congregation in these Advent days as you draw closer to our Lord! Blessings to you all, Pastor Peggy Paugh Leuzinger Director for Evangelical Mission for the Montana Synod Check out more resources for Dwelling in the Word on our website! As the Director for Evangelical Mission for the Montana Synod, part of what I am called to do is to encourage and assist congregations to be focused on vitality and life – to emphasize in all that is done in congregations that God is calling us to deeper, life changing relationships with God, one another and the world. As I join in conversations with leaders in many congregations, I hear a yearning for tools to help congregations grow deeper in faith and to change from a focus on the anxiety of wondering about the future and the congregation’s sustainability to a faithful expression of being the church in the place where the congregation is planted.
Congregational vitality: communities of Jesus where there are life-changing relationships with God, one another and the world; is not a program to use, but rather a way of thinking about and focusing energy on how congregations function. It is similar to our Montana Synod benchmark; “strengthen congregations.” The Vitality Team chaired by Pastor Andy Wendle met recently and recommended that the Montana Synod join together in a process of “Dwelling in the Word” beginning in the Epiphany season, using the same text in all congregations around the Synod. Our encouragement to you as leaders is to begin to think how you can incorporate the practice of Dwelling in the Word to deepen your relationships with God and others in your congregation. Here are a few suggestions that the Team came up with of how to do that: § use Dwelling in the Word for devotions for council and other meetings during the Epiphany season § use Dwelling the Word during a sermon, leaving time for one to one conversation and then some time to process together § encourage families to use Dwelling in the Word at home § use Dwelling in the Word as Bible study time during the season § use Dwelling in the Word with youth/confirmation § use Dwelling in the Word for Men’s breakfasts or as part of a women’s Bible Study Some advantages of using Dwelling in the Word on a regular and consistent basis: § we become more comfortable participating in conversation about scripture and wondering how it impacts us in our own lives § we model that the Bible is the source of our strength § we learn from and grow closer to people in our congregation These are then marks of being a vital congregation—growing in life-changing relationships with God, one another and the world. The Vitality Team offers this as a suggestion and encourages pastors and leaders to implement this suggestion in a way that you think is most effective in your own setting. Look for more information about the process of Dwelling in the Word in the next weeks. As the Montana Synod is in an process as we prepare for the election of a new Bishop, the Vitality Team hopes that a Synod-wide focus on a text and process of deepening our faith together will guide us as we move into the future. Blessings to you! Pastor Peggy Paugh Leuzinger Director for Evangelical Mission for the Montana Synod The church includes the three expressions -- congregations, synods and the churchwidje organization. We have heard people say "We are able to do so much more together." Mission support is what allows us to do so much more together than what we can do as individuals or congregations. Please see how you might use this article and the study guide in your congregation, with the church council, during an adult forum or other setting to help people to understand how we are church together.
If you have questions, please contact me! Blessings to you! How often do you hear the question, “What is Mission Support?” Or maybe you hear something like, “We just don’t understand what Mission Support does.” We know that Mission Support can be complicated to explain, especially conveying its connection to congregational life. In a recent article in Living Lutheran, Pastor Robert Blezard defines Mission Support and why it’s vital to all three expressions of the ELCA. We encourage you to share this article, which provides insight into how Mission Support works and testimony from ELCA congregations who faithfully share Mission Support, extending their ministry beyond their own communities. The article also comes with a helpful study guide! Yours, in love and service to our Lord, Peggy Paugh Leuzinger Director for Evangelical Mission for the Montana Synod Do you have an idea for a “New Ministry Start”? If you do, I would love to talk to you about it! I know that there are people around the Montana Synod who are wondering about new possibilities for new ministries. One of the joys of my position is wondering how new ministries might come to life here in the Synod. So, let’s talk!
Pastors and Congregational Leaders: Be looking for the packet for your congregation’s leadership to determine what your intent for giving to the work of the Synod and the whole church will be in 2019. As you work on your budget and as you lift up and encourage stewardship in these days, please use these resources to help inspire people as you join in conversation together and determine how much you will give for the sake of the whole church. And please remember to return the Statement of Intent to the Synod Office as soon as you can. We are church together! To leaders in congregations (and pastors and LPAs): Communication and relationships. It is important! It is critical! It is one of the challenges that we hear about in the Synod office – that people do not know what is happening in the Synod or the whole church. Please encourage people to sign up for the Synod’s newsletter, or sign them up yourself, or make a request for people to give their address to the church office if they would like to receive the newsletter. Be creative, but please help to get information out to the people in the congregations about how we are church together. And thanks for what you are doing to help people to know and understand! Yours, in love and service to our Lord, Peggy Paugh Leuzinger Director for Evangelical Mission for the Montana Synod Charles Lane in his book, Ask, Thank, Tell suggests that the “goal of stewardship ministry is to help God’s people grow in their relationship with Jesus through the use of time, talents and finances God has entrusted to them.”
In keeping with the definition of Congregational Vitality: “communities of Jesus where there are life-changing relationships with God, one another and the world”, Lane points us to the power of the relationship with God through the gift of stewarding resources entrusted to us. The Virginia Synod has compiled some stewardship resources based on the model from Lane of “Ask, Thank, Tell”. In many of our congregations this fall we are in the process of “asking” for the response from people regarding their stewardship. Consider how to thank and to tell people how their generosity makes a difference. Here are a few suggestions of how you might do that. Say "Thank You!" for all the ways that people share their gifts, not just for financial stewardship. Each week, make five personal contacts, five phone calls, write five handwritten thank you notes or send five personal emails saying "Thank you" to individuals in the congregation or community who have used their gifts to make ministry happen. Tell: During the offering (or at an appropriate time in your service), spend 60 seconds highlighting a ministry that is made possible because of the congregation’s generosity. Tell: Create a monthly bulletin board, online post, newsletter article, e-newsletter article, bulletin insert that highlights and celebrates a ministry being accomplished because of the congregation’s generosity. If you have a practice that you have found to be helpful, please contact me. I would love to share your ideas for the sake of all of us! May God inspire generosity in us in to share the grace and love of Christ! Yours, in service, Pastor Peggy Paugh Leuzinger Director for Evangelical Mission, Montana Synod One of the things about my position that I really appreciate are the great resources that I see that I keep thinking might be helpful to you.
Do you know about “LEAD” – Living Every Day As a Disciple?” In a recent blog post, on the LEAD website, I read: “6 years in, here are 6 things LEAD is learning from you: 1: Risk – Everything starts with people who are willing to take a risk. Leadership means sticking your neck out. Literally sticking your neck outside of your comfort zone even when there’s potential for failure. 2. Mindset – Growing a new mindset is like peeling an onion. One stinky layer at a time. 3. Generosity – Admitting that others definitely know more than you do about some things makes space for learning. Generosity is more than giving. it is also receiving. 4. Vision – Expecting more than you or anyone else thinks is possible, practical or popular is what it means to be visionary. 5. Behavior – Listening, centering, exploring, and connecting are still vital behaviors for personal and congregational growth. No exceptions. 6. Time – Teams of leaders + intentional process + new mindset + new skills + three years = transforming congregations. YES, 3 YEARS. THREE YEARS. As a great start.” Check out the website: http:/waytolead.org to see what this ministry is up to as they seek to strengthen and empower transformation in congregations. Yours, in service, Pastor Peggy Paugh Leuzinger Director for Evangelical Mission, Montana Synod Thank you to church councils, leaders and clergy for the ways in which you have been faithful in giving to the Montana Synod during the year! The faithful giving by members to your congregations and the faithful giving of your congregation to the work of the larger church makes a difference –here in Montana and northern Wyoming, around the ELCA and around the world! There are many exciting and faithful things happening around the Synod these days. In a few weeks, another class of LPA’s will begin their studies. In the last weeks, many congregations gathered to engage in creative and exciting ways to share being the church at work in the world through “God’s Work, Our Hand’s”, hundreds of youth from around the Synod were shaped and encouraged as they attended the ELCA Youth Gathering in July in Houston, and Bishop Crist and a small group from the Synod returned just last week from a powerful companion synod visit to Bolivia and helped the church there celebrate 80 years of ministry.
As I reflect on the ways in which the church—both the larger church and local congregations make a difference in the world, I wonder what you see and how you see what is happening in your local congregation making a difference. Please call me or send me a quick email sharing what you have been noticing. The reality is that God is faithful, stirring the waters, raising up leaders, encouraging and inspiring us and others to be the church in mission for the sake of the world. All that reflecting also prompts me to think about stewardship and how important it is to share the stories of what God is doing as we encourage people to be faithful and generous in their giving. As we enter into the fall season, you may be thinking about how to talk about stewardship and generosity in your congregation. Luther Seminary in St. Paul hosted another “Rethinking Stewardship” conference in July and the videos of the presenters are available on YouTube under “2018 Rethinking Stewardship”. I commend them to you. Many of the videos are short enough that you might use them during a church council meeting or adult forum. I especially liked the video by Pastor Larry Strenge, the DEM in the SW MN Synod who shares about “cultivating” as a way of thinking about stewardship, especially in rural areas. Several others are also helpful to get you thinking about encouraging generosity in the place you serve. May God strengthen and bless you! Contact me if you have questions or concerns. Pastor Peggy Paugh Leuzinger Director for Evangelical Mission Montana Synod It’s August and maybe you are thinking about your Stewardship emphasis for the fall. I went to the Luther Seminary “Rethinking Stewardship” event in late July. Since part of my job is to be able to speak about stewardship, I was glad to be able to go to think with people from around the ELCA and other denominations about stewardship and giving.
What books have you read recently about stewardship? Over the past year, I have been reading several books that I have found to be interesting and helpful. Here are a few that I would recommend:
Here are a few kernels I have gleaned recently, in no particular order:
Please contact me if you have questions or if you think that I can be helpful to you as you work on stewardship issues in your congregation or setting. Rev. Peggy Paugh Leuzinger |
Rise, O ChurchResources for strengthening CongregationsRev. Peggy Paugh LeuzingerDirector for Evangelical Mission (DEM) for the Montana Synod of the ELCA Archives
March 2019
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