Stewardship

A New Look at Stewardship

Merriam-Webster defines currency as
“something that is in circulation as a medium of exchange.”

Money typically comes to mind when we hear the word currency and often is the primary focus of most CTK stewardship campaigns in the past. Alternatively, CTK learned from the Sierra Pacific Synod of a holistic model for stewardship and congregational vitality that looks beyond money used by many churches with impressive results.

Stewardship365 is an established program developed more than ten years ago by Eric Law, an Episcopal priest and founder/executive director of the Kaleidoscope Institute, centered on the understanding of six key aspects, or Holy Currencies, needed for a church to be sustainable and in relationship with the surrounding community creating a flow of blessings:

“The Cycle of Blessings is the dynamic exchange of these six currencies, flowing inward to renew and strengthen internal relationships and increasing gracious leadership capacity, and flowing outward to connect, discern the truth and foster wellness in the wider community.”

Learning how to develop, access, and “flow” these currencies is an essential skill that members of the church must have in order for the church to be sustainable and missional in relationship with our community.

What We’re Doing at CTK

Our Stewardship committee has begun studying materials, attending trainings and working with our Kaleidoscope Institute coach. We will learn in depth about each currency:

What is this currency?
How do we value and measure this currency in our ministry? For what can this currency be exchanged?
How can we develop this currency at CTK?

We will also be able to draw upon learnings from the Kaleidoscope Institute and other Stewardship365 churches who have successfully built upon existing programs or launched new ones or areas of focus.

Through this process, the Stewardship committee will work with our personal coach to develop an extensive action plan and a year-round stewardship movement enabling our church to shift from maintenance to being in relationship with our community, from scarcity to abundance and from fear to grace.

In coming months, the committee will share our learnings about each Holy Currency and share activities that you can do yourself or with others. One simple, yet effective method is “mutual invitation”. When sharing in a group, the first person talks and afterwards invites someone else to share. Who isn’t ready to talk can either pass or pass for now. What’s the great innovation? We find that we have to be much more aware of who has spoken and who hasn’t. It’s truly helping the group process.

Exercises in Stewardship