(Continuing to elaborate on what makes WPH Architects for Ministry unique!) Yesterday in our office prayer time we looked at Luke 19:11-26, commonly referred to as “the parable of the talents”. This portion of scripture comes to mind for many Christians as a classic example of Biblical stewardship. However, the concept of stewardship for some Christians does not line-up with this parable, but is rather one-dimensional and would be better termed “conservatism”. I have met with many elder boards that are not willing to take any financial risks, and their explanation is that they are simply being “good stewards”. One church had enough money in the bank to renovate an old fellowship hall into a café video venue to accommodate continued growth but almost stopped when some of their 24 elders (yes, 24; they thought that was Biblical) said they needed to keep the money in reserve just in case they needed a new roof or had to replace the heating system. Though this example is a bit extreme, it illustrates a common misconception of what it means to be a good steward. (In fact, as I’ll share in a moment, this is the kind of behavior that earned the Master’s rebuke in the parable.) Stewardship as outlined in the parable has three components:
- The entrusted item of value (in the case of the parable, the master’s money)
- What the servants did with what was entrusted to them
- Giving an account of what was accomplished with the item of value to the one who entrusted it.
The “well done” praises were given to those who took the entrustment and made it grow. Jesus references to His church or Kingdom were often linked to growth and expansion (the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed……I will build my church….the parables of the sower, seed, yeast, the banquet, vineyard laborers, etc.) God entrusts pastors and leaders with His church and they are to work in such a way that it can grow and expand. Doing this requires various resources which God provides, such as His Word, gifts and talents, other people, money and facilities. One day, they will stand before the Master to give an account for their stewardship. Because of this, we are admonished to respect them, and yes, even to obey them (see Heb. 13:17). But such accountability does not belong to church leaders alone. We all have been given gifts and are called to serve in various ways, and each of us will have to give an account to a loving Master for what we’ve done.
At WPH, we recognize this and strive to apply these principles of stewardship as we work with churches. Our goal is to help them grow. (I often use a play on words to say that we work to “facilitate” growth.) In order to do this effectively, our starting point is asking the question “what has God given this church?” This is a comprehensive assessment that quantifies and summarizes attendance, ministries, historical growth, financial position and other resources. This information establishes a basis to reasonably anticipated growth over time. The challenge is to develop a strategic plan that enables a constant reinvestment of resources to enable continued growth. Many churches get into trouble when they plan for growth and try to build for the end goal instead of taking incremental steps. Admittedly, many architects and church building professionals try to accommodate these big dreams without adequately considering the long-term costs and impact to the ministry. The church may be able to find enough sources to initially finance the big dream, only to find out later that the mortgage payment and increased operating costs are strangling their budget, making it harder to do the ministry that they built the facilities for. To prevent this from happening, we develop a comprehensive financial plan for the project. This is a critical aspect of stewardship: accurately identifying the resources God has provided and developing a plan to multiply them as we build His Kingdom. The next installment will look at some of the ways we help churches manage costs to enable growth without adversely impacting their budget.
