Video Transcript: Stewardship, Part 3

Hi, my name is Ben Ingebretson. And welcome to this ongoing training on  raising funds and developing stewards for a new church start. We're talking and  building upon some foundational Biblical understanding that, that guide the  whole stewardship development process that God owns it all. Therefore, there's  no shortage of funds only a shortage of stewards, that people manage, and are  not the owners. And so every decision you and I make is a stewardship  decision. And that stewardship is a learned behavior, that it doesn't come  naturally. But it's something that, as ministry leaders we have to grow others in.  Those are fairly simple ideas. And yet they're radical, when you begin to think  about the work that you and I do in leading a ministry. And, in fact, we say that  stewardship development is not something we do in order that we can plant a  church. Stewardship development is, church planting is part of it. Growing  stewards and growing funds are all part of the process of raising up disciples,  wherever Christ gives us that opportunity. So we've talked about up to this point, a couple of strategic next steps. And in developing and raising up resources. For your new church start, we've talked about the importance of strategic planning  that people give to the future, not to the past. And having a strategic plan, a  vision for the future is key in that regard. And we've talked about effective  communication, and how to communicate well, your vision, we've talked about  change, and in changed development and change the change process. Now in  this session, we're going to talk about organizational worthiness. And then  finally, we're going to talk about some elements of practical stewardship,  development and fund development in your ministry. So we've got a lot of  ground to cover, jump in with me. First of all, we're talking today about earning  the right to receive. And again, organizational worthiness, just because you have a strategic plan, just because you communicate it well. Just because you pay  attention to the dynamics of change, and the emotions around change doesn't  necessarily mean that people are going to give, when you ask, you have to earn the right to receive. So let's talk about that. It's all about trust people will give to  your ministry because they trust you. They trust that you're accountable to a  board. They trust your ability as a leader. They trust your character, as a leader.  And so let's talk first of all about that issue of being accountable to a board or an oversight team. I trust I hope that your ministry has a board an oversight body  during the early phases of a church plant that's usually external to the church  plant. That is to say, it's a group of folks who are not necessarily worshiping with  you every week. They may be area pastors, they may be denominational  leaders. They're people that will care deeply about your plant and hold you  accountable for the development of that as an oversight presence. They protect  and promote your ministry vision. They ensure the financial health of the  ministry, by paying attention to the integrity of that financial health responsibility.  But then they hold you accountable for integrity, and progress. You see, people  will give to your ministry because they know you're accountable to someone. If 

you're accountable to no one, they're going to wonder about who supervises  you, so that you are a trustworthy leader. And so you build trust whenever you  demonstrate accountability to a board. Secondly, when you lead your ministry  team, you build trust, when people see that you are a person that is leading a  team, when you're not a lone ranger, when you're not trying to do it all yourself.  But whenever they see that you're developing leaders whenever you're holding  them to smart goals and holding them accountable for their leadership. When  you're raising up others and sharing responsibility when you're coaching them in that responsibility when you're meeting with them and building them as a sense  of team together, you see when you lead a ministry team, and people see that  you are a team player, albeit the leader of the team, they'll grow in their trust for  you. They'll see that you work successfully with others, they'll see that others  like to follow you, and like to be a part of your team. And that inspires trust on  the part of outsiders, and anyone else, observing your work. And finally, leading  your personal life. You see, people want to know that you have personal  disciplines, you have a weekly schedule, that you have your own smart goals,  that you're accountable to that process of personal growth. The toughest  person, sometimes to lead is yourself. And we lead ourselves whenever we  commit ourselves to structures and to processes, and to personal discipline and  to preparation, and to goals, and to oversight. Kind of like the rock climber there. It took him a lot of work, to develop his strength, and a lot of self discipline, to  develop his strength. And similarly, it takes a lot of self discipline to lead a  ministry. And people want to know that you, you have that self discipline,  SMART goals. we've referenced that a couple of times now, SMART goals are  specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. They're specific that you  have smart goals and that we referenced that earlier that others on your team  have smart goals and that you're able to lead them in their SMART goals, but  that you're allowing yourself to be coached and lead in the development of your  SMART goals as a leader. Again, Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic,  relevant and time. So are you a part of a pastor's network? Are you continually  growing in your professional development? Are you getting feedback from  others? earning the right to receive $1 A gift? A few coins comes because  people see that you're accountable to someone over you. It comes because  they see that you're able to develop a team. It comes because you show  evidence of leading your own personal life. It's all about trust. It's all about  building trust. Those 3 areas are all about building trust. Everything depends. So much depends on trust, doesn't it? 10 ways to build trust here. Here's a few  summary. Thoughts. First of all, communicate and be transparent. Let your  donors know what's going on in the ministry. communicate regularly, ideally,  once a month. Let them know what's happening. Be transparent. Don't be a  person who's known for keeping secrets, at least keeping secrets about the  general health and direction of the ministry. Secondly, tell the truth. Always be 

honest with people about the ministry. You can't build trust without it. right  wrongs you and I make mistakes. We always do. Be the first one to try to right  the wrong, correct things. When you can demonstrate loyalty. You want people  to be loyal to you, you'll be loyal to them. face reality when things are tough. Be  honest enough to face it for what it is. Be accountable. Be willing to be under  someone. I talked with a church planter recently who said I'm not accountable to anyone. That's not good. Don't be that way. Be willing to be accountable. You  build trust that way. And trust is the currency for so much ministry. Keep your  commitments. When someone when you say you're going to do something, do  it. be reliable. Listen, be willing to be quiet and listen and receive input and  feedback. Show respect. You want to be given it, be the first one to show it. And  always be getting better always be working on improving when people observe  that their pastor, that their leader is working at getting better, that only builds  more trust, not less. It's all about trust and earning the right to receive. You must  build trust with those that you want to grow as givers towards your ministry, you  may be able to grow them as givers to another ministry. But if you want them to  give towards your ministry, you must build trust, the right to receive. And that's  what this building block is all about. Now, let's go to the fourth building block.  And that's skills and methods. And I'll be the first one to say that this is a  challenging area, because there's a lot of material here, there's a lot I'd like to  cover with you. And some of it's a bit technical. So, strap in, hang on. And and  here we go. Raising external start up funds, what do I mean by that? Your  ministry will likely need some resources along the way to be all that it potentially  could be. There will come a time whenever the the availability of those  resources will come from within the attenders and those that are part of your  ministry. But during the beginnings, before there's a launch, you'll probably need some resources. And those resources will need to come either from yourself or  from others who care about this ministry and who want to support it. Now, I think it's a good thing. Whenever a bi-vocational leader says that they're willing to out  of their own resources, fund their ministry, but I don't think it's necessary. I don't  think it's necessary because Paul doesn't think it's necessary. He said a laborer  is worthy of their hire. And he also said, and we also know that churches have  over the years been helping other churches get started. And so it's not a bad  thing to seek some external funding to help start your ministry, your church  plant. Now, having said that, it's not a good thing, as we talked about earlier, it's  not a good thing for there to be a long term dependency relationship with with  your church plant, is not a good thing for 3, 4, or 5 years, or more beyond the  launch of your church plant for you to continually need money, or resources,  from people who are not participating directly in your church. You want to grow  those people up over that period of time. And you should be able to grow them  up over those initial years. But the startup will require oftentimes some  additional funds. So how much will you need? The goal is to be self sustaining. 

But how much will you need in order to get there? And where will it come from?  The more diverse the sources it comes from the better, the more stable. But you ought to have a healthy Biblical understanding by now that asking other people  

to give to your ministry is a biblical mandate that Paul charged Timothy to  command those who had resources to be generous. And so you, so don't shrink  back. Don't be afraid to ask others to give. But if it's done well, if it's done  properly, you can do that with a competence that you are growing stewardship  and generosity in the hearts and minds of others. So how will you grow  individual external donors, individuals who are not participating in your ministry,  they're external to your ministry, but they want to support it. So what I'd like to  share with you are a number of steps that can help you think this through. Now  I'm going to use terms and I'm going to use financial figures that are from North  America. They probably won't apply to your situation perfectly. They don't even  apply perfectly to every situation. In North America, so. So you're going to need  to just understand the principles that are behind this. And that's what I'd like to  emphasize is the principle, not the exact financial numbers. So let's first of all  calculate, how much will your church plant need from external support? First,  how many people with a job do you believe you can realistically enfold into your  church plant in 3 to 4 years? How many people with a job do you believe you  can realistically enfold into your church plant in 3 to 4 years? I have a couple of  assumptions in that sense. The first is that in 3 to 4 years, your church, your  church plant will probably reach a point of plateau. It can grow beyond that, and  we trust that it will, but it will reach its first plateau its first level of influence and  size and participation. So the second assumption is, is I'd like to know how  many you can realistically enfold full how many people you can realistically  enfold. And when I say realistically enfold, I mean, people that will become  involved in that ministry, and begin to give now we understand that, that they're  gonna give maybe just a few shekels the first Sunday, excuse me the first year,  during those Sundays of the first year. That's right. During the Sundays of the  first year, they'll probably just give a few shekels every day, every Sunday. In the second year, they'll give a few more shekels. On the Sundays, when they attend in hopefully on that third or fourth year, they'll give yet even a few more. And  they'll grow to their potential as givers. We talked about that earlier, they'll move  from, from fear and guilt, to generosity and joy and worship in the way and the  way they think about their giving. So So we recognize that they're going to grow  over time. And the question then is how many people with a job like that? Do  you think you can? That you can involve that way? That's a hard question to  answer. If you've never planted a church before, it's a difficult question to  answer. It makes it hard to project if you can't come up with some kind of a basic idea. So oftentimes, I'll tell people to, to guess a little lower than you might hope, because we sometimes hope we'll have a great many people. And maybe we'll  come in a little less than that. But the question is how many people with a job 

and the reason I say it how many people with a job is because each person who has earning potential has giving potential. And so and so imagine that you can  think about a certain number that way. One of the numbers that we like to use in  North America is 100 100 People with a job. Now that may or may not be  realistic, we have many church plants that have less than 100 people in them  with a job. After 3 to 4 years, we have many others who have many, many more  than 100 people in them after 3 or 4 years. So every situation is different. But if  you multiply this number of people that you feel you can gather, by a certain  amount, which would be their average monthly giving, and then multiply that  number by 12 months of the year, you can come up with what the annual  projected giving would be. Now in North America, we know generally what that  number is. And the number is somewhere early on, of a person of about 1% of  their annual giving, excuse me, their annual earning, and then 2% of their  annual earning. And then 3% of their annual earning. And unfortunately for most  people, on average, who attend church in North America, they give at or around  3% of their annual income. So the way that works out for us in North America  gives us a number that we say that's if we divide that annual amount of giving by 12. We can come up with what the monthly giving would be or if we take that  monthly amount and multiply it by 12. We can come up with the annual  projected giving of the of the individual with a job that's employed. And then if  you graduate or if you grow your internal giving upwards each year, a little more, a little more, as you grow people in the grace of giving, and you also grow the  number of people attending your church, as they're growing in this, in this  generosity journey. As you grow them upwards, then you decline or decrease  the external giving, that may be coming in from supportive partners that are  wanting to help you launch your church. Remember, it's never good to have  external funding coming in, over the long, long haul. It's not good, it creates  external dependency, that dependency will, will reduce the leadership and the  commitment and, and the dignity associated with the responsibility you have of  launching a new church, you don't want that. You raise the dignity, and you raise the leadership and you raise the responsibility, as people begin to take  responsibility for the ministry, through their giving through their tithes, and  through their offerings. So So, so graduate, your internal giving upwards, and  then release and reduce the outside funding that's coming into your ministry, you may I have people who want to support you long term from the outside, I would  be very careful about that. It may very well not be for your good, or for the good  of your people, they will learn that they don't have to grow in the grace of giving.  And they will learn to be dependent. And they will learn not to take the  courageous steps of discipleship that Jesus calls them to do. So give some  careful thought of how you're going to increase your internal giving as you plan  and reduce your external giving or external income. Here's an example of that. If you imagine the total projected unemployed, excuse me employed people in 

North America at 75 people, you could you could project based on their giving of about 3% of most employed people, that you would have a total monthly income of about $9,000, or the potential budget of a church of about $108,000. Now that may sound like a terribly great amount of money to you, or very little amount of  

money to I don't know, the expenses in North America may be considerably  greater than the expenses in your situation or considerably less. But that's  essentially what the giving potential is of those 75 people with a job. Now, if you  think about that annual projected giving you build a budget. And in year number  1, you say, well, we could probably internally see our small group of attenders  generate about $10,000 worth of income. And year number 2 we'd like to see  that grow to $40,000 worth of income as the group grows in size, and grows in  their maturity as givers. And year number 3 to $80,000. And year number 4 to  $100,000. Now, if you notice, year number 4 and $100,000 in terms of the  internal giving means that we're very, very close to that $108,000 projected total  annual internal giving, that means that year number 4, we've got 75 people in  attendance with a job employed that are able to give. So that means that year  number 3, we have a little less than 75. year number two, we have yet a little  less than that and year number 1, maybe we only have 20. But there's a  potential way of thinking about the growth of internal giving, as you mature that  over time. Now again, your numbers are going to be very different because your  setting is probably different than the setting in North America. That's just fine.  Every situation is different. The key is is that you want to begin to project based  on the number of people that attend what your potential giving could be, that  helps you project the amount of external support that you might go looking for.  Because in the first year, you might need as much as $99,000, to reach that  $108,000 budget, if that's what you project as being your budget for the first  year. Now, if this church planter in North America were bi-vocational, their giving  could be considerably less, excuse me, the external giving could be  considerably less than $99,000. But if the ministry leader, the pastor wants to be full time, working in the ministry, wants to be full time doing evangelism and  discipleship, full time developing leaders, and working on the church plant,  they're going to need the resources for their salary and for the rental of the  space and for the, the utilities and for all the other expenses associated with the  ministry. And so that's how much money they might need to raise $99,000. from  outside sources. Year number 2, as they've grown, the number of internal givers, they're going to need less from their outside sources, year number 3, yet even  less from outside givers, year number 4, still even less, they're moving towards  self sustainability. As a result, you can add up that bottom line of external givers  99 plus 68, plus 28 plus eight and say that what this new ministry needs to  launch, if it's going to launch with a full time leader who's working full time in the  ministry, from the very beginning, he's going to need about $203,000 in outside  support. Now, again, that might be a number quite higher than would be 

required in your situation, where you're willing to be bi vocational, or it might be  less, where less than is needed if your situation requires a great deal more  resources. But it gives you an idea of this process and support externally and  internally in terms of building out a plan towards sustainability. Now where can  start up funds come from? Well, they can come from lots of places kind of like  slices of a pie. They can certainly come from tithes and offerings and personal  fundraising. They can come from your bi-vocation. From parent church support  from partner church support from regional friends in a denominational context,  from micro-enterprising from rummage sales or from even foundations or  government grants. But the reality is is that is that most of us will raise startup  funds, if we're looking to raise external funds from a variety of sources. They'll  come from a variety of places. But most of it will come before you have a  congregation. Before you have committed worshipers. Most of its going to come  through personal fundraising, or bi-vocational income. That's where most of it  will come. Now let's talk about growing individual external donors that personal  fundraising piece. Who do you know, one of the exercises I typically do with  folks has asked him to sit down and say write down the names of 100 people  that you know that usually makes people uncomfortable. Because they may feel  like they don't know 100 people. But once they get going at it, they find out that  they know many more than 100 people. Oh, who do you know? Who do you  know from your various circles of influence and experience over many, many  years? Who do you know? And then how can you cultivate your relationship with them? You remember we talked a while back about the need to have comfort  and discomfort in developing emotional change. And so forming and cultivating  a relationship with something is all about comfort. For, it's all about  reacquainting yourself with someone is sending them a note and saying, Hey, I  would like to share with you an exciting new chapter in my life, I have felt the call to plant a church. And by God's grace, I'm stepping forward to do it. You may not ask them for any gift at that point, you just want to cultivate the relationship. You  just want to keep the relationship alive, maybe you haven't spoken with them for  a while. And maybe the next letter you send them would simply say that you're  so excited about this new venture that God has for you, but that you'd like to  begin to pray for them also, as you ask them to pray for you. And so you begin  to share prayer requests back and forth with these individuals. That, that, you  know, now it's going to require on your part that you do some, some record  keeping. Because when you begin to communicate to 100, or more people  about the ministry future that God has for you. And when you begin to develop  relationship with them or cultivate that relationship, you ask them for their prayer requests, and you pray for them and theirs, and they pray for yours, it's going to  require that you keep track a little bit, and that you begin to pay attention to, it's  going to require that you that you that you write things down, keep track, keep  record, and begin to form a journal of prayer. For those who one day, maybe 

your donors and your supporters, form the relationship, cultivate the  relationship. And then, at the right time, make the request. You ask them first if  they would pray for your ministry. And then you ask them if they would consider  making a financial commitment, how they could fit into the ministry. You share  with them, that you've made a financial commitment to it, and you're wondering  if they would be willing to make a commitment to this journey of obedience that  God has you on as you seek to plant a church. And you always recognize each  gift you say, thank you. Not perhaps, as faithfully done as it should be. So  oftentimes, we receive gifts and we don't go back and say thank you. But  remember this, it's always easier to grow an existing giver than it is to find a  brand new one. So for each dollar each coin that's given, you say, thank you,  thank you so much. And you continue to cultivate the relationship. And then you  ask, who? Who will tell your story? Who else could you tell your story to? Is  there someone that they know that you could share this exciting new venture  that you're under with, that you're undertaking that you could share that with?  And finally, you report what's done with the gifts that you've received. You tell  people, you're transparent, you're open, you communicate, you let them know,  what's what you've done with the resources that they have shared with you. All  that's about growing individual, external donor. It's critical. Each step. You're  helping them grow. In the grace of giving, you're growing them as stewards.  Here's a few ideas. In terms of a list of folks that you could approach, you  probably can think of many, many more. Each should receive a written case  statement. And we shared that earlier in a prior training lecture on how to  develop that case statement that answers those seven questions. Why is this  ministry needed? What is my credibility as a leader? What's the opportunity God has before us? What's the process? What's the what's the plan, you'll give you  an opportunity to share that with them in a in a written form, and then contact  them. Make sure that you connect with them face to face. After you've  communicated that written material with them. You may be surprised that your  network of potential givers is much larger than you think. qualify your donors.  Each person who gives to your ministry is a person that you could potentially  think about in terms of their their likelihood of responding. For instance, if they  have a strong relationship with you have a strong connection with you a strong,  deep trusting relationship, they're more likely to give. If they have great capacity  to give. If they've been privileged and entrusted by God, to steward a large  portion of God's goods, then they may have the potential of giving more. And so  they give more strategically, they're going to want to know what your plan is  more, those who fit that category. If they have affinity to your mission, if they  love church planting, they're more likely to give more. So as you think about  working with your donors, work happily with anyone, for sure, grow anyone in  the grace of giving. But understand that some people need to be challenged at a greater level than others, they need to be challenged at a greater level because 

God always wants us to grow in the grace of giving. He always wants us to  mature to a higher level. And their capacity to give may be greater than others.  So work at a qualifying work at discerning what the right amount is to ask for, I  recommend that you don't ask without having an amount in your mind. Some  people recommend asking for the same amount of every donor. And that can be  okay. Others say no ask for a specific amount based on what you think that  person is capable of giving. However you do it, my recommendation is that you  have some amount in your mind. And that you don't just ask for someone to give without having an amount in your mind that you share with them. One way of  doing that is a donor matrix. A donor matrix says that I need 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20,  40 people to give certain amounts in order for me to raise the amount of money  that it's going to take for me to launch this new ministry. And so here's a way of  thinking about that donor matrix. And asking someone, would they be willing to  step in at the at the at the amount or the level that you challenge them to?  Would you be willing to be a $1,000 giver? Would you be willing to be a $10,000 giver, you fill in the amounts based on what you think fits best for your setting.  But it's always good to challenge a donor or maybe one step above what you  might expect. You never dishonor that person. By asking more of them. You  honor them by challenging them. If you always remember that this is not about  you raising funds for your ministry. This is not ultimately about you raising your  salary or raising your your income. This is about growing them in the grace of  giving. This is about helping them take another step in their stewardship. When  you make the ask, make sure that you have good relationship with the person  and that you know them or what they're passionate about. Make sure that you  plan to report back with stories, that, that there's fruitfulness in your ministry, as  you report back, that there's honesty that you're able to share with passion and  speak to their heart that that there's the possibility of them participating in the  church plant perhaps. Sometimes it's just enough to ask someone to pray about  your church plant. Other times, they may be willing to participate in other ways.  Challenge your donor with a specific ask. Do it in a way that's relationally warm.  That's built upon trust. And that is a desire to grow them as a steward of what  belongs to God. Acknowledge each gift, update communication, develop two  way relationships of prayer. Be mindful of their fiscal year with timely updates  and requests. Some folks who may run a small business or who may have  seasons of their of their year when their income is higher or lower. You'd be wise to pay attention to that. But always disclose your financial status with them  during your ministry, your audits, always be fully open and transparent with them about your finances. And in so doing continue to build trust. Now let's talk a little  bit about developing internal givers. We've talked a lot about developing external givers in developing internal givers. We shared this earlier that that those steps,  those, those emotional steps of growth and development really are a graduation  from those who are going to pay those who are going to pay for an experience, 

they're going to give you a few coins because they feel like you've earned it. And that's a natural way for them to begin in their giving. Because they don't yet fully  understand that. That giving is not about what you need. It's about what they  need. It's about their need to grow as givers. It's not about your need as a  ministry. It's about what God wants. And so to begin with, we accept the fact that that folks will give you a few coins, but we want to grow them. We want to grow  them into those who give who are generous, who recognize that they want to  become mature in the grace of giving. And ultimately, those who endow I think of those who endow as the ones who may leave behind at the end of their lives. A  gift for the ministry. So 3 publics and their and their pockets. Your job primarily in a new church start is to grow pairs into givers. And grow everyone into the role  of being a generous steward. And so we're back to this schematic that we've  shared earlier. Now let's talk a little bit about the offering and communication.  Many of your new church starts will want to take up an offering. And, and it's  really important that you take advantage of that experience on Sundays when  they gather when you gather. And there's a desire to to, to take up a collection  for people to give their tithes and offerings. Sometimes congregations want to  put a box in the back by the door and have people put their offerings in that box  as they leave. Sometimes churches want to have a box in the front, on the altar  or on a table and people will come forward and put their gifts into that into that  offering container. Sometimes they'll want to pass a bag, a basket that people  can put their offerings into, regardless of how you do it. The important thing is  that you talk about it. The important thing is that each Sunday, you talk about it,  you say something about people growing in the grace of giving you give some  biblical reference to it. You give some reminder that this is not about what the  church needs, but it's about what God wants. You give some insight into the joy  that's to be had with generosity. It's it really, it really is less important. The way  you collect the offering is more important that you talk about it each Sunday that  you share with your congregation what the needs are, so that people can take  that into consideration in terms of their giving. And that weekly stewardship  lessons. Those reminders each week will help people. Bear in mind that this  very important part of your worship is all about discipleship. It's about becoming  more like Christ, who came to give. God is the great giver. And we learn to  reflect his generosity through our giving. Another strategy is commitment cards.  The 90 Day stewardship test is a way of of saying for 90 days. What if you took  a step and you begin to give a percentage of your of your weekly income for 90  days and would test God to see whether he would provide for you in spite of that generosity. In your part, a 90 day stewardship test is a great way of doing an  annual commitment to the ministry and saying, what would you be willing to  commit to God being your helper, this next year, we recognize that our lives are  in his hands. And that there may come a time during this next year, whenever I  can't work. We just don't know. But God being my helper, what are you willing to 

commit to the Ministry over this next year to always conclude a teaching series if it's a teaching series on stewardship, with a request for people to make a  commitment. And then increasingly, in North America, there's the discussion and the use of direct deposit where people can have removed from their bank  accounts a certain amount each week, or a certain amount each month. Capital  Campaign campaigns is not something we're going to go into in great depth  here. But capital campaigns are efforts to significantly advance your ministry  through the purchase of land or the purchase of a building. And many times  congregations need to raise a significant amount of money to do that. And so if  that becomes at some point, your challenge as your church plant grows and is  significantly further down the road in terms of development, and maturity. raising funds for capital campaign is a great opportunity in ministry, because people will  give from resources for a long term vision of a new building, they'll give,  perhaps, to a greater extent than they would give for the week by week,  expenses of the ministry. Remember, people love to give to the future. People  love to give to a vision. And a vision, a capital campaign usually is about that  kind of vision for the future. Teach on stewardship values and principles early in  your church plant. Don't wait until you're desperate to talk about finances. We  talk about church, we talk about stewardship, and encourage people to talk  about finances and growing as givers at the very beginning of a church plant the very first Sunday, when they take up the collection to say one or two things  about about maturity in the grace of giving about becoming a full the joy that  comes from giving. So in addition to having an annual teaching on stewardship,  remember that stewardship education, as we've said several times in this  training lecture should occur weekly, even though it may be just very ever so  brief. John Wesley had a wonderful little way of, of talking about stewardship  development, he said earn all you can save all you can and give all you can that was a that was a sermon series for John Wesley. And he planted many, many  churches. He trained his people to use their gifts to be industrious, and to earn  what they could, as agents in God's world, committed to do the work that Adam  was charged with was the was to take charge of the creation and exercise  dominion over it but then to save all they can to not put yourself in a position of a of a debtor, that debt is a hard thing, and in most cases is not desirable. So to  save all you can and then to give all you can to be generous, and experience  the joy of giving. Well, we've covered a lot of ground in this training, and and  there's a lot more that could be said. But let's just come back to this basic  reminder. Stewardship development is not what we do so that we can do  ministry it's not a means to an end. It's not a necessary evil. It's not something  that we have to apologize for, or feel bashful about. Stewardship development is discipleship. Stewardship development is disciple making. Stewardship  development is part of church planting. Stewardship development is ministry.  God bless you as you're about that.