August 04, 2022
Balancing Faith and Stewardship
Welcome to your resource for the month of podcasts in our “Balancing Faith and Stewardship” series – found on the Leadership and the Church podcast. These twenty minute episodes first define both “faith” and “stewardship.” Then you can listen to three real-life examples of this balance played out.
In this resource today, we are sharing the Leadership Lessons from the whole series.
Leadership Lessons
What each party had in common is their dedication to lead, even when things got hard. The necessity of looking at the real numbers and making tough decisions. This is how they were all able to balance faith and stewardship.
Defining Faith and Stewardship Episode Highlight
“Find reasonable people. We need faith people and we need sight people.” Dr. Neil Franks, Missouri Baptist Foundation. Live in the tension. Healthy, good conflict is what you need in those budget meetings. Engaging both sides of faith and stewardship on each particular topic, for the cause of Christ. It is hard work. But that is the hard work required of a leader.
In the introductory episode of the series, Dr. Franks and Dr. Miller produce definitions for both “Faith” and “Stewardship.”
MCA Example Episode Highlight
Money follows stewardship, not the other way around. “Stewardship is not something you do periodically, but something you do everyday.” Janet Fogh, Maranatha Christian Academy.
Janet wanted to pass along this message: As Christian leaders we need to take a stand, no compromises. God doesn’t promise that he will bail us out of our problems, but it takes being faithful every step of the way.
In the second episode of the series, Janet Fogh unveils this school’s turnaround story while learning to balance faith and stewardship in a very real way.
NTS Example Episode Highlight
“Get the questions in the right order. Who are we to be? Then, what are we to do?” – Dr. Jeren Rowell, Nazarene Theological Seminary. He also wanted to provide a note for struggling organizations: every church has every resource needed to be faithful to whoever God is asking you to be right now. You lack nothing. And also how as a leader, your confidence and effectiveness will never rise above a leaders own experience.
The third episode of this series, Dr. Jeren Rowell describes the turnaround story about a local seminary.
SKC Example Episode Highlight
“If you don’t have a functioning team, then going through a challenge becomes a real problem.” – Eric Burger, Shelter KC. Otherwise, your team will probably be second guessing your motives or vision. He also wanted to reiterate that the ability for everyone to know the financial situation of the mission is key. Then “they can know when you are crisis or when you can invest in your team. And specifically know how to prayer for the organization.” A lot of times leaders want to keep the financial burden to themselves. But the clarity that comes with transparency in the tough situations is the beauty that comes when they get to celebrate with you also.
In the fourth episode of the series, Eric Burger unveils his turnaround story of a local rescue mission.
We hope you’ve enjoyed these episode highlights from our “Balancing Faith and Stewardship” series on the Leadership and the Church podcast. A podcast designed to Educate, Equip, and Encourage church ministry leaders; brought to you by Miller Management.
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