What’s your earliest memory of stewardship? What does the word stewardship evoke in you?

For many, the word evokes joy — a chance to reflect on God’s generosity and all we have and the ways we are invited to participate in ministry. For others, it carries the weight of obligation, a once-a-year sermon about money that is often dreaded.

At the Presbyterian Foundation’s Day of Learning on June 26, the Rev. Ellie Johns-Kelley offered both tools and inspiration in her presentation, “Stewardship as Story: How to Transform Giving Through the Love of Story.” She challenged church leaders to reframe stewardship not as a fundraising campaign, but as a joyful, year-round act of storytelling.

Johns-Kelley is a Ministry Relations Officer with the Presbyterian Foundation, and as part of that, she works with congregations on financial and ministry matters, including stewardship and legacy giving.

From Burden to Blessing

“Whenever I talk about stewardship I think of my dad growing up,” began Johns-Kelley. “He was an only child and he and his parents never missed church, except for one Sunday a year when they would drive to see the leaves at their peak.”

It just so happened that this one Sunday per year was the day of the church’s annual stewardship sermon. When Johns-Kelley’s father grew up to become a pastor himself, for most of his ministry, he dreaded giving the annual stewardship sermon. It felt like an appeal focused solely on money. He feared it would burden those on the margins, forcing them to choose between giving to the church and feeding their families.

“My dad was always telling the story of Jesus and his love,” Johns-Kelley shared. “The Bible is made up of stories. He was a great preacher and teacher, but for him, stewardship was isolated. It wasn’t part of that.”

This disconnect, she argued, is where many churches miss the mark. “If only I could have gotten to him earlier to share that stewardship shouldn’t be a once-a-year event,” Johns-Kelley said. “It shouldn’t be a burden. When we reframe stewardship to be about storytelling, it is not an obligation but about living into what we are doing.”

This approach is rooted in a deep human need. Theologian Harvey Cox said all humans have an innate need to hear and tell stories and to have a story to live by. As cognitive scientist Roger Schank put it, “Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic: they are ideally set up to understand stories.”

A Changing Landscape

The need for powerful storytelling in churches is more urgent than ever. In 2024, giving to religion accounted for 23% of all charitable dollars in the United States, down from 50% in 1995, according to the recently released Giving USA report. With over 1.5 million charities competing for support, churches must articulate a clear and compelling reason for people to give.

“We want people to give because they believe in what we are doing, not out of guilt,” Johns-Kelley stated. Research shows the top factors that influence a donor’s contribution are making an impact, the organization’s financial stability, and a belief in its leadership.

A powerful story addresses all three. To tell that story effectively, a church must first have a clear mission and vision that is owned by the congregation. Your mission statement articulates your purpose, while your vision answers the question, “How will the future look if our mission is achieved?” This clarity becomes the foundation for every decision, every sermon, and every appeal.

Practical Steps to Weave Storytelling into Stewardship

Johns-Kelley offered a wealth of practical advice for putting this into practice.

Tell Your Story Year-Round: Stewardship isn’t a season; it’s a constant conversation. Weave stories of your church’s impact into all your communications. She listed the following ways to share those stories.

• Preach on generosity at least once a month.
• Share brief, powerful stories during worship as part of a Minute for Mission.
• Tell stories online. Use social media, newsletters, and video testimonials to share small, consistent narratives.
• Consider segmented appeals. When it’s time for the annual appeal, replace the “one-size-fits-all” letter with targeted messages for different groups within your congregation.

Introduce the Narrative Budget: A line-item budget is an accounting tool. A narrative budget is a visioning tool. It reframes finances to be about ministry, connecting dollars to impact and inspiring givers by showing how their contributions make a difference.

Steps to Create a Narrative Budget:

• Define ministry areas: Group expenses under broad ministry categories (e.g., worship, community outreach, Christian education).
• Allocate resources: Allocate staff time and all other expenses proportionally to each ministry area.
• Include volunteer time: Quantify the immense value of volunteers, such as ushers, choir members, mission trip participants, to show the full scope of your ministry.
• Find and tell compelling stories. For each ministry area, share a story from the past year that illustrates success and helps people see that you are living into your mission.

Who should tell the stories? Johns-Kelley emphasized that storytelling can’t just be left to staff.

• Pastors: Share your own stewardship journey. “My parents told me that we give because we are a part of this community and believe in the mission and vision of this community,” Johns-Kelley said.
• Congregation: Invite elders, mission partners, and members from the pews to share personal stories of how God has shown up through the church’s generosity.

Say “Thank You” with stories: Gratitude is one of the most powerful storytelling tools. Instead of sending a simple summary of gifts once a year, send one quarterly. Include a letter that shares stories of what has happened in the life of the church over the past three months. Make it personal!

“The more we say thank you and are able to help people see how their gifts make a difference, the more they are going to feel that’s important,” Johns-Kelley advised. Have elders write personal thank you notes. Pay special attention to first-time givers or those who have started giving again after a long time.

The Keys to Success

Ultimately, transforming stewardship is about a fundamental shift in perspective. It is not about meeting a budget; it is about responding to God’s grace. It is not about us; it is about joining God’s work in the world.

The keys, Johns-Kelley concluded, are to be:

• Prayerful
• Celebratory of your church’s unique ministry
• Visionary
• Communicative with tailored messages
• Inclusive, involving many storytellers
• Inviting, not threatening

By embracing stewardship as an act of storytelling, Johns-Kelley says we can move beyond obligation and guilt and invite our congregations into a joyful, generous partnership in the mission God has given us.