We can learn a lot about stewardship campaigns by reframing a question to shift perspective and results.

It’s a bit like seeing challenges as opportunities.

When it comes to stewardship, that applies to both the asking and the giving. Rather than present the case as what is “needed” to keep the varied programs operating at your church, why not showcase it as what the church will be able to accomplish with the gifts.

“For many years, Presbyterians, in particular, experienced a remarkable season of institutional strength and cultural privilege,” said Rev. Joshua P. Kerr, Ministry Relations Officer with the Presbyterian Foundation. “The church enjoyed widespread trust and occupied a prominent place in society.

“In that context, the focus naturally centered on building the church itself: expansive facilities, large classroom wings, layered staff structures with specialized roles, and carefully ordered systems of ministry. Growth was expected, both in people and in financial resources, and the prevailing model proved well-suited to that environment,” he said.

But times have changed.

“Today, the local church no longer assumes a place of cultural trust or influence. Participation has declined across the board, and even those who remain deeply engaged often find themselves shaped by a model of church life that feels unfamiliar – if not wholly inaccessible – to those outside its walls,” Kerr said.

“To borrow a Biblical image, it is as though the Israelites, having long inhabited the Promised Land, now find themselves wandering in a wilderness they thought belonged only to earlier generations,” he shared.

How to move back toward that Promised Land?

Start with the activities that have broad appeal – outreach to the unhoused and needy; afterschool tutoring for local at-need children; expanding the days your church can serve as a warming shelter, or the number of homes you partner with Habitat to build. Then, transition to the operational elements of the annual budget – the staff salaries, electricity costs, HVAC or water heater replacements and so on.

If there’s a special capital project that might be readily visible when completed – a playground upgrade, new sidewalks to the church, or better signage or landscaping – let people know about that. We always like to contribute to something we can look at and think, “I was part of that.”

From the giving side, take a similar approach. From the pulpit and in other messaging, as the congregation and other past givers to consider “what are they able to give” to help their church.

Many of us feel inundated with annual “asks” for financial support from our local non-profits, our schools, our political favorites, our disaster response organizations and others we may have given to. At some point, too often sooner than later, those requests for support start to sound like “Your help is desperately needed! Give now…”

How refreshing is it to receive a more gentle ask: “Please think about what you are able to contribute to help your church community grow and thrive. We appreciate your financial support, but also ask you to consider your time and talents as equally valuable…”

Rev. Kerr sees a silver lining: “It is good news that the church is being freed from an overreliance on buildings and programs, and invited instead to invest more deeply in individual lives – teaching and proclaiming the gospel in homes, around tables, and in small communities of faith.

“It is good news that ministry no longer depends primarily on professionalized staff, but calls forth the gifts of the whole body of Christ. The work of teaching, shepherding, and witness can once again be shared among a multitude of believers, each participating in God’s mission,” he said.

“It is good news that the church is being led beyond a model that served a particular historical moment, especially in the post-World War II era, and back toward the pattern of Jesus himself: one life shaped by grace, embracing the overlooked, feeding the hungry, and embodying the Gospel in tangible ways.”