Stewardship Resources
Useful and effective stewardship resources for congregations.
To learn more about TENS and to stay abreast of the latest learning and teaching on stewardship, visit the TENS website and join the mailing list.
Diocesan Stewardship Webinar Series - in collaboration with The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS)
Creating a Culture of Generosity
Review tools for ethical decision-making and values-based practices for how we give, save, invest, and spend in alignment with the Gospel
For the webinar slides click here.
Reviewing and Promoting Financial Goals in Ministry Context
Learn best practices and tools to help your congregation understand the mission-focused impact of their giving.
For the webinar slides click here.
Creating and Growing Legacy Societies and Planned Giving
Explore strategies to create and promote a planned giving program in your congregation. Learn the basic vehicles for planned gifts.
For the webinar slides click here.
Intergenerational Motivations in Stewardship
will be rescheduled for a later date
Virtual Stewardship 201
Join Lynn Farlin, Canon for Formation of the Diocese of Southern Virginia and Davey Gerhard, Executive Director of TENS: The Episcopal Network for Stewardship on a webinar discussing virtual offering plates, giving platforms, and Offertory best practices. Learn tips for improving your online donation forms and websites, text to give, and other virtual ways to resource your ministry.
For the webinar slides click here.
To access the articles mentioned in the webinar click here.
For the online giving platforms mentioned click here.
Mid-Year Mission Review
Learn best practices on how to update your members throughout the year on the impact of their pledges on the mission, program, and operations of your congregation.
For the webinar slides in English click here.
For the webinar slides in Spanish click here.
Year-Round Stewardship
Join Davey Gerhard, Executive Director of TENS: The Episcopal Network for Stewardship for a webinar on formation best practices for generosity and year-round stewardship in your congregation.
For Annual Pledge Campaign resources for Every Perfect Gift 2021 click here. (Password protected – contact the diocese to obtain the password.)
For slides in English click here.
For slides in Spanish click here.
For the Year-Round Deep Dive tool mentioned in the webinar click here.
Breaking Through the Pledge Plateau
Davey Gerhard, Executive Director of TENS: The Episcopal Network for Stewardship walks through strategies and tools to help your members connect with mission and break free from uninspired giving patterns. Learn about analyzing pledge history, having one-on-one pastoral conversations about money, and how to recruit leaders who lead.
For more information about how to create a narrative budget click here.
For slides click here.
For info on online donor forms click here.
For a bibliography of stewardship resources click here.
To see the TENS Virtual Stewardship 101 webinar from July 2020, please visit the TENS website, www.tens.org.
Stewardship Resources
The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS)
If you would like to use these materials, please email Canon Lynn Farlin at lfarlin@diosova.org to receive the login information for www.tens.org. We encourage everyone to begin making plans for starting a year-round stewardship program. To help you get started, go to click here.
Episcopal Church Foundation free webinars
Topics include vestry leadership (in English and in Spanish), engaging congregations with local communities, capital campaigns, clergy transition, annual giving, endowments, and planned giving.
Episcopal Church Foundation Official Website
2017 Council Keynote Speaker - The Rev. Canon Timothy Dombek
We were fortunate to have The Rev. Canon Timothy Dombek as speaker at 2017 Annual Council; Timothy is Canon for Stewardship in Diocese of Arizona and rector of The Church of the Advent, Sun City West, Arizona. Timothy also serves on the board of TENS and is in much demand as a stewardship speaker. Below are his slides and other resources from those presentations:
Year-Round Giving
Presented by the Rev. Canon Timothy Dombek at our Stewardship Conference
Year-round Stewardship ideas
Year-round Stewardship You Can do
Stewardship with Young People
Resources from BuildingFaith.org – a ministry of Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary whose mission is to equip and inspire churches and individuals for ministries of Christian education and faith formation for all ages.
Planned Giving Resources
The Episcopal Church Foundation provides information, literature and best of all the financial knowledge to get your program off the ground. Go to ecfvp.org. The best place to start is “Start Planned Giving from Scratch”.
Next, check out this wonderful toolbox of information. Here you will learn about the types of ways to make planned gifts as well as a key step, which is to form a Legacy Society.
Other Stewardship Resources
Transforming Stewardship by C.K. Robertson
A vision of holistic stewardship, including a study guide found here.
Essential Reading
- Ask, Thank, Tell, Charles R. Lane, Augsburg Fortress
- Transforming Stewardship, C.K. Robertson, Church Publishing
- Creating Congregations of Generous People, Michael Durall, Alban Institute
- One Minute Stewardship: Creative Ways to Talk about Money in Church, Charles Cloughen, Church Publishing
Stewardship of Creation Resources
Creation Care
Our newly formed DIOSOVA Creation Care Team has recently discovered some excellent 2023 Season of Creation resources. These resources have been curated by an ecumenical group of partners from around the world to help Christians focus on creation care during a shared season of reflection and action that runs from September through October 4th, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. This aligns perfectly with our fifth Mark of Mission, which is to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.
For more information contact creationcare@diosova.org.
Earth Ministry
A national leader in engaging the faith community in environmental stewardship and advocacy. Their Greening Congregations Program was the first in the country to help houses of worship implement sustainable practices. It offers a partnership with Earth Ministry and a flexible strategy for engaging your faith community in creation-care efforts. Their advocacy program is on the cutting edge of empowering clergy and lay leaders to speak out on public policy issues. Visit their page at earthministry.org
Season of Creation
SoC offers worshippers an opportunity to turn their full attention toward God the creator and toward their relationship with the whole creation. As an optional season, it is most commonly celebrated between Creation Day on September 1 and St Francis of Assisi Day on October 4. For more information, visit seasonofcreation.org.
Bishop Haynes has authorized the use of 2023 Season of Creation – A Celebration Guide for Episcopal Parishes. Click here to explore this liturgical resource.
Interfaith Power & Light
Mobilizing a religious response to global warming. Its mission is to be faithful stewards of creation by responding to global warming through the promotion of energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. Visit their page at interfaithpowerandlight.org.
Cool Congregations
Across the country, people of faith are making changes in their homes and places of worship to prevent global warming through the Cool Congregations program. Part of Interfaith Power & Light, their unique stewardship program helps congregations reduce the carbon footprint of their facilities and engages their members in reducing their carbon footprint at home. Click here for more information.
Printed Resources
- The Green Bible. Published by HarperCollins.
- Greening Congregations Handbook: Stories, Ideas, and Resources for Cultivating Creation Awareness and Care in Your Congregation. Published by Earth Ministry.