Planning Tools

The resource tabs at the bottom of this page are designed to help you with your planning process.  To learn more about the Stewardship of Time, Talent and Treasure, please contact the Office of Stewardship and Planned Giving at 918-712-7002 or [email protected]  This office offers workshops on stewardship topics, provides consulting and menoring services, and provides a planning process tailored to your congregation.  These services are offered at minimal or no cost to churches of The Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma.

What You Need To Know About a Comprehensive Stewardship Program

Stewardship is the care and management of the gifts that God has bestowed upon us. 

Stewardship focuses on understanding what we have ALREADY been given and how we are called to use these gifts.  This includes looking at things like simple living, preserving our environment, family budgeting, balancing work and family/personal life, caring for relationships with others, an the use of money in all aspects of our lives.

Good stewardship of time, talent and treasure is gauged by how we share what we were given "to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ and the furtherance of God's reign on earth."

Treasure: Christian Fundraising

One of the deepest concerns about much of the church fund raising is that we ask our people to give to the Church, when what we really need is to ask them to give to God.

Christian fundraising’s goal is to foster spiritual maturity and to help members experience generosity in a spiritually meaningful way.  This is a partnership between the member and the Church.  Each party exercises faith in giving and the asking and each party have God as the focus.

In our secular world, this asking and responding takes on a transactional quality.  For Christian Fundraising it is transformational in nature:  It is through the transformational power of the Holy Spirit that this occurs… that the giver should desire to conform to the image of the generous Christ and the Church should nurture that desire by providing opportunities for generosity:

• Annual financial gift commitments

• Annual involvement in mission & ministry

• Giving outside the Congregation for the broader mission of the Church

• Ongoing bequest expectancy program

• Endowment to receive legacy gifts

• Exceptional giving opportunities

Time and Talent:  Gifts Based Ministry

The concept of "gifts-based ministry" grows out of the understanding that the heart of the ministry of each faith community is assisting people to discover the unique gifts embedded in them by the Creator—gifts that allow them to respond to God’s call to serve as partners in living out the dream of the reign of God in the world. God has given to each of us exactly what we need to do the work God has given us to do. 

• God calls us to be who He created us to be, and not to be anyone else.

• God calls us to do the ministry He has given us, not the ministry God has given to others.

• God gives us the gifts, skills, and resources we need to do that ministry

The church’s role is to help people find their proper spiritual vocations…not to fill slots with volunteers. 

Coming soon!

Letter Format: How to construct a good fundraising letter

EMC Calendar Worksheet

Campaign Formats with order information

Commitment Programs Overview and Requirements

Pledge Card with Proportional Giving Chart