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COVID-19 Stewardship

REV. DR. MICHAEL S. PIAZZA | Doctor of Ministry ’18

The current pandemic has exacerbated and accelerated the transitions churches, which already were in a liminal season, need to make. For almost a decade, I have been teaching seminarians and coaching local congregational leaders that their future success depends on adapting to the digital age. To lead their communities in the 21st century, technology must be a guiding light. Now, almost overnight, I'm a prophet. In particular, I am convinced that there are certain tools the church should be using to advance the Beloved Community: dynamic websites with integrated digital marketing; automated marketing; online giving; virtual fundraising; live streaming; on-demand worship; and social media. To that end, I have been working with traditional congregations to transition from typical fall stewardship campaigns geared simply to fund the budget for the next year to automatic recurring giving. My lead line almost always contains the phrase "your LAST pledge campaign." Most people are easily persuaded because they trying to squeeze more money out of fewer pledges. That outdated system is not working for churches and other nonprofits. Many public radio stations have moved away from their quarterly "pledge drives" to recruiting people to become "sustaining members." One director of development with a large and successful station said, "We would much rather have a

Rev. Dr. Michael Piazza is a Faculty Associate in Congregational Renewal at Hartford Seminary. He is the senior pastor of Broadway United Church of Christ on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and the founder and president of Agile Church Consulting. $10-a-month sustaining member already have observed that they are

than a $150-a-year pledge." There are myriad reasons that a $30 tradeoff is well worth making. Sustaining (i.e. recurring) givers are much more durable from year to year and more faithful. After all, they haven’t changed their giving patterns during this time when we are unable to pass the offering plate. This is not new; rather, it is something old we should have adopted long ago. That is why, when teaching congregations year-round stewardship as a core spiritual principle, we encourage them to:

Decouple giving from a budget. Use the latest technology to create sustaining members who are committed to recurring electronic giving. Use a database to cultivate and support discipleship. Use electronic giving to stabilize income. Adapt to the cultural shift from giving to "spending." Find the technological tools that are most suited for their church. The spiritual values and lessons around stewardship, generosity, and gratitude already should be at the heart of every community and every person of faith. What we must learn is how to use new tools and how to stop being crazy. That is we need to stop trying the same thing while expecting different results. This season has been crazy-making enough without pretending things will ever "go back to normal."

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