Stewardship

The basic tenet of stewardship is that we are accountable to God for the ways we treat his creation. Therefore our time, talents and treasure (or money) belong to God and a proper proportion of them should be given to him.

Stewardship campaigns were introduced into Britain by the Wells organization in the late 1950s. The Methodist Stewardship Organization was set up in 1960-61 under J. Morrison Neilson MBE (1906-74; e.m. 1927) and Mr John Longworth in Manchester. It became part of the Connexional Funds Department in 1970 and from 1972 of the Home Mission Department, being seen as one way of renewing the life of local churches. Stewardship was encouraged within each District by a District Secretary. In 2000 the Methodist Stewardship Organisation wa integrated into the work of the Local Mission Development Section of the Resourcing Mission unit based in Manchester, staffed by a team of Local Mission Advisers available to conduct a range of services in churches and circuits including Stewardship programmes.

Sources
  • G. Thompson Brake, Policy and Politics in British Methodism 1932-1982 (1984) pp.161-65
  • M. Douglas Meeks, 'Sanctification and Economy: A Wesleyan Perspective on Stewardship', in Randy L. Maddox (ed.), Rethinking Wesley's Theology for Contemporary Methodism (1998), pp.83-98

See also

Entry written by: BEB and JWH
Category: Subject
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