Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1981 · 54th Convention › Page 137
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 137

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

TASK FORCE

15.01 Personnel

The Board of Stewardship, consisting of three
pastors, three laymen, and one called teacher, shall
be elected by the Synod.

15.05 Objective of the Board

The objective of the board shall be to cultivate
Christians of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
who continue to grow in living their lives as faithful
stewards of Jesus Christ, effectively carrying out
Christ’s ministry and mission collectively through
congregations, the Synod, and other organized struc-
tures of the church and society, as well as in their
day-to-day personal relationships.

15.13 District Boards

a. Membership. Each synodical District shall elect
or appoint a committee or board for stewardship.

b. Function. The District board shall cooperate
with the Synod’s Board of Stewardship and shall
assist and advise the local congregations in the
development and promotion of an adequate steward-
ship program.

c. Stewardship Secretary. The Districts of the
Synod are advised to provide for the systematic
supervision and qualified guidance and promotion of
stewardship education. To that end, where possible,
they shall establish and maintain the office of a
Stewardship Counselor or Secretary, who shall be
responsible to the District Stewardship Board in the
performance of his duties.

15.15 Congregational Boards

Every congregation is encouraged to elect or
appoint a board or committee for stewardship, which
shall be responsible for carrying on an adequate
stewardship program in the manner prescribed by
the congregation.

15.07 Functions of Board

The board shall—

a. assist pastors and congregations in their culti-
vation of the total stewardship life of their members
so that they the more fulfill their responsibilities as
members of a Christian congregation;

b. provide counsel and materials for congrega-
tions as they endeavor to enlist the talents of their
members for Kingdom service in and through their
congregations;

c. plan and make available to the congregations
an ongoing program of mission education and thereby
develop a missionary concern;

d. interpret the Synod’s purpose and program to
the members of the congregations for the purpose of
developing an ever greater appreciation of what the
Synod means to them and a growing realization of
the many services it renders (internal public
relations);

e. aid pastors and congregations in teaching their
members effectively the grace of proportionate giving
as well as counseling congregations how to practice
proportionate (corporate) giving;

f. encourage congregations regularly, adequately,
and generously to support their program through
District and the Synod;

g. provide congregations with the necessary ma-

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carrying out the work of the Synod and to that end
provide for a Department of Financial Support under
the board which will promote normal giving, obtain
deferred and special gifts, and coordinate capital
drives for the Synod.

b. An Advisory Council on Financial Support
may be created by the Board of Directors. Membership
shall be proposed by the President and approved by
the Board of Directors.

7.05 Functions

a. In the area of normal giving the Department
shall—

1. meet with the appropriate officials in each
District to share information and plans and negotiate
the amount of resources to be utilized in the District
and by the general Synod in accordance with the
Bylaws for budget and work programs;

2. assist the Districts in providing information to
their congregations concerning the spending budget
and work program of the District and Synod prior to
the congregational budget-setting meeting.

b. In the area of deferred giving the Department
shall—

1. devise Synodwide programs of deferred giving,
including legacies, bequests, devises, endowments,
and other trusts for the advancement, promotion,
endowment, and maintenance of the Synod and its
Districts, colleges, seminaries, and other agencies
and such other causes as may be designated by the
Board of Directors of the Synod and The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod Foundation;

2. provide deferred giving planning services,
materials, and training events in accordance with
applicable policies established by The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod Foundation to assist de-
ferred giving counselors throughout the Synod in
consummating such gifts.