Stewardship Season Is Here Again. But Does It Work?

Autumn is fully upon us in the mid-Atlantic states. Leaves are falling, farm stands are filled with apple harvest, and hot cider is flowing. Along with all the warm fall feelings and crisp cool mornings, for many mainline clergy and church leaders, it also means stewardship season is about to begin. That one time, a year when pastors reluctantly are compelled to talk about money from the pulpit, to name the real resources needed to keep the institution and its ministries moving forward in the coming year. It's never easy. This year, with increased cultural and political unrest in America, it feels even more daunting.

The concept of Stewardship Season was new to me when I began attending a mainline Baptist church as a young adult. I was raised in the Pentecostal tradition where the concept of first fruits—the 10% of one's income given to the church—was taught as a year-round spiritual practice. I initially found the idea of a pledge campaign more appropriate for community philanthropy than supporting the local church. Our faith seemed to call for a giving model outside typical American fundraising schemes, and I bristled at this new-to-me concept of church giving. I even chose not to complete a pledge card for years, though I gave what I could financially, as well as more broadly of time and talents.

While this idea of the annual stewardship campaign was new to me, I learned that it harkened back to the days of pew rentals and annual subscriptions from colonial times in America. In the archives of some churches I've served since then, I've read of efforts by church members going door to door to collect outstanding promised funds.

Different church traditions have developed different approaches to giving—some emphasize tithing as spiritual discipline, others focus on structured stewardship campaigns, and many blend elements of both. Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses. But here's what surprised me when I started looking at the data: despite these different methods and theological frameworks, actual giving levels across most traditions aren't dramatically different. The dollars coming through the door tell a story that few churches want to admit.

---

 "If every Christian in the U.S. actually tithed 10%, religious organizations would have an additional $139 billion available annually."

---

Research from Lifeway Research reveals that the average church attendee gives less than 3% of their income to the church—far below the 10% that many traditions teach. While 54% of churchgoers claim they give at least 10% of their income, other studies show that only about 13% of evangelicals actually give anything close to a tithe. According to Empty Tomb, Inc., evangelicals give churches about 4% of their income on average, and all Christians combined give only 2.43%.

The gap between teaching and practice is enormous. If every Christian actually tithed 10%, religious organizations would have an additional $139 billion available annually, according to Health Research Funding. Even in traditions where tithing is most strongly emphasized—94% of Pentecostal pastors say tithing is a biblical command that still applies today, per Lifeway Research—actual giving still falls short of the 10% ideal.

The one major exception is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), which requires members to pay a full 10% tithe to qualify for temple access. This requirement is verified through annual interviews with church leaders. The LDS Church brings in an estimated $7-33 billion annually in tithing from about 16.6 million members—suggesting their enforcement mechanism actually works. But that raises an uncomfortable question for other Christian traditions: should giving be coerced or cultivated?

Overall, Christians are generous people, and many say giving to their church is a priority. However, most churches—across traditions—struggle to fully fund their ministries as robustly as they wish. Mainline churches typically excel at planning expenditures and organizing annual pledge campaigns, with many denominations setting minimum salary standards for clergy. Evangelical and free church congregations teach about tithing and giving year-round, which funds ongoing ministry and outreach, though without denominational salary guidelines, compensation and property maintenance can vary widely from church to church. What can each tradition learn from the other to create a third way of stewardship that generates sustainable income from the generosity of congregants?

How Each Model Works—and What Each Emphasizes

In more evangelical minded churches, “first fruits" language connects giving to God's provision, not institutional need. Congregants give because God has blessed them, and this is how you participate in what God is doing—primarily spreading the gospel. The emphasis is upward and outward: missions, evangelism, church planting, reaching the lost. Giving feels organic, part of a broader understanding of supporting the church's mission in the world.

In mainline churches, stewardship campaigns frame giving around institutional sustainability. Churches present detailed budgets showing what's needed: building maintenance, program costs, mission initiatives, community service. The emphasis is on shared responsibility for keeping this particular community and its ministries functioning. It's structured, tied to planning and preventing deficit spending.

Here's what both models tend to avoid talking about: salaries. Yet personnel costs often represent 50-70% of most church budgets. Mainline congregations may list in a budget line item for pastoral support and evangelical sermons on tithing rarely say, "give so your pastor can make a living wage." Both traditions seem uncomfortable explicitly connecting congregational generosity to the people who lead, teach, visit, and care for the community.

This silence reveals something important about how we frame giving. Evangelicals emphasize God's work (which sounds spiritual), while mainline churches may seem to more greatly emphasize buildings and programs (which sounds practical). And neither wants to make it about paying people, even though that's where most of the money actually goes.

The way we ask for money reveals what we believe the church fundamentally is. Some churches emphasize giving as response to God's provision—"first fruits" language that connects generosity to blessing and participation in God's mission. Other churches emphasize giving as shared responsibility for sustaining a community and its ministries—budgets and pledges that make institutional needs transparent. But here's the reality: the church is both organism and institution simultaneously. We are a living body responding to the Spirit's movement AND a community that needs working HVAC, fair salaries, and financial planning.

We can't choose one over the other. When we only talk about giving as spiritual response to God's provision, we avoid accountability and transparency about where money actually goes. When we only talk about giving as meeting budget needs, we reduce stewardship to institutional survival rather than participation in God's work. What if our giving practices need to integrate both realities? What if we could be honest about what we're really paying for—yes, salaries and buildings, but also the people and spaces that make ministry possible—while also connecting that giving to something larger than keeping the lights on?

A Third Way Forward

So, what can churches learn by integrating the best of both models? Here are some practical principles that honor both the institutional and organic realities of church life:

Teach tithing with nuance. Yes, talk about the 10% principle as a biblical benchmark, but frame it as a spiritual practice of generosity, not a rigid percentage that determines your spiritual standing. Encourage those with more resources to give out of their abundance. Those with less should not feel obligated to meet a 10% goal that may compromise their ability to provide for their families. It's worth noting that statistically, those with less often give more generously than the wealthy anyway—a reality that should humble all of us.

Make stewardship year-round, not seasonal. Integrate conversations about generosity into the broader life of the church throughout the year, not just a concentrated push before budget adoption. Every season offers opportunities to connect giving to discipleship, mission, and what God is doing in and through your community. This ongoing conversation invites people into generosity rather than corralling them during a few Sundays in the fall.

Be radically transparent about real costs. Share your budget openly with the congregation—where money comes from and where it goes. Show what it costs to pay clergy and staff a living wage with benefits, to maintain buildings, to fund programs and mission work. A helpful benchmark for salary decisions: consider the average income of the congregation's lay leadership. When highly qualified clergy earn significantly less than the members setting compensation, something is out of balance. Be clear about reserves, endowments, and how investment income is used. Don't hide costs in vague categories or make people guess what "administration" or "operations" actually means. If we're asking people to give sacrificially, they deserve to know exactly what their giving supports—and we shouldn't be ashamed of how much or little that is!

Work with everyone, not just the wealthy few. Don't build your budget around courting major gifts from a handful of donors or living off endowments and big pockets. Live off of God's abundance—have faith, but pair that faith with good planning, sound administration, and strong financial controls. Broad-based giving from the whole congregation creates healthier community, more sustainable funding, and a culture where everyone participates in supporting the mission.

Frame church giving as distinct from general philanthropy. Help people understand their giving to the church as different from—though related to—their broader charitable contributions. Church giving isn't just another line item in someone's philanthropic portfolio. It reflects participation in the work of God in the world and investment in a specific local community of faith that shapes your spiritual life.

Remember whose resources these are. If we truly believe God holds all things and we are simply stewards for a time, then the question isn't just "What do we have access to?" but "Are we activating all that God has entrusted to us?" This theological grounding should inform every conversation about money, every budget decision, and every invitation to generosity.

These ideas may seem simple—perhaps not revolutionary enough to solve the perennial challenge of how to talk about money in church. But sometimes the most transformative shifts start with straightforward changes in practice and perspective. What if, instead of dreading the annual stewardship sermon, we normalized conversations about generosity and finances throughout the year? What if we were serious about financial management without being paralyzed by financial insecurity? What if we could talk honestly about budgets and salaries while still connecting giving to God's provision and mission?

As the leaves fall and stewardship season arrives once again for mainline congregations, perhaps it's time to learn from one another. The church is both institution and living organism, and our stewardship practices should reflect that reality. We need transparency and planning. We need theology and vision. We need honest budgets and spiritual formation. Most of all, we need to remember that we're not just funding a community organization—we're participating in what God is doing in the world through our local community of faith.

The question isn't whether your church practices stewardship campaigns or teaches tithing as the best way to inspire giving. The question is: are we forming followers of Jesus who see generosity as integral to faith, who understand what their giving actually supports, and who participate joyfully in sustaining both the institution and the Spirit-led mission of the church? And the answer can be found when we take the time to reflect on how the Spirit may be nudging us to fund our work in the world.