Flourishing through our Stewardship

Gracious God: Why We Steward

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10)

• The Church belongs to Jesus Christ. He is its head, the One in whom all things hold together, and the One who gathers and forms us as His people.

• God has entrusted us with the care of His household—its people, faith, gifts, relationships, and resources. Stewardship is our response to that trust, expressed through love, attentiveness, responsibility, and service.

• In the Church, we learn to see people as precious, creation as God's good gift, and responsibility as an opportunity to reflect Christ's character. As we are formed in this way of life, we carry it into our homes, workplaces, neighbourhoods, and communities.

• Our task is not to manufacture leaders or impose our own vision upon the Church. It is to discern what God is already doing, recognize the gifts He has given His people, and faithfully tend what belongs to Him.

Why "Stewardship Collective"?

• Since its beginnings, Renewal has spoken of a Leadership Collective to express shared discernment, collaborative ministry, and responsibility exercised together rather than centred on one individual.

• As our church has matured, we have sought language that more fully reflects our understanding of the people of God.

• Stewardship better names the biblical vocation of responsibility: caring for God's household, tending His gifts, and serving others in the pattern of Christ.

• It is a renewed commitment to understand responsibility through the gospel rather than through cultural expectations of leadership, whether based on charisma, status, managerial ability, or personal influence.

• We seek to cultivate mature Christians whose lives reflect Christ's love and who can be entrusted with the care of His people.

Theology of Stewardship (and Leadership)

1. Stewardship Begins With God's Household

• The Church is God's household, gathered under Christ, in whom all things hold together (Col. 1:17). Our responsibility participates in God's larger purpose to unite all things in heaven and on earth in Christ (Eph. 1:10).

• We do not own the Church or its resources. We are entrusted with their care, seeking to align our common life with Christ's reconciling work.

2. Stewardship Belongs to the Whole People of God

• From Genesis, humanity is called to work and keep God's creation (Gen. 2:15). In Christ, this vocation is renewed as we become a royal priesthood, called to embody God's goodness and care for one another (1 Pet. 2:9).

• Every Christian participates in this calling. Eldership and deaconship are particular expressions of stewardship within the wider vocation of God's people.

3. Stewardship Is Recognized Through Gifts and Christian Maturity

• The Spirit distributes gifts for the common good (1 Cor. 12:7). Our task is to recognize where these gifts are taking root and where people are growing into responsibility.

• We look not primarily for impressive personalities, ambition, or influence, but for lives marked by compassion, humility, patience, faithfulness, and love.

• Often, those who quietly and consistently care for others are already demonstrating the gifts of stewardship.

• Elders are recognized for gifts that tend the faith and spiritual life of the community. Deacons are recognized for gifts that tend its practical life and needs. Both call for mature, Christ-shaped character.

4. Stewardship Follows the Pattern of Jesus

• Jesus taught that greatness in His kingdom is expressed through service: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45).

• Those entrusted with responsibility are called to be living examples of Christ's self-giving love. They lift others up rather than dominate, exercise authority with humility, and seek the flourishing of the people entrusted to their care.

• The coherence of our lives matters: who we are before God, how we treat others, and whether our actions reflect the faith we profess.

5. Stewardship Is Shared and Communal

• The Church is one body, joined together and growing as each part does its work (Eph. 4:16).

• No individual possesses all the gifts or wisdom needed to care for God's household. Eldership is shared, gifts are distributed, and discernment belongs within the community.

• The Stewardship Collective provides a relational place where people can discern together, share responsibility, recognize emerging gifts, and encourage one another toward maturity.

6. Stewardship Is Part of the Church's Witness

• Through the Church, the manifold wisdom of God is made known (Eph. 3:10).

• How we exercise responsibility—how we care for people, handle resources, share authority, resolve disagreements, and serve one another—reveals something of Christ to the world.

• As we learn to steward faithfully within the Church, we are formed to exercise responsibility with the same integrity and love wherever God has placed us.

Membership of the Stewardship Collective

The Stewardship Collective brings together elders, deacons, and those being formed for particular responsibilities in the life of Renewal.

Elders and Elder-Candidates

• Elders are entrusted with tending the faith, spiritual health, and pastoral care of the community.

• Elders serve an active term of five years.

• Following their term, elders remain recognized as elders, though their period of active service has concluded.

• Elder-candidates participate in the collective as part of their formation and discernment.

Deacons and Emerging Deacons

• Deacons are entrusted with tending the practical life, ministries, and needs of the community.

• Deacons serve two-year terms.

• Deacons may serve as committee chairs, ministry team leads, or in other areas of responsibility.

• Serving as a ministry lead does not automatically make someone a deacon. Such service may reveal gifts and maturity that lead toward recognition as a deacon.

• Emerging deacons may participate in the collective as part of their formation and discernment.

Recognizing and Forming Stewards

• The Stewardship Collective is a place for discerning and nurturing the gifts God has already given His people.

• We seek to recognize those whose lives demonstrate the character of Christ and whose gifts are already being exercised for the good of others.

• This means attending to who they are becoming.

  • Recognize: Where are gifts of shepherding, wisdom, teaching, mercy, hospitality, service, and administration already taking root?

  • Discern: Are these gifts accompanied by Christian maturity, consistency of character, and a willingness to serve?

  • Nurture: How can we encourage, mentor, and form people in the particular responsibilities to which they may be called?

  • Entrust: When appropriate, how do we affirm and commission people to exercise these responsibilities on behalf of the community?

We recognize that stewardship is often exercised by people who do not think of themselves as leaders: those who are quiet, faithful, prayerful, compassionate, reliable, or serving behind the scenes. Our calling is not to manufacture leaders, but to recognize, form, and entrust the stewards God has already given His Church.

The Work of the Stewardship Collective

Our shared stewardship takes shape through four areas of responsibility. In each, we seek to discern what God has entrusted to our care, nurture what is flourishing, and attend faithfully to what requires our attention.

1. Tending Our Shared Faith and Commitments

• We steward the Life Together Handbook, bylaws, and the commitments that shape our common life.

• Review theology, doctrine, and statements of faith.

• Tend the policies and practices that guide our life together.

• Review membership processes, expectations, and commitments.

• Discern where our shared practices require clarification, renewal, or change.

• Our goal is to safeguard the faith, relationships, and structures of care that sustain our life as God's household.

2. Tending Ministries and Recognizing Stewards

• We attend to the health of our ministries and the people entrusted with their care.

• Review existing ministries, committees, teams, and responsibilities.

• Discern whether ministries are healthy, supported, and sustainable.

• Recognize emerging gifts and encourage new elders, deacons, and ministry stewards.

• Identify where additional support, formation, succession, or realignment is needed.

• Our goal is not simply to maintain activities, but to recognize and nurture the gifts through which God builds up His Church.

3. Tending Our Resources and Corporate Responsibilities

• We steward the financial, material, and legal responsibilities entrusted to Renewal with integrity and care.

• Review financial health, budgets, expenditures, and reporting.

• Ensure resources are used faithfully in support of our community and mission.

• Attend to our obligations as a registered charity and incorporated church.

• Maintain appropriate oversight of insurance, contracts, safeguarding, and operational responsibilities.

• Support transparent, accountable, and sustainable administrative practices.

• The Board of Directors and corporate officers exercise their particular legal responsibilities within this wider commitment to faithful stewardship.

• Our goal is to ensure that how we handle resources and responsibilities reflects the integrity, generosity, and love of Christ.

4. Gathering for Shared Discernment and Significant Decisions

• We help the wider congregation participate in the decisions and commitments that shape our common life.

• Convene churchwide gatherings for prayer, discernment, and shared reflection.

• Prepare significant matters requiring congregational participation or affirmation.

• Support the recognition, appointment, and commissioning of elders and deacons.

• Coordinate corporate members' meetings and decisions as required by our bylaws.

• Communicate decisions clearly and ensure responsibilities and commitments are followed through.

• Our goal is to cultivate shared discernment, meaningful participation, and clear accountability, recognizing the particular responsibilities entrusted to the congregation, elders, deacons, directors, and officers.

On "Flourishing through our Stewardship"

Curated by the Stewardship Collective — For updates, questions or shared discernment, contact connect@renewalchurch.ca