First in a series

As Thanksgiving approaches, Christians love to talk of God's blessings and gratitude. Beneath the surface, however, stewardship experts find less gratitude than ever. Church members' giving has declined below Depression-era levels despite a 541 percent increase in wealth since the 1930s.

However, before pastors get the idea they should pound people over the head with a Malachi 3:10-based sermon on tithing, they caution that stewardship runs much deeper.

Dick Towner, executive director of the Good $ense financial ministry at Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago, says pastors shoot themselves in the foot by reducing the topic to an annual plea for more money.

"One friend calls it the lamentation of desperation for the church budget," Towner says. "In large measure the church has failed to teach on stewardship. Materialism has won the day in the hearts and minds of people."

Church neglects teaching

Towner sees various factors at work in the church's failure to teach about stewardship, starting with most seminaries neglecting the subject.

In addition, he says many pastors are uncomfortable discussing money, either because of modest salaries or high educational debt that leaves them struggling to pay their bills.

They also face potential opposition from congregants who are either ignorant of how often the Bible addresses the topic or guilt over their own lack of giving. Yet, two-thirds of Christ's parables concern money or possessions, Towner says.

"Materialism is a theological subject," Towner says. "It teaches that ultimate reality is in physical reality and everything can be explained by it. It's a god of good news that (says), ‘Things bring happiness.'"

Recognizing God's ownership

A Colorado Springs pastor who speaks and writes regularly about stewardship says the church's silence on money has left people without a vision of what generous giving looks like.

As a result, says Brian Kluth, there are few differences in the ways Christians and non-Christians spend their money.

Those who want to follow a biblical lifestyle should start by recognizing they aren't just to give 10 percent of their income to God; they need to recognize He owns the remaining 90 percent, Kluth says.

"The call to contentment is huge," says the Evangelical Free Church pastor. "Systematic giving is important, too, having a plan to be a faithful giver. Not a single church has a money problem. It has a faithfulness problem."

Kluth sees attempts to address the issue through such efforts as Crown Financial Ministries, Good $ense and popular radio talk show host Dave Ramsey. He also maintains two sites that offer stewardship resources, Generous Life and kluth.org.

During Thanksgiving, Kluth recommends pastors remind their congregations to literally count their blessings, listing ways God provides for them.

Kluth and his wife engaged in such an exercise when their annual income was $15,000. As a result, that year they gave away $4,000.

Teach your children well

A certified public accountant whose firm offers a financial consulting service for churches thinks one way congregations can reverse this abysmal giving record is starting with children.

Jeremy White of Paducach, Ky., says too often parents think schools are teaching money management and schools think parents are, when in reality neither is doing the job.

White says churches can include children and youth in year-round stewardship teaching that trains people at look at money in new ways.

"You wouldn't talk about love or marriage just on Valentine's Day," says White, co-author of the new book, "Your Kids Can Master Their Money." "It can be started with kids, integrated with youth and taught in a new member's class. Make it throughout the curriculum."

Towner thinks adults need as much instruction as their children. Instead of being grateful for all that God provides, too many grumble about what they don't have, he says.

The Willow Creek staff member sees gratefulness as an antidote to the greed that American culture pushes with messages of "more, more, more."

"A grateful spirit is recognizing what I have as a gift from God," Towner says. "Flowing out of that tends to be a spirit of sharing with others who are less fortunate."

Stewardship as a lifestyle

How often a pastor should preach on stewardship? These observers think throughout the year, though not always couching it in those terms.

For example, Towner says the famed "Sermon on the Mount" contains half a dozen messages on stewardship, such as how God cares for the lilies of the field and concern for the poor.

Among other biblical issues he sees related to stewardship: war and conflict, or destruction of the environment caused by wasteful lifestyles.

"There are great stewardship messages all over the place," Towner says. "We need to ask, ‘Why do we have excess (income)? So we can raise our standard of living or our standard of giving?'"

Nor does he think pastors should blindly adopt the tithe as a standard every single person must meet.

A single mother whose husband deserted the family should probably receive financial assistance from the church, Towner explains. And, at age 69, with his children raised and home paid for, he considers 10 percent inadequate.

Kluth, who offers a 12-month planning calendar and a list of best practices, encourages pastors to schedule more testimonies from people who have seen the blessings of faithfulness to God.

At a church he once pastored in Milwaukee, a single mother of three shared how when God taught her to give, she gradually was able to pay off $23,000 in debt despite earning just $23,000 a year.

The bottom line is pastors should emphasize how wise stewardship will bless those who practice it, says White, a Southern Baptist layman.

Pastors should strive to communicate that stewardship is something they want for their members, the CPA says.

"(Tell people), ‘We don't want stewardship from you, we want stewardship for you,'" White says.

Read Part 2 on fostering generosity in your congregation as a means to avoiding fraud: Stewardship: How giving prevents a church from being taken.