Dear Partners in Mission,

In the congregational visits that I have conducted as part of Called 2 Connect,I have been pleased by the response of the leadership of these congregations and the willingness of all to work for the mission of the church, especially in the area of stewardship.

However, many of our congregations do not yet have a stewardship program or a regular stewardship campaign each year. Because of this, the Indiana-Kentucky Synod Stewardship Team has developed a program that can be used by any congregation in any setting.

This program is based upon the work of Dr. Eugene Grimm, Stewardship Specialist for the three Ohio synods. Through his research and years of experience he has created a stewardship program that is very useful and helpful for any congregation. Below you will find links to this stewardship resource.

There are three reasons why we are making these fine resources available to you:

1) We are all concerned with the spiritual growth and development of the people we serve. There is a beautiful cycle revealed in scripture that as our spiritual relationship to God grows so does our generosity; and (as Jesus stated in Matt. 6:10) as our generosity grows - so we grow spiritually.

2) Also, from scripture we know that money can be either a powerful tool for the work of God's Kingdom on earth, or it can be the "root of evil." It is important for us as leaders to teach, preach and guide disciples and churches in their understanding and use of money.

3) At the 2006 Indiana-Kentucky Assembly there was a great deal of discussion about money and the funding of our ministries. We are aware that this is a concern for not only the I-K synod, but for most of the congregations within the synod.

For these reasons, your synod has provided a stewardship resource for you to use at no charge in that we may all benefit from both the spiritual growth of our members and the expanded opportunities for ministry that money affords.

If you do not have a stewardship program planned for this year you will find a good program and good resources here.

If you already have a stewardship program planned for this year you will find some
useful resources here.

Also at this link are contact people who can help you with implementing your program.

Your brother in Christ,

Bishop Jim Stuck