How Did I Get Here?

I’ll confess something right off the bat: I never envisioned myself working for a general agency. I've appreciated the work of our agencies, but I've always felt a deep resonance with this phrase from our Book of Discipline, paragraph 201: "The local church provides the most significant arena through which disciple-making occurs."

Because of that belief, I've spent the past twenty-five years pastoring local churches, with the last thirteen spent in one appointment. I've invested in coaching and mentoring new clergy in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference in preaching, leadership, finance, and stewardship. And I've helped steward conference resources as part of our council on finance and administration and board of trustees.

So, how did I get here? Over the past few years, I’ve felt my calling shifting in a new direction—not changing, exactly, but narrowing its focus. A pastor, by definition, must be a generalist. At the same time, we need to surround ourselves with folks who dive deeply into topics like giving, doing research and study we often don’t have time to work through ourselves.

As I step into this role as Director of Stewardship and Generosity, I am deeply grateful to my predecessor, the Rev. Dr. Ken Sloane, whose fifteen-year tenure in this position has been a gift to the denomination. Time and again, I've reached for resources he's written, edited, or curated to help me in my local church. And if I needed something, I knew he was open to a conversation. Thank you, Ken!

I know there are many voices blogging, writing, and teaching in this space. What makes my voice different? It’s my local church experience, in settings of various sizes, through times when blessings abounded and in times of incredible difficulty – particularly in the post-pandemic era. I’ve done the work you’re doing: building stewardship systems and campaigns, navigating personnel challenges and capital campaigns, soliciting major gifts, and starting an endowment and planned giving program. When November and December rolled around, I felt the tightness in the pit of my stomach, wondering if we'd be able to pay our apportionments in full. Like you, I’ve turned down a pay increase to make the budget work.

Most of us didn't get into church ministry to manage budgets, set up financial policies, or have giving conversations. Particularly for pastors facing growing administrative burdens, these things can feel like a distraction from the real work of making disciples, of loving and serving God and our neighbors. And yet, we’ve got the witness of the scripture that names generosity as a fruit of the Spirit (at least according to some of my favorite translations). I'll unpack my theology of stewardship more in a future post. For now, I'll just say I don't believe stewardship can be divorced from discipleship. This isn't administrative work; it's spiritual responsibility.

That’s why I want Discipleship Ministries’ resources on stewardship and generosity to focus on the needs of the local church and its leaders. I aim to be practical without being prescriptive, creating accessible entry points for every church to move step by step toward a modern, year-round approach to stewardship, trusting leaders to choose and adapt the tools that work best in their contexts.

Here’s one example: you'll soon see more "offering openers" show up alongside the offertory prayers resources - not scripts but prompts and outlines that coach you in crafting offering talks in your own voice. The aim is to build leaders' capacity to talk about their own ministries and the amazing work happening across the United Methodist Church. Part of the witness of our membership vows is being able to tell the story of how giving makes a difference - not only for those we serve, but in our own lives, too.

You can also expect me to provide support beyond the everyday nuts and bolts of church finance. We’ll keep talking about planned giving, endowments, investments, property management, alternative revenue streams, and environmental stewardship. I’m focused on the sustainability of ministry in all its dimensions, and we have great partners helping with this work, because no one can do this alone.

I look forward to hearing about your challenges and celebrations, as well as the resourcing you need to be more effective in your ministries, particularly in contexts beyond suburban churches in the United States. As we interact through the website, newsletters, webinars, and in-person training, I hope you'll feel comfortable sharing your thoughts about how we're doing and what more is needed. Email me anytime at [email protected].

Serving with you,
Joe