\uc2a4\ud29c\uc5b4\ub4dc\uc2ed \ub9cc\ud654\uacbd<\/a>, an annual conference focused on stewardship, generosity and finances for churches. It was held both virtually and in person in Savannah, Ga., Sept. 26 to 28.<\/p>\nMills serves as Assistant to the Bishop for Shared Ministry and Call Process of the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which partners with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on the Stewardship Kaleidoscope conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s spend time considering approaching generosity from the specific lens of the people gathered by giving both weight and respect to their lived reality, beliefs, tradition and values,\u201d Mills said.<\/p>\n
Many churches around the country are now made up of non-white people. This is an opportunity for church leaders to pay attention to congregational culture, identity and traditions that could be different from the dominant white culture in America. Other cultures have differing perceptions of abundance, wealth, and vitality.<\/p>\n
Mills shared a personal illustration about the birth of her child. \u201cMy family doctor was checking him out when he was born and said he will probably be tall and skinny like his grandfather,\u201d Mills recalled. \u201cHe then asked me to go home and get on the floor to crawl around so I could consider what a baby might access. So today, let\u2019s be vulnerable enough to take off our identities and consider someone else\u2019s point of view when it comes to generosity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mills then shared five factors about community and individuals \u201cthat shape experiences to unleash generosity in a mode that is familiar and meaningful.\u201d In other words, when it comes to fostering stewardship, meet people where they are in their specific life experience and culture, instead of assuming a dominant culture\u2019s understanding of wealth and generosity.<\/p>\n
History shapes financial attitudes. <\/strong><\/p>\nFor instance, how those who lived through the Great Depression view money or how those who were raised with one parent verses two parents view their long-term financial stability.<\/p>\n
Ask the question: \u201cHow does their history shape their generosity?\u201d<\/p>\n
Symbolism and superstitions matter.<\/strong><\/p>\nDominant culture dismisses other culture\u2019s symbols and superstitions \u2013 maybe it is an unlucky number or that endowments can never be touched.<\/p>\n
Ask the question: \u201cWhat cultural beliefs influence their generosity?\u201d<\/p>\n
Individualist and collective countries and cultures view money differently.<\/strong><\/p>\nSome African and Caribbean communities take up a collection to benefit one person. For some in the dominant culture, this can feel suspicious.<\/p>\n
Another example is that in dominant culture, it is a sign of shame to move back home as a young adult. But in many cultures, the idea of living with family is an honor.<\/p>\n
Ask the question: \u201cHow does the community\u2019s core values define how generosity is unleashed?\u201d<\/p>\n
Religious influences are important. <\/strong><\/p>\nMany dominant culture churches do not talk about money. Mills said, \u201cWhen we think about wealth, Jesus doesn\u2019t say one nice thing about wealthy people.\u201d How do we perceive ourselves? Is our comfort actually wealth? Could our wealth have come at someone else\u2019s expense?<\/p>\n
Ask the question: \u201cWhat tenets of the community\u2019s faith define their generosity?\u201d<\/p>\n
Every country is different, but the people are not all the same. <\/strong><\/p>\nOne assumption people often make is that everyone from a certain culture is the same. They are not. Churches and ministries shouldn\u2019t have a cookie-cutter approach to stewardship within a culture. Listen to various stories within the community to give you a better view of their priorities.<\/p>\n
Ask the question: \u201cHow are you making room for diverging viewpoints within the community?\u201d<\/p>\n
Towards the end of this workshop, Mills shared several tips in moving forward. Her most universal idea for the group was to really listen to and learn from the people they serve in order to unleash the generosity that exists in our diverse communities of faith.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to stewardship or generosity. In a rich conversation about unleashing generosity in culturally-specific ways, Rev. Lucille \u201cCeCee\u201d Mills challenged pastors and church leaders during her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":14795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14794"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44904,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14794\/revisions\/44904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}