NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–A new quarterly publication with principles and tools to build a biblical stewardship foundation for churches’ needs will premiere this fall.
“Stewardship Journal: Strategies for Faith and Practice,” produced by the Baptist Sunday School Board, will be released for the fall (September-October-November) quarter after the board assumes stewardship education and capital fund-raising as an assignment from the Southern Baptist Convention in June. The new assignment is among several given to the board as a part of the convention restructuring, “Covenant for a New Century,” which will close the SBC Stewardship Commission.
Gary L. Aylor, who became director of church stewardship services for the board in December, said the new four-color magazine “comes to you directly from the hearts of men and women who care deeply about the principles of Scripture. We want to inspire and encourage others to obedience.”
Aylor said the cover of the first issue features a photograph of the New York Stock Exchange and an accompanying explanation that the cover image is “instantly recognizable here and abroad as the center of global power and the symbol of wealth,” yet noting “all temporal power is eclipsed by the cross, the greatest power the world has ever known. … (B)eneath its shadow, mankind marches toward a personal meeting with the Creator of the universe, to whom each shall give a personal accounting of all that has been entrusted to his care.”
Recurring feature topics will include the biblical basis for stewardship, helps for budget and finance committees, financial trends in America today, capital fund-raising ideas and case histories, teaching aids for young children and youth, as well as stewardship program assistance and helps for large and small membership churches.
Planning for Stewardship Journal included a focus group of church staff persons, lay leaders, business leaders, state workers and Sunday School Board staff. States represented included North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Texas and Tennessee.
Aylor said out of that meeting came a goal to provide “solid Bible teaching on stewardship, fresh teaching ideas that can be put to use tomorrow in churches and practical help for laymen and church staff who have budget and finance responsibilities.”
Articles in the first issue include features on relational stewardship and believers’ inability to outgive God, as well as
stewardship truths for children and worshipping with tithes and offerings; a column on lifestyle stewardship; and a range of informational articles and resources, including a drama written especially for the magazine.
Copies at $3.95 quarterly may be ordered from the Customer Service Center, 127 Ninth Ave., N., Nashville, TN, 37234-0113, by fax at (615) 251-5933 or by electronic mail at [email protected]. Stewardship Journal is ISBN number 0-7673-8442-3 and will be listed on the board’s dated literature order form beginning with the winter quarter.
