ership around money; supreme sus- picion of leadership around money matters (Money and Your Minis- try, page 17; Marcuson Leadership Circle, 2014). We see these forms in every facet of the church of today.
A maturing faith involves awareness of the impact of others on us, but also awareness of the impact that we have on others.
Margaret Marcuson, in her most
recent work on money and ministry, talks about the way the automatic reactivities emerge in interesting forms in congregational life: secrecy about the budget and use of money; denial about financial realities; over- or underestimating giving capaci- ties; regular crises, real or imagined, around finances; embezzlement or mismanagement; resisting necessary expenses like deferred maintenance; reactivity during fundraising; never talking about money; always talking about money; blind trust in the lead-
Author bio: Ott is associate professor of ministry and pastoral leadership at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, and executive director of Healthy Congregations Inc.
Maturing a final ‘f’ Developing a maturing faith involves the capacity to be aware of one’s sen- sitivities to the people and circum- stances that surround us and to call forth our best selves when those sen- sitivities are challenged. A maturing faith involves the ability to balance the emotional and intellectual com- ponents of our lives. A maturing faith involves awareness of the impact of others on us, but also awareness of the impact that we have on others. Money and stewardship are pri-
mary arenas in which our faith can be stretched to encompass a new way of being with ourselves and with others. Maintaining curiosity without let- ting “the seven ‘f ’s” shut us down and limit our ability to stay in the game allows us to learn from this most vital part of our life in faith. Raised by second generation
immigrant parents, my siblings and I had access to resources that were unavailable to our mother and father. Our opportunities for education and easy “money, money, money, money, money” were a dream come true for our parents and grandparents. The result was so automatic that it could be an emotional systems case study. Our easy access created the tension of associating access to resources as “success” and the opposite as failure. It wasn’t until I faced years of tough struggles in church budgets, build-
Where our fears erupt is where a more mature family and a more mature church can emerge.
ing programs and losses of key stewardship leaders that I had to acknowl- edge that my
automatic reactions didn’t fit my experience. My reactivity also didn’t fit with my desire to live into a faith defined by the cross, where failure is also the beginning of resurrection and new life. I had to grow up. Knowing what we believe about
money and stewardship is impor- tant. Equally important is the abil- ity to maintain our curiosity when what we believe and how we react just don’t seem to match. Knowing your family’s story about money and stew- ardship helps put the automatic into perspective. Author and pastor Lillian Dan-
iel describes her struggle with how her “money autobiography” col- lided with her congregation’s attitude toward offerings in “Money Off the Shelf ” in This Odd and Wondrous Calling (Eerdmans, 2009). She dem- onstrates beautifully that knowing your own story and your congrega- tion’s are central to responsible and faithful leadership whatever position you occupy in God’s realm. The O’Jays remind us to observe
better and withhold judgment. We can come to see that where our fears erupt is where a more mature fam- ily and a more mature church can emerge. Maturing congregations manage the conflicts, find differences intriguing and a sign of new life, and acknowledge that the grace of God exists in the places where the hidden is revealed.
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