| Stewardship Center expands staff, focus by Erik AlsgaardUMConnection Staff The Stewardship Center and Foundation of the Baltimore-Washington Conference is expanding in more ways than one in 2004.  Starting this month, the staff of the center expands to three: the Revs. Terry Leckrone, Maynard Moore and Charlie Parker. Each will provide expertise in a particular area of stewardship, and together, form a resource team for one-stop shopping for the conference.
The Stewardship Center is the fulfillment of a plan adopted by the conference at its annual session in 2002. Moore has been a consultant in management and financial resource development for non-profit organizations for more than 30 years. He comes to the conference after serving at Delaware State University as the resident counsel for a $30 million comprehensive capital campaign.  Moore hit the ground running this fall, working with the Frederick District, the first to start on the Funding Future Ministry capital campaign.
The result of the capital campaign has to have successful short-term objectives, Moore said, but the long-term financial health of congregations and the district as a whole has to be raised as a result of the campaign. The short-term goal of Funding Future Ministry is to raise money at the local church and district level for programs of each church and districts choice. In addition, $12.7 million for new church starts and the camping program of the conference is expected to be raised. Every district in the Baltimore-Washington Conference will be invited to participate in the capital campaign, but not all at once. Were talking about rolling out campaigns over a four to six year period, Moore said. It is more than a full-time job, particularly when more than one district is cycling in to the process.  Parker, who served as executive director of the Emmaus Service for the Aging in Washington, will work in areas of stewardship education, theology and practice.
While under Parkers supervision, the budget of Emmaus Services tripled, the staff doubled, a new headquarters was purchased and a $3 million dollar capital campaign for renovations was completed. Maynard (Moore) brings a host of fabulous capital campaign experiences to the table, he said, and my own experience is more geared to long-range development, helping people establish solid budgets and solid infrastructure for developing and maintaining ministries over the years. Leckrone, on honorable location from the Central Pennsylvania Conference, has been executive director of the Foundation since 1997. Under his leadership, he said, assets in the Foundation have grown 87 percent since Jan. 1, 1998. He will continue his work in the area of planned giving and investment management. My piece is to focus on providing the ways churches can ensure future viability of their ministry, he said, either through the way in which they invest their funds, or establish endowment funds or planned gifts. Theres been a tremendous increase in churches calling for planned giving. For the Center team, their work is all about ministry and vision. Capital campaigns, said Parker, are wonderful opportunities for local congregations to stretch in both their practice and education of stewardship. The goal is obviously to always end a capital campaign with a group of highly motivated, dedicated and savvy givers, he said. And that is something that will have long-term implications for our congregations and the conference. The question is, whats the content of ministry for each congregation, said Moore, commenting on starting points for stewardship. The whole effort to plan for a capital campaign has to start with the mission and vision of the congregation. They can have the best drawings in the book and have great plans to build, but the question is, why do that? Moore said that a church that cannot envision where they will be in 20, 50 or 100 years is not going to have a successful capital campaign. Thats what people get excited about, he said, what they want to do with that new building, or their endowment or their new program; who are they going to reach and why. The emphasis of the Funding Future Ministry capital campaign, the group stressed, isnt about raising money but instead, raising the level of stewardship education and discipleship of the local congregation. Were raising money for the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it is lived out in our conference, as we start new churches and develop camping ministries, said Parker. I think theres a wonderful opportunity there for local congregations to take ownership of conference-wide goals and participate in them in really meaningful ways. Congregations may start on their own capital campaign now and not wait for the Funding Future Ministry campaign, the team said, but they should call the Center first. It would be a tragic dissipation of resources if we werent all really coordinating on this, said Parker. He and the team stressed that the Center is the place for local churches in the conference to begin their stewardship, capital campaign or planned giving ministries. We encourage local congregations to call here first, said Parker, so that we can work with them through the process that is most appropriate for them. That might include an outside consultant, but not necessarily. For information about the Stewardship Center and Foundation, call (800) 492-2525, Ext. 480. | 
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