The first John Shepard Award will be made at the diocesan convention in 2010 to one congregation that has exemplified a creative, life-changing practice of stewardship.
That congregation will receive a cash award of $1,000. Several others will be recognized for outstanding work in a variety of areas.
SUBMISSION DATE
Submissions must be in writing, postmarked no later than September 1, 2010, and sent to:
The John Shepard Award
The Episcopal Diocese of Spokane Foundation
245 E. 13th Avenue
Spokane, WA 99202
EVALUATION PANEL
An evaluation panel will be include the Executive Director of the Foundation, Canon for Congregational Development, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation, members of Stewardship Committee of the Foundation, and such other persons as the bishop may designate.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
There is no submission form to fill out, however submissions must include the following elements in the order shown below, and must be signed by the clergy in charge, Senior or Bishop’s Warden, and a majority of the vestry or bishop’s committee.
1. Why you think your stewardship program is worthy of being submitted.
2. The mission of the congregation.
3. How the stewardship program supports that mission.
4. The spiritual and formation dimensions of the stewardship program.
5. Measures of success including but not limited to:
- How the program exhibited imagination, creativity and initiative
- How you anticipate that your program will affect average Sunday attendance
- How the program engaged members of all ages, genders and conditions in life
- How the program advanced witness by the congregation in the greater community it serves
- How the program contributed to developments in Christian education for all ages with an emphasis on bible study
- How the program affected patterns of giving
Additional non-monetary awards of recognition will be made for:
- Creativity in encouraging per capita pledging.
- Creativity in encouraging broad support for capital fund or endowment programs.
- Verified increases in average Sunday attendance in various sizes of congregations.
- Effect of your program on the welfare or inclusion of those in need in your community.
- Increased visibility and recognition of the Episcopal Church in your community.
- The creative aspects that signal the program is positioned to grow and expand.
A PERSPECTIVE ON STEWARDSHIP
Stewardship in the Diocese of Spokane is about our shared life in community, and our work to grow and change lives.
Stewardship is a lifestyle in which we recognize the many gifts in our lives, individually and in community, and learn to share them for the love of God and neighbor. The practice of stewardship helps shape us in the image of God becoming the body of Christ at work in the world.
The whole work of the Church can be summed up as the stewardship of lives that are fully committed to God’s purposes for us and our world. They are lives that receive the gifts of time, talent, and treasure then turn, with care and insight, to contribute those gifts to conserve, care and share the love and abundance intended in God’s creation. They are lives that practice what they preach; they proclaim by word and deed the faith that is in us.
The John Shepard Award for Excellence in Stewardship is intended to honor and celebrate those congregations among us who take this comprehensive view of stewardship seriously, and who have ventured to invite their members and their surrounding communities into this life-changing practice.
Therefore, stewardship is a way of being spiritual. Our knowledge of and growing into that spirituality is essential to who we are as a Church. The John Shepard Award for Excellence in Stewardship intends to recognize the fullness of congregationally led stewardship as an expression of Christian spirituality rooted in discipleship.