With a combination of nearly 50 years' experience in church stewardship and fund raising between them, Schuler and Hallman made an impressive team in their 2-hour presentation to about twenty attendees on successful models of stewardship for large congregations, which are defined as congregations with more than 500 members. Schuler and Hallman took turn sharing their success stories, sprinkling them with anecdotes and concrete figures for comparison.
Ministers play an important role in the asking.
Long overdue is an end to the notion that the minister, as spiritual leader of our congregation, has no part in the pledge drive. The Rev. Hallman interviews new members before they sign the membership book. In the year after her return from a sabbatical break, she stopped interviewing new members for a while. What this means is that although more people signed the membership book that year, less of them were likely to become financially committed to the church. This typically results in low pledges from new members.