WCG receives award 
from Christian
Stewardship Association

Christian Stewardship Association board votes unanimously to present award to the Worldwide Church of God at its annual conference.

By Charles Albrecht

CHICAGO, Illinois—The Christian Stewardship Association (CSA) conducted its 40th anniversary summit conference in Chicago, Jan. 23 to 26. Dan Rogers, superintendent of U.S. ministers, and I attended the conference along with about 600 chief executive officers, financial officers and development professionals from a variety of churches, parachurch ministries and denominations.

The theme of this year’s conference was "The Integrity of the Steward," and in addition to workshops and seminars, it included keynote presentations by several Christian leaders. Joseph Stowell, president of the Moody Bible Institute, and Randy Alcorn of Eternal Perspectives Ministry were among those who made plenary presentations.

During the plenary session Saturday evening, Jan. 25, CSA president Scott Preissler presented eight awards. On behalf of the Worldwide Church of God, Mr. Rogers accepted the award for outstanding contributions to the field of stewardship by a church or denomination.

After accepting the award, Mr. Rogers was invited to speak for about 10 minutes. In that time, he rehearsed the history of our transformation and how it had negatively affected our income. Mr. Rogers further discussed how the denomination had moved from mandatory tithing to a grace-based approach to whole-life stewardship, which include financial donations being an act of worship.

In his remarks, Mr. Rogers included our vision of building on a foundation in Jesus Christ through spiritual formation and adding teaching on whole-life stewardship, and then followed that by articulating our mission as a disciplemaking movement with leadership replication and eventually church planting. He thanked everyone for their support and prayers and asked for continued prayers for us as the miracle that God has begun in our denomination continues to unfold.

As Mr. Rogers recounted the Worldwide Church of God’s journey, he was interrupted several times by applause of support. At the conclusion of his comments, the entire group rose in a standing ovation. Many people came over afterward to offer prayers and continued support of the WCG and its transition.

STEWARDSHIP AWARD—Dan Rogers,
superintendent of U.S. ministers, displays
the Christian Stewardship Association award
at NewLife Fellowship in Pasadena.
[Photo by Thomas C. Hanson]

CSA AWARDS—CSA award winners, from left: G. Edward Reid, Seventh-day Adventist Church; Norm Edwards, Counsel in Resource Development; Paul McKaughan, Evangelical Fellowship of Mission Agencies; Dick Epps, Moody Bible Institute; Scott Preissler, Christian Stewardship Association; Kevin Callahan, Callahan Studios; Rob Cradle, New Life Fellowship; Ralph Stewart, Fellowship of Christian Athletes; and Dan Rogers, Worldwide Church of God [Photo by Greg Wallace for Christian Stewardship Association]

Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2003