Report a gift in your will or trust.

Bequest tool for use in notifying the diocese of a bequest.

Donation Processing Policy through our online giving portal.

Slide deck from Bishop Rickel's afternoon April 28, 2020 webinar on stewardship.

Slide deck from Bishop Rickel's morning April 28, 2020 webinar on stewardship.

Donations can now be made to individual churches through the main Diocese of Olympia giving account. The diocese will manage sending each church whatever funds are donated to them along with a report of giver, amount, designation information and date of transaction.

Below are the list of churches and their links. Copy the particular giving link and use this on your website, email notifications, brochures, etc. to allow people to donate to your faith community.

This resources is an outline of the components of effective missional Annual Pledge Campaigns.  Follow this guide and set out on a journey of connecting annual giving to the mission and vision of your congregation.  

These acknowledgement cards are printed on Parchment or Velum and inserted into the Christmas Cards sent to the honorees

Example of an Advent gift brochure.

Example of an Advent gift brochure.

Example of an Advent gift brochure.

These  are sample letters written by a priest in charge of a congregation during the Annual Pledge Campaign segmented into two groups in the congregation, Pledgers and Non-Pledgers.  This letter is not accompanied by a pledge card and a return envelope, because those are distributed during the Sunday morning service on the Pledge Ingathering Date (Commitment Sunday).  Therefore, note that the congregation includes an invitation  specific date for collecting and blessing the pledge cards during the Sunday morning liturgy.  We encourage church's not to receive pledges until the "ingathering" date because there often is much more to be said during the campaign before one discerns the fullness of their annual pledge.

This is a sample of a letter written by a warden of a congregation during the Annual Pledge Campaign.  This letter in particular could be sent in the middle of the Annual Pledge Campaign.    It includes an invitation to reflect on their blessings in the congregation and to discern what God is calling them to give.  It is important to have lay leaders' voices in the campaign, including their own reflection on what the congregation means to them and an invitation to join them in giving.

Note that the congregation includes a specific date for collecting and blessing the pledge cards during the Sunday morning liturgy.  We encourage church's not to receive pledges until the "ingathering" date because there often is much more to be said during the campaign before one discerns the fullness of their annual pledge.

This is a sample of a letter written by a priest in charge of a congregation during the Annual Pledge Campaign.  This letter in particular would be accompanied by a pledge card and a return envelope.  However, note that the congregation includes a specific date for collecting and blessing the pledge cards during the Sunday morning liturgy.  We encourage church's not to receive pledges until the "ingathering" date because there often is much more to be said during the campaign before one discerns the fullness of their annual pledge.

Bishop John and Shirley MacNaughton presented this wonderful resource at a 2010 Stewardship Workshop using scripture as a basis for developing our stewardship stories.  This resources walks you through a helpful process to develop faithful stewardship stories in your community.

This resource was created from a workshop given by Archbishop Douglas Hambidge addressing stewardship conversations in parish life.  “There is a danger in talking about stewardship – we have so much to unlearn. All too often the mention of stewardship is a prelude to a budget presentation – a deficit – a campaign for pledges.”  This resource gives a path and language to speak about stewardship and giving from a perspective of abundance.  

Enjoy!

This is an Annual Campaign Plan that centers on the themes of Love and Redemption and is tied to the name of the congregation, Church of the Redeemer.  Themes can be a very effective way to reach the heart of your people.  This plan includes the vestry agenda at the end that outlines the points of stewardship and the plan.  This campaign is well-planned and connects the giving and ministries of this congregation in a visible way.  It is important to plan ahead and be well-organized to have an effective campaign.

*Note that the Pledge Cards are not distributed until the end of the Campaign.  You don't want to give them the Pledge Cards before you tell them what you would like them to hear before they discern their pledge!  

This is an Annual Campaign Plan that centers on the theme of Creation and a recent install of stained-glass windows in the church.  This campaign is well-planned and connects the giving and ministries of this congregation in a visible way.  It is important to plan ahead and be well-organized to have an effective campaign.

*Note that we do not recommend distributing Pledge Cards until the end of the Campaign, and ideally on the last Sunday as a gathering liturgy in the principal services.  You don't want to give them the Pledge Cards before you tell them what you would like them to hear before they discern their pledge!  

Our environment (God’s Creation) has been damaged by human activity, particularly by over-use and misuse of fossil resources. The damage we have done is still reversible, but may become irreversible during our lifetime. Environmental damage has led to climate change, which effects the poorest parts of the world most, leading to increased poverty and displacement. The damage also leads to more violence as people fight over increasingly scarce resources. What can we as Christians do to help heal creation?

Every congregation is asked to consider doing a pledge drive for the stewardship of creation.  The intent is to encourage every individual to acknowledge how they might be contributing to damaging creation, and commit to changes in behavior that would lead to healing of creation through decreased energy use and carbon offsets.

We request that you do the pledge drive as a lead up to an Earth Day celebration on the Sunday preceding or following Earth Day.  Earth Day is on April 22. The pledge form below (or something like it) could be used for pledges for stewardship of creation. We request that you gather the pledges and then tally the total reduction of carbon footprint that results from all of the individual commitments.  Then, we ask that you forward your tally to the Diocese at BCE@ecww.org, so that we can tally the effect of all of the commitments within the Diocese.

We also request that the Parish or Mission evaluate church buildings and make a similar pledge.

In 2005, the Diocese of Bethlehem’s Stewardship Commission was looking for new, brief, and easy ways to help parishes implement year-round stewardship programs. They decided to create small stewardship-related snippets reflecting the Sunday readings for use in Sunday bulletins. This project progressed until the three year cycle was complete. It is our prayer that you will find them useful as continuing stewardship reminders. Note: the reflections are not day-specific, so you might choose to use them as headers if you do weekly parish emails or communications as well. They could be used as chosen for newsletters, but they are really meant to be at least week-specific.
 

In 2005, the Diocese of Bethlehem’s Stewardship Commission was looking for new, brief, and easy ways to help parishes implement year-round stewardship programs. They decided to create small stewardship-related snippets reflecting the Sunday readings for use in Sunday bulletins. This project progressed until the three year cycle was complete. It is our prayer that you will find them useful as continuing stewardship reminders. Note: the reflections are not day-specific, so you might choose to use them as headers if you do weekly parish emails or communications as well. They could be used as chosen for newsletters, but they are really meant to be at least week-specific.

In 2005, the Diocese of Bethlehem’s Stewardship Commission was looking for new, brief, and easy ways to help parishes implement year-round stewardship programs. They decided to create small stewardship-related snippets reflecting the Sunday readings for use in Sunday bulletins. This project progressed until the three year cycle was complete. It is our prayer that you will find them useful as continuing stewardship reminders. Note: the reflections are not day-specific, so you might choose to use them as headers if you do weekly parish emails or communications as well. They could be used as chosen for newsletters, but they are really meant to be at least week-specific.
 

A Powerpoint presentation on the overview of stewardship, four types of giving and building a holistic stewardship team.

The Planned Giving/Stewardship Office of the Diocese offers the free services of handling stock gifts to benefit congregations, the diocese, or any Episcopal ministry. For your convenience click on the link below for current instructions. Please allow ample time for the transfer and sale of the stock before proceeds can be distributed to your church or other ministry.  For more information, call the Stewardship Office at 206-325-4200 or email stewardship@ecww.org.

Dated 6/6/2024

These prayers have been collected for use primarily at church services on the Feast of St. Francis, usually the first Sunday in October, when many churches include a Blessing of the Animals. They are, of course, also appropriate for any service in which the theme is creation, the environment, justice, and/or compassion. In each section, several prayers are offered from which to choose.

This resource includes:

A Sample Service for St. Francis Day Animal Blessings
Short Prayers for opening and closing the service
Prayers of the People
Sermons/Ideas/Inspiration for Sermons
Hymns and Songs appropriate for a Feast of St. Francis Celebration
A Blessing of the Animals
Links to Websites

This document will help you to manage and start or restart your Planned Giving Legacy Ministry in your congregation.

This Tithe and Percentage Giving resource gives a quick look at individual annual income and weekly income along with the weekly gift to meet the Tithe and other percentage giving.  This particular reference challenges us to go beyond the tithe in our giving helping those who truly understand that the tithe is the biblical minimum!

This resource provides a listing of several easy-to-do activities that can make celebrating the Sunday closest to April 22, Earth Day, a fun informative day that can shape good environmental stewardship in your congregation and help to further create a culture of stewardship in the hearts of your people.

This resource not only can help to raise additional funds for your ministries or worthy ministries outside your congregation, but it also helps to teach stewardship through alternative gift giving.  Use this resource along with the Advent Gift Brochure Samples and the Advent Gift Card Inserts to get started with an Alternative Gift Market in your congregation.  St. Columba's in Kent has also used a variation of this format to do a Lenten Giving campaign.

PDF version of the PowerPoint presentation...and overview of the 4 types of giving and list of best practices.

Suggestions for effective stewardship, written by Mary McGregor, Diocese of Texas

The sample matrix provides examples of activities.

The Matrix is designed to set a framework for practicing year round stewardship.  Note if you would like an Excel version of the Matrix, email stewardship@ecww.org

This document explains the purpose and how to use the Year Round Stewardship Matrix

Bullet points of what stewardship is and isn't.

Document with suggestions for creating a Wills Awareness Program, Legacy Society and Planned Giving program.

Brochure of Seven Spiritual Practices: A Faithful Steward's Guide. To request copies of this brochure, email stewardship@ecww.org

Have you made provisions in your estate plans to include a bequest to your congregation, the Diocese, or any Episcopal Institution?  If so, you qualify to be a member of the Diocese of Olympia's Bishop's Society. Anyone who has made arrangements for a legacy gift to their church or any Episcopal ministry qualifies.

The diocese is well known for its diocesan wide planned giving ministry, anchored by the Bishop’s Society, started in 1993, to thank anyone who has made arrangements for an estate gift to their church or any Episcopal ministry. The Society is the largest in the Episcopal Church and many congregations have started their own legacy societies at the local level.

Training and resources are available to develop planned giving ministry at the local, congregation level, with model documents for setting up an endowment and many resources creating opportunities to church members for legacy giving to fund future mission and ministry.

The Diocesan Life Planning Manual is valuable tool to help us as Christians get our affairs in order so we don’t leave a mess for our loved ones when we die.  The Stewardship office offers the free service of receiving stock transfers which can be distributed to any congregation or Episcopal ministry or program.

Click below for the Signup form for Diocese of Olympia Bishop's Society.

A PDF of the presentation on the overview of stewardship, four types of giving and building a holistic stewardship team.

Power Point presentation overview of four types of giving and list of best practices. 

Chart showing giving % at various income levels combined with a sample pledge card

Brochure about what it means to give including chart about tithing.

Quotes from the Bible and others about stewardship.

Bullet points about what stewardship is.

Brochure with different reasons people give.  Copies of this brochure are available by contacting the Diocese at stewardship@ecww.org

List of 10 reasons for tithing

Guidelines for personal stewardship witness story

Some does and don'ts plus stewardship resources, created by Bishop Greg Rickel and Tom Gossen from TENS.

Brochure with list of components as "Better Practices" for developing the Stewardship ministry.

Planning kit for your congregation's Legacy Society.

Life Planning Manual created by the Stewardship and Development Office of the Diocese of Olympia.

For a version in Word, send an email to stewardship@ecww.org.

Time saving tips on greening your church kitchen

Tips on handling leftovers and kitchen waste to promote a greener church kitchen

Food choice tips for greening your church kitchen

Tips on using dishes and napkins to promote a greener church kitchen

Tips on cleaning materials for greening your kitchen

Ideas for making your congregation more environmentally friendly

The Genesis Covenant is an invitation to every community of faith to take action to reverse global warming.

Gifts can come in a variety of forms to congregations. It is good to have a set of policies in place to guide decisions on accepting certain gifts that may be out of the norm. A gift acceptance policy can help a governing body when it has to refuse acceptance of a gift that either does not fit the needs of the congregation or would create a financial or legal liability. Many gifts of this nature might be able to be converted to cash before transfer of ownership to the congregation allowing for the intention of the gift to be met in supporting the church's mission.

This resource will help your congregation establish a Gift Acceptance Policy.