Leland's Seven Stewardship Principles — Church Stewardship Program
Quarterly board pack — Sample Community Church
Prepared for the board · quarter ending December 2026 · synthetic data
Overall church health
Needs attentionExecutive summary
Financially stable, relationally warm, operationally inconsistent.
Sample Community Church is operating close to plan with a 2.6% favorable budget variance and a change in net assets of $160,400. Giving is healthy in total, but concentration in the top ten households reached 24% and 138 households have lapsed in the trailing twelve months without documented follow-up.
Engagement is steady at 1,180 weekly attenders, yet only 61% of first-time guests received follow-up within 48 hours, and 13 guests from last Sunday have no assigned owner. The connection pathway converts well once a guest reaches a Chill and Chat event, which makes early follow-up the highest-leverage fix.
Leland's Seven Stewardship Principles progress stands at 54 of 100 overall, with S1 Build Financial Literacy strongest at 70 and S7 Give Generously lowest at 40. The recommended next actions are the reserve policy, first-time-guest owner assignment, and completion of S5 Invest in Future Ministry Lesson 3 before the November board meeting.
Sources: Budget vs actuals, Visitor pipeline, Seven Principles scorecards. Draft — requires human approval before distribution.
Seven Principles scorecard — overall 48 of 100
| Module | Score | Status | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1 Build Financial Literacy | 50 | At risk | Financial Literacy Foundation Plan |
| S2 Build a Financial Reserve | 50 | At risk | Operating Reserve Policy and Funding Plan |
| S3 Eliminate High-Cost Liabilities | 45 | At risk | High-Cost Liability Elimination Plan |
| S4 Cultivate Generosity Through Giving | 55 | At risk | Generosity Formation and Giving Health Plan |
| S5 Invest in Future Ministry | 45 | At risk | Future Ministry Investment Plan |
| S6 Provide for Your Pastors' Wellbeing | 45 | At risk | Pastoral Wellbeing and Compensation Plan |
| S7 Give Generously | 45 | At risk | Missions and Community Outreach Giving Plan |
Action register
| Action | Owner | Due | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reactivate 138 lapsed contributor households | Stewardship Lead | 2026-10-31 | In progress |
| Reduce operating runway risk to the 6-month reserve target | Finance Director | 2026-11-15 | Approved |
| Assign a follow-up owner to every first-time guest | Connections Director | 2026-10-12 | In progress |
| Close the offering-count segregation of duties gap | Church Administrator | 2026-10-10 | Complete |
| Complete accessibility audit at both campuses | Facilities Lead | 2026-11-30 | Proposed |
| Consolidate 17 missions commitments into an aligned portfolio | Missions Pastor | 2026-12-01 | Proposed |
| Publish the future ministry investment filter | Executive Pastor | 2026-10-15 | In progress |
Operational readiness — 46 of 100 (Bronze tier)
| Section | Score | Percent | Maturity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accounting & Financial Reporting | 19 of 35 | 53% | Developing |
| Human Resources | 11 of 30 | 37% | Limited |
| Information Technology | 17 of 35 | 49% | Developing |
Priority findings: Internal Financial Controls (Critical, 33%); Data Backup & Recovery (Critical, 40%); Cash Flow Management (Critical, 50%); IT Security Measures (Critical, 50%).
Open the full Operational Readiness Report previewA partnership between Leland Rubin, creator of the Seven Stewardship Principles, and Allan Bell - CPA, CMA, MBA, Nsites founder and creator. · All figures are synthetic demo data. Distribution requires leadership approval.