Leland's Seven Stewardship Principles — Church Stewardship Program

A partnership with Leland Rubin, creator of the Seven Stewardship Principles, and Allan Bell - CPA, CMA, MBA, Nsites founder and creator

Foundation · Principle 1 of 7

S1 — Build Financial Literacy

Build a shared financial vocabulary and set of basic competencies across leadership and households — reading a statement, building a budget, understanding timing and setting a real goal — so every later stewardship conversation starts from common ground instead of confusion.

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S2 Build a Financial Reserve →

Seven Principles curriculum version 1.0 — author-review draft pending Leland Rubin's approval prior to publication. · Leland's Seven Stewardship Principles methodology, content, exercises and deliverables are created by Leland Rubin and remain in author-review draft pending his approval.

Official outcome

Financial Literacy Foundation Plan

  • Written definition of biblical financial literacy tailored to this congregation's context and stated in plain, teachable language
  • Literacy baseline summary drawn from aggregated, deidentified BAG Index and small-group survey data, never individual household detail
  • Sample set of annotated financial statements and a household budget template used to test whether members can read and act on real numbers
  • Congregation-wide financial literacy teaching plan covering youth, young adults, new households, established households and pre-retirement households
  • Facilitator and small-group leader training outline so literacy teaching can be delivered consistently beyond the pastor
  • Literacy growth measurement plan naming which indicators will be tracked, how often, and who reviews them
  • Gaps register listing every open literacy gap discovered during the module, whether in leadership, teaching capacity or household skill
  • Referral guardrail statement clarifying that all teaching is product-neutral and that personal legal, tax, investment or insurance decisions are referred to qualified, licensed professionals
  • 90-day action plan assigning each recommended literacy action an owner, due date, resources required, success measure, status and review date

Suggested duration: 4 weeks · about 7 hours of leadership time · Owner: Discipleship Pastor · Coach: Leland Rubin · Approval: Coach review

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Principle health

At risk

Baseline 50 · no follow-up yet

Principle purpose

Suggested leadership time: About 7 hours of leadership time

S1 Build Financial Literacy is the first of Leland's Seven Stewardship Principles because every later principle assumes a household and a congregation that can read, understand and speak about money with confidence. A church cannot lead people toward generosity, debt freedom, saving or long-term planning if the words 'net income,' 'cash flow' or 'emergency fund' land as foreign language. This module exists to build a shared financial vocabulary and a shared set of basic competencies — reading a statement, building a budget, understanding timing, choosing the right account, and setting a real goal — so that every subsequent stewardship conversation, whether in a small group or a leadership meeting, starts from common ground instead of confusion.

By the end of this module, leadership will have produced a Financial Literacy Foundation Plan that names what biblical financial literacy actually means for this congregation, documents how well households and leaders currently read and use financial statements and budgets, lays out a concrete plan for teaching literacy across every generation and life stage represented in the church, and establishes a way to measure whether literacy is actually growing over time. This is not a one-time class. It is the foundation layer the other six principles will be built on, and it must be maintained as a continuing ministry rhythm, not a single semester of teaching.

Official outcome — Financial Literacy Foundation Plan

Leadership will have defined biblical financial literacy for the congregation, assessed current literacy levels among households and leaders using aggregated, deidentified data, designed a literacy teaching plan spanning life stages and settings, and adopted a Financial Literacy Foundation Plan with a 90-day action plan assigning named owners and dates for closing the literacy gaps discovered.

Deliverable component checklist

  1. 1. Written definition of biblical financial literacy tailored to this congregation's context and stated in plain, teachable language
  2. 2. Literacy baseline summary drawn from aggregated, deidentified BAG Index and small-group survey data, never individual household detail
  3. 3. Sample set of annotated financial statements and a household budget template used to test whether members can read and act on real numbers
  4. 4. Congregation-wide financial literacy teaching plan covering youth, young adults, new households, established households and pre-retirement households
  5. 5. Facilitator and small-group leader training outline so literacy teaching can be delivered consistently beyond the pastor
  6. 6. Literacy growth measurement plan naming which indicators will be tracked, how often, and who reviews them
  7. 7. Gaps register listing every open literacy gap discovered during the module, whether in leadership, teaching capacity or household skill
  8. 8. Referral guardrail statement clarifying that all teaching is product-neutral and that personal legal, tax, investment or insurance decisions are referred to qualified, licensed professionals
  9. 9. 90-day action plan assigning each recommended literacy action an owner, due date, resources required, success measure, status and review date

Learning objectives and completion requirements

Learning objectives

  • • Define biblical financial literacy in plain, teachable language
  • • Assess how well leaders and households read statements and budgets
  • • Design a recurring teaching plan spanning every life stage
  • • Establish a repeatable way to measure literacy growth over time

Completion requirements

  • • All four lessons marked complete
  • • All four exercises submitted
  • • Required evidence uploaded
  • • Named principal deliverable generated and approved
  • • 90-day action plan created with owners and dates
  • • Coach review recorded

Lessons

Four complete lessons. Each produces one named artifact for the official outcome.

  1. Lesson 1 — What Biblical Financial Literacy Is (and Is Not)

    Define biblical financial literacy in plain, teachable language and distinguish it from generic money knowledge or product promotion. · 70 minutes · produces Biblical Financial Literacy Definition Worksheet

    CompleteOpen full lesson

  2. Lesson 2 — Reading the Numbers: Statements, Budgets and Ministry Decisions

    Assess how well leaders and households can read financial statements and budgets and act on what they find. · 75 minutes · produces Statement and Budget Reading Competency Check

    CompleteOpen full lesson

  3. Lesson 3 — Teaching Financial Literacy Across the Congregation

    Design a recurring financial literacy teaching plan that reaches every major life stage represented in the congregation. · 75 minutes · produces Congregation-Wide Literacy Teaching Plan by Life Stage

    Not completeOpen full lesson

  4. Lesson 4 — Measuring Literacy Growth and Closing the Gaps

    Establish a repeatable way to measure financial literacy growth over time and assign ownership for closing remaining gaps. · 70 minutes · produces Literacy Growth Measurement Plan and Gaps Register

    Not completeOpen full lesson
S2 Build a Financial Reserve →