At its March meeting the Regional Board unanimously approved a new staff position: Minister of Stewardship & Giving. This is a part-time position with a minimum three-year commitment. This position is the result of two years of conversation with the Board regarding our need to broaden and strengthen the financial capacity of our growing Regional ministry.
We believe we have an opportunity to put our Region ahead of the curve in educating our congregations and developing our stewardship and giving capability. Like many dynamic non-profit organizations, we are seeking to be deliberate and pro-active in addressing the future needs of our Region by investing in our long-term development potential.
As our Region moves into the future we have identified four key goals to help guide our priorities for ministry: 1) To be One Church; 2) To be a Missional Church; 3) To develop vital, healthy, growing congregations; 4) To be a well-organized and well-administered Region. Our desire is to have a unified focus for all our fund raising needs that undergird and support these four goals. To do this effectively we needed a comprehensive stewardship and giving plan and skilled personnel to administer it. The ideal person for this position would have: substantial background and experience in fund development with long standing relationships with individuals, congregations and groups throughout the PSW region and Disciples general church. This person would also need to available to work part-time. As we envisioned how this process would unfold if the position was approved, we considered a number of individuals and one name continued to rise to the top.
We are very pleased to announce that Ordained Minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Dan Oliver, has been called to the position starting mid- April 2010. Dan has a long history within our Region, from Associate Pastor of FCC Orange, to ten years as Church Relations Director at Chapman University, and most recently as Director of Community and Faith Relations for Project IMPACT, a unit of our Region where he continues to serve in a part time capacity. Dan also brings a wealth of experience as well as relationships locally, regionally and with our General Church. Dan’s work with both Chapman and Project IMPACT allowed him opportunities for honing his organizational skills in fundraising and broadening his relationships for significant ministry.
Once again, we are excited to announce the creation of a staff position focusing on stewardship and we welcome Dan Oliver as another example of PSWR leading the way into a new future for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
