God is owner of all—yet through His mercy he allows us to act as stewards of His assets. Such
stewardship makes provision for our personal and family needs but it should ever be
remembered that we have nothing of our own and thus we are responsible to a loving heavenly
Father for both that which we use during our lifetime and any residue which remains.
As individuals we differ greatly. Parental influences, our training, and the ideas formulated by
us greatly influence our habits of giving and our subsequent support of church endeavours.
Thus a philosophy of planned giving and trust services must take into consideration not only
the principles of stewardship found in the Bible and other inspired writings but must also, of
necessity, be prepared to meet constituents where they are in terms of their individual philosophies
regarding stewardship.
We as planned giving and trust services personnel must—in education as well as promotion,
development and administration—constantly nurture constituents, while prayerfully considering
how best to assist them as they consider their needs as well as the advancement of the work
of God.
