The ‘Triple A’
At Stewardship, we want to see thriving and healthy churches all across the UK. We recognise our role is often seen as financial, and we take pride in that. However, we believe good financial stewardship is not simply about ticking boxes to please the regulators, it’s also about transforming the culture of money within the church. So bringing together all our knowledge and practical experience from dealing with hundreds of churches over the years, we have developed the ‘Triple A’ for churches. Taking the premise of the triple A from within the financial sector and applying it within the Church.
In the financial sector the Triple A is an indication of financial strength and a stamp of approval, the ‘gold’ standard. For us, the Triple A is shorthand for three attributes, which we see as important for churches and church leaders to live by when it comes to finances and handling money, what we would deem the gold standard. The Triple A stands for a healthy approach to:
- Attitude
- Administration
- Accountability
Our paper ‘Raising the standard: Transforming the culture of money within the church’ sets out the issues in each of these areas. Please do have a read.
We believe that churches who operate well in these three areas will be churches that have a good and healthy relationship with money, handling it well and achieving the gold standard.
Churches who operate in this way will:
- See the benefit of engaged and discipled church members and supporters;
- Be increasingly able to fulfil the New Testament call to be generous and well resourced;
- Operate with best practice in managing money; and
- Be a church that is ‘good to give to’.
To help you appraise where your own church is we have created a ‘Financial Health Check for Churches' centred on the Triple A. We have broken the Triple A down into 9 key areas that we believe will help give you the fullest picture of your strengths and weaknesses. Sign up to receive your copy here.
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Stephen Mathews
Stephen has been at Stewardship for 15 years, advising churches and Christian charities on a breadth of issues around money, culture and governance. Previous to that, he gained valuable experience working for 20 years in the accountancy profession, alongside church leadership in his spare time.
Stephen is passionate about Local Church, UK Poverty & Debt, and International Aid, with a particular focus on educational development in Africa and in youth violence and racial inequality.
