“I used to love money and use people. Now I love people and use money.” – Kevin Cross
There was once a time as described in Acts 2:45 when people in local churches literally sold their goods and possessions to anyone with needs. That level of generosity seems so extravagant that it has to now be impractical and let’s best honest, could never happen in today’s society, right?
Thanks to my home church, Fellowship Bible Church in Roswell, GA, I have seen the Book of Acts come to life. Championed by our incredible Stewardship Pastor Kevin Cross, our church is using generosity as a means to provide hope to those who have none.
The story of what God is doing here is so compelling that CBS National News aired a feature on Kevin and the church’s Give Till It Helps generosity initiative during its Tuesday, May 8th telecast.
As I watched the feature, I was amazed at the skill, work ethic, passion, and giftedness of Kevin. Kevin Cross is one of my dearest friends and I truly feel he is the finest Stewardship Pastor in America.
As I watched the clip above, I learned much about the leadership skills needed to be a stewardship pastor. Using Kevin as the example, the following are the 10 Practices of Effective Stewardship Pastors:
- Great Teachers – Byron Pitts immediately points out that Kevin is a teacher. He is equipping families, both in one-on-one and large group settings, with the tools needed to win with their finances.
- Resilience – Kevin comments that often people do not take his advice. He is an eternal optimist because he knows that Highly Effective Stewardship Pastors guard against cynicism.
- High Levels of Competence – Kevin is a Certified Public Accountant. Highly Effective Stewardship Pastors are experts at their craft.
- Brokenness – Anything great in leadership is birthed from pain. All great leaders lead with a limp. It is Kevin’s difficult past, that has been redeemed, which provides the platform from which he now leads.
- Great Leaders At Home – Kevin is married with two children. All leaders, especially Highly Effective Stewardship Pastors, understand the greatest leadership takes place at home. Fellowship’s Senior Pastor Crawford Loritts states this is so because, “Each day we set precedent and send people forth into a time they cannot see.”
- Builders Of Great Teams – Kevin heads a panel of four highly capable individuals who oversee the distribution of the funds. This protects the church from those with ill-intentions and provides accountability in the process.
- Have Biblical Insight – Highly Effective Stewardship Pastors know that the Bible is the greatest money management book ever written. It is God’s Word which provides the insights needed to help others and transform lives.
- Provide Solutions – Highly Effective Stewardship Pastors help people keep their homes. They help people have cars so they can find jobs. They possess answers.
- Are Generous – Highly Effective Stewardship Pastors help people not only know what to cut out of their lives, but also model how to acquire, maintain, and share abundance. Many stewardship pastors I have met are too focused on just cutting.
- Love People – It is fitting that the feature ended with Kevin praying for people. Highly Effective Stewardship Pastors, like Kevin, have tender hearts and love people.
CBS News came to our church looking for a compelling story but found so much more. What they found was Kevin. More specifically, what they found was God working through Kevin to impact the lives of others.
Seth Godin says, “Art is a personal gift that changes the recipient…The more people you change, the more you change them, the more effective your art is.” Godin would say that Kevin Cross is a GREAT artist. So would I. Kevin, using money as his medium, is creating Stewardship Art that is changing hundreds of lives both now and for eternity.
Teaching Skills, Resilience, Competence, Brokenness, Leading Your Family, Building Teams, Biblical Insights, Solutions, Generosity, and Loving People. Leaders, do you possess these 10 qualities? If so, you may be a Highly Effective Stewardship Pastor.
To learn how you can become part of the solution and be part of the Give Till It Helps generosity initiative, click here.
To learn more about Kevin, click here or you can follow him on Facebook by clicking here.
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