Table of Contents
Stewardship as a Theological Reality
Various Forms of Pastoral Capital
Stewardship and Pastoral Capital
Building Capital and Developing Resources
Stewardship and Long-Term Sustainability
Introduction
Last week’s post examined participation and co-responsibility in pastoral planning. As noted two weeks ago, resources include personnel, finance, facilities, technology, expertise, and time. Resources are essential to carrying out any pastoral plan, as every pastoral initiative requires them. However, in the grand scheme of pastoral vision and plan, resources go beyond these to include relationships, influence, and even pastoral fruitfulness.
Hence, a better term is ‘pastoral capital’. One can define pastoral capital as the totality of tangible and intangible assets owned or entrusted to an ecclesial community that can be used to promote the Church’s mission of holistic salvation.
Whether as resources or capital, money often remains the most important topic of discussion in pastoral planning because it is always limited, while pastoral needs are often numerous and urgent. Hence, pastoral planning necessarily involves stewardship. In light of this, today’s post examines stewardship of pastoral capital in pastoral planning.
Stewardship as a Theological Reality
The principle of stewardship means that God owns all creation and that humans are simply caretakers or managers. Stewardship goes back to the creation story, where God created humans in his image and likeness (Gen 1:27) and gave them the mandate to care for all living creatures (Gen 1:26-28; cf. Gen 9:1-5 and Matt 28:18-20).
In preaching about salvation and accountability on the last day, Christ also taught about the proper management of the resources entrusted to one. Read more on Post 252. Christ-centred economics: The Principle of Stewardship (27 April 2026).
Hence, for ecclesial institutions, stewardship is not merely an administrative function but an expression of discipleship and accountability before God.
Various Forms of Pastoral Capital
Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, a former Vatican Bank president, once said: “You can’t run the Church on Hail Marys.” When capital is mentioned, the focus is often on money. However, ecclesial institutions possess many other forms of capital which serve as instruments of evangelisation and pastoral fruitfulness.
Financial Capital refers to monetary resources, investments, and income that support pastoral activities. Human Capital consists of the knowledge, skills, experience, talents, health, and time of clergy, religious, lay leaders, staff, and volunteers. Social Capital entails networks, relationships, trust, and social norms that facilitate pastoral activities.
Religious Capital encompasses the Church’s doctrine, formation, and wisdom developed and accumulated over time. Spiritual Capital refers to the devotional life, virtues, and missionary and pastoral zeal of the faithful. Cultural Capital includes the traditions, languages, artistic expressions, and educational achievements of the Church, as well as the safeguarding of culture.
Political Capital refers to the Church’s relationship with the State, which helps the Church influence public policy, promote good governance, and navigate governance structures as it carries out its mission. The CBCN’s recent address to President Tinubu is an example. Intellectual Capital refers to the institutional knowledge, research, pastoral experience, and educational resources the Church possesses that help her respond to challenges.
Natural Capital includes the Church’s land and natural environment, while Physical Capital comprises the Church’s other physical assets, such as buildings and vehicles, that support the Church’s mission. Reputational Capital refers to the Church’s credibility and moral authority within society. This form of capital is built slowly but can be diminished quickly through poor leadership or scandal.
Stewardship and Pastoral Capital
Pastoral planning is fundamentally the stewardship of pastoral capital.
Its task is to identify, preserve, develop, and deploy every form of capital entrusted to the Church in service of evangelisation and the common good. Stewardship of pastoral capital entails prudent management of financial resources, focus on financial sustainability, accountability and transparency. This strengthens trust within the community and promotes responsible decision-making. It also helps prevent waste, mismanagement, and the misuse of resources.
However, since pastoral capital goes beyond stewardship of financial capital, stewardship also includes prioritising and integrating all other forms of pastoral capital available to help achieve the pastoral plan.
Responsible stewardship therefore entails discernment to prioritise those that require immediate action and those that may be deferred; to discern those with a greater purpose of holistic salvation and those restricted to either a temporal or spiritual salvation; to discern one which has a compounding effect (the principle that small, consistent actions and incremental choices accumulate over time to produce significantly larger, exponential outcomes) and one which is just one off; to discern those that needs to done simultaneously.
Resources should not determine pastoral vision; rather, they should be allocated in support of it.
Hence, focusing solely on financial capital may hinder vision. A vision of building a cathedral, for instance, that includes all forms of capital may unlock funds which the diocese does not currently have or even know it has. Integrating financial, human, cultural, social, political, spiritual, intellectual, and reputational capital can generate additional funds to support construction.
Building Capital and Developing Resources
Pastoral planning should not focus exclusively on managing existing resources. It should also seek to build and develop capital. This includes exploring new legitimate and moral ways to increase income such as establishing an enterprise and developing financial sustainability (financial); ongoing formation of clergy, religious and lay leaders, and improving efficiency (human); growing the faith and promoting holiness (religious and spiritual); building and nurturing networks and relationships without undermining the Church’s moral values (social); inculturation and promoting cultural values and expressions without undermining doctrinal and liturgical norms (cultural), seeking to prudently navigate the Church-State relationship (political); promoting knowledge at the service of the Church and over all common good (intellectual), improving physical infrastructure and assets (physical); protecting the natural resources and promoting care for the earth (natural); safeguarding the Church’s reputation and moral authority (reputational).
Stewardship and Long-Term Sustainability
Long-term sustainability of a pastoral initiative is indispensable to stewardship, as short-term solutions can undermine it. Pastoral planning requires attention not only to present needs but also to future realities. Therefore, responsible stewardship must always consider the future consequences of present decisions. In doing so, it encourages careful planning regarding personnel, infrastructure, finances, and pastoral programs so that future generations inherit a healthy and viable ecclesial community.
Conclusion
Pastoral planning and stewardship are inseparable because every pastoral vision and plan requires responsible management of limited capital. Hence, stewardship is not simply about money alone, but about integrating and using all forms of pastoral capital effectively in service of the Church’s mission.
May God continue to help us🙏🏾
K’ọdị🙋🏾♂️
