SBTC Foundation’s ‘Treasure Hunt Experience’ offers inspiration, education on stewardship

GRAPEVINE?What do artwork depicting the widow’s mite and a Rolex print ad have in common? The answer lies within the one-of-a-kind Biblical Stewardship History Collection now available to Texas Southern Baptists through the SBTC Foundation.

Thanks to a partnership between the foundation and the collection’s curator, historic stewardship artifacts, art, and the largest known stewardship research library are on display in Grapevine.

Scott Preissler occupies the Bobby and Janis L. Eklund chair of stewardship at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, is director of the seminary’s Center for Biblical Stewardship, and is the curator and owner of the collection.

“The collection is now available to help SBTC churches educate about stewardship,” Johnathan Gray, executive director of the SBTC Foundation, said. “Stewardship has been a part of the church for years; it’s not something to be ashamed of, it’s a vital part of how we worship our Lord and do his ministry.”

The new, 3,900 square-foot facility at Faith Christian School that now houses the collection was built by volunteers and funded through donations.

“It’s a great privilege to see how groups come together to make things happen,” Gray said.

Volunteers and special guests gathered March 14 to celebrate completion of the facility and be the first group to tour the collection.

“Every person who comes through, something appeals to them,” said Sylvia Crecelius, president of The Stewardship Alliance.

Darin Brown volunteered his carpentry skills on this project, and gained a new insight into the value of the collection.

“You see all these pieces and you think, who used this, when, and why?” Brown said. “You can bring lay people and church staff in and stir their thoughts for how to teach stewardship.”

From the wooden baskets of the old West to the centuries-old large brass alms collection plates, every stewardship artifact tells the tale of the importance of stewardship in the life of the church.

“It’s the [visual] history of biblical stewardship through the local church,” Bobby L. Eklund, stewardship consultant for the SBTC, said.

Preissler has collected stewardship artifacts for 20 years?items date from the 1500s to today. In addition to offering plates, the collection includes missionary boxes, games, artwork and an extensive stewardship library.

“We encourage groups to come and have a day-long stewardship experience,” Gray said.

After visiting the Stewardship Collection, groups are invited to the SBTC building where they will learn about how the Lord is using gifts through the Cooperative Program, Southern Baptists’ unified missions funding channel.

Groups will learn “how resources come in from our churches and how they go out to reach Texas and touch the world,” Gray noted.

All ages can benefit from a tour of the stewardship artifacts, Preissler said, noting he recently hosted a second grade class. While one generation will enjoy reminiscing about missionary boxes they used as children, another will benefit from seeing the priority stewardship had in the livelihoods of generations before them.

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