“The church was not formed to manage the property of its members, or to command their charitable efforts; nor can it show any commission to that effect. You are a steward not for the church but for God. The property which you have, or may have in possession, belongs to you; as an individual, and not as a member of the church; and you as an individual, must account for it to the Supreme Proprietor.”
Leonard Bacon in a sermon entitled: “The Christian Doctrine of Stewardship in Respect to Property” (1832).