Posts by Betsy Schwarzentraub
Churches on the Move
What a gift it is to meet and share with colleagues across the U.S. and Canada through the “Stewardship and Culture” online course! One of the topics in our most recent conference call was about churches that are not tied to a specific church building but are literally “on the move” in the community. One…
Read MoreWhat’s in a Box
Inspiration can come in some surprising forms. An article in the January-February 2016 issue of Smithsonian left a lump in my throat. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen archaeological finds in seminary, so I was pleased to see pictures of Galilean treasures unearthed in recent years. One item is particularly intriguing: a quartzite…
Read MoreNarrative Budget Twin Towers
TWIN TOWERS [XXX] CHURCH: How Our Tithes and Offerings Are Used to Make a Difference Twin Towers [XXX] Church budget for 2008 is $237,744. That equals $4572 per week. In addition, we give to other ministries not included in the budget. We have identified four categories that briefly describe our church activities and ministries. Expenses for…
Read MoreNarrative Budget, XXX Church
A Narrative Budget for First [XXX]Church The children in our midst, the mission at our doorstep, a place of hospitality and grace. A Narrative Budget is a description of the actual ministries that are under way at a church. It is a Mission-Driven Budget that asks the question, “What is the shape…
Read MoreGPS
Printed maps are mostly a thing of the past. These days, many people depend on their “GPS” – Global Positioning Satellite – to get to their destination, particularly if it’s to a place they’ve never been before. A lot of folks depend solely on their GPS for guidance anywhere. So I was intrigued when I…
Read MoreA Generous Eye
Jesus’ parable about the eye as the lamp of the body (Mt. 6:22-24) contrasts a healthy eye with an unhealthy one. The healthy eye illuminates the whole person, he says, whereas (as one commentator puts it) the unhealthy eye creates double vision, making the entire person “full of darkness.” Double vision – that’s a powerful…
Read MoreDiscernment
The wild turkeys are a source of endless fascination for our two dogs, who see them almost daily on the morning version of our country walks. The younger dog is always on a leash, but the older one is voice trained, which usually holds even with wild animals. But coyotes are another matter. Both dogs…
Read MoreStewardship and Culture course
I’m excited to be teaching an online course from mid-January to mid-February, 2016 on “Stewardship and Culture: Building Contagious Generosity.” Sponsored by the Ecumenical Stewardship Center and TransformingTheChurch.org, it features four audio-video presentations over four weeks with an interactive Class Forum. We’ll also hold three conference calls: one on Jan. 11 (to give a week…
Read MoreTop Ten Ways to Increase Giving in Your Church
With the New Year upon us, now is an excellent time to look at the overall strategies of your congregation to encourage generous giving. Thankfully we can build on learnings from the Spirituality and Giving Project, 1 which studied 1,157 churches of more than two dozen denominations about what motivates members to give, and what influences…
Read MoreKernels of Hope
Referring to the current world scene, one magazine writer used the phrase “rise in hate, kernels of hope.” I don’t deny the rise-in-hate part: it’s everywhere! But I prefer to point to the kernels of hope wherever I see them, particularly because some kernels become seeds that sprout and grow as others pick up the…
Read MoreAnimals Know
I’m one of the honored few. Our horse Tuxedo greets me regularly the way trusting horses meet one another: by coming nose-to-nose, breathing in each other’s breath. It takes trust, especially for a human being: one push of his head against my face could knock me silly. But it’s trust on his part, too –…
Read MoreA New Look at Hebrews
What are rituals, anyway? My Quaker husband uses that term for symbolic outward actions in worship. I prefer the United Methodist description of sacraments: “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.” This is true when we prepare ourselves for worship, anyway: for Holy Communion or baptism, or really any time we…
Read MoreAll Saints Day
It was a moving act of worship on Sunday, All Saints Day. People chose to come forward to light votive candles in memory of those who have inspired and helped shape their lives. I thought of my parents, mother-in-law, grandmother, two teachers and two mentors, all of whom have tried to “tame this wild beast”…
Read MoreHope for Refugees
The television news has been devastating, showing thousands of refugees running for their lives, swamping train stations to leave one country for another, cradling babies and urging their children forward, in the face of forceful military or hateful crowds. It doesn’t take much to imagine the misery they are leaving behind, along with all their…
Read MoreSpiritGifts resource
This fall is an excellent time to acknowledge and affirm individuals’ spiritual gifts, with church leaders in new positions preparing to serve next year in ministry roles. When it comes to spiritual-gifts resources, the best book I’ve found is Patricia D. Brown’s SpiritGifts. The practical part is that it’s about not only gifts discovery, but…
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