Posts by Betsy Schwarzentraub
Stewardship Sunday
Some churches across our denomination follow the tradition of Stewardship Sunday, which comes this year on November 14. Regardless of whether we are naturally timid or passionate about the subject, this Sunday invites us all to engage in life-giving talk about joyful, faithful stewardship and how we can nurture generous living. I say “living,” not…
Read MoreTeaching First Fruits Living
Teaching First Fruits Living helps people put God first in their daily lives. Christian educators not only get to share the priceless knowledge about God’s presence, but also can guide people to respond to God through an essential pattern of “first fruits living.” What is “first fruits living?” It is giving to God the first…
Read MorePalpable Presence
What an outstanding experience I had recently — training the first half of our Stewardship Associates and meeting with all of them by phone! These nine people from across the United States will help teach stewardship and generosity in the local church. The first event we are offering is a workshop called “Annual Funding and…
Read MoreMutuality and Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is not a season. It’s an orientation of our minds and hearts that naturally flows into a lifestyle of generosity, of mutual giving and receiving. This week I had outstanding experiences with two groups of stewardship leaders. In both situations, our conversations and learning from one another began with gratitude and ended with expressions…
Read MoreJames 5: A Community of Stewards
Daily devotions often bring surprises. Take James, chapter 5, for example, which I encountered recently as if for the very first time. In verses 13-20, James describes the basics of Christian community. Pray in your suffering, he says. Sing songs of praise. Pray for the sick. Confess your sins and pray to be forgiven. Pray…
Read MoreSix Best Stewardship Practices – Canada Study
Based on “Growing Generosity: Identity as Stewards in the United Church of Canada,” a 2009 United Church of Canada study, by Barbara Fullerton What best practices in the local church correlate with increased financial giving? A six-year study of the congregations in the United Church of Canada revealed six essential behaviors: 1. Operational management with…
Read MoreGood News and Taxes
Okay, so we are getting closer to the U.S. tax deadline of April 15. It’s not as easy anymore (if it ever was for us) to just turn over our financial plans or receipts and have someone else do it for us: a spouse, an administrative assistant, a doctor or even an employer. These days,…
Read MoreFinancial Security and the Bottom Line
Financial security is a subjective thing. Certainly, it has to do with making our income and expense numbers come out right. But it also depends upon perception: our emotional well-being and personal answer to the question, “How much is enough to live on?” One devotional Scripture for today is in Hebrews 13, which says in…
Read MoreGrace and Temptation
I hate being sick. When I do get sick, my temptation is to refuse to acknowledge the reality that would allow me to rest and focus on healing. When I engage in such denial, I try to plow ahead with my own plans, and then get worse. Use of the word “temptation” here is deliberate,…
Read MoreChrist Church Teaches Healthy Money Habits
What are youth learning about healthy money habits from the adults around them? How can local churches help shape young people’s financial values? The issue is urgent, and some churches are stepping up to the task. Take Christ Church in Richmond, Virginia, for example. To grow generosity among their members, they knew they needed to…
Read MoreBecoming Generous
“Yes, Scripture reminds us that God loves a cheerful giver. But how can we become generous, joyful givers?” This is the question that Yvonne Martinez Thorne asks in “A Practical View,” in the just-out 2011 issue of Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation magazine.1 Ah, this is a key question, isn’t it? Most of…
Read MoreSample Themes for a Generosity Plan
Here are sample themes you could use for a year-round Generosity Plan. You might pick one Scripture as the umbrella theme for the entire year for your congregation’s ministries, or you may just use the quarterly themes. Either way, you can weave in worship and Christian education topics and other dimensions of your ministry. Within…
Read MoreFive Star Stewardship Award
What would it take to help your congregation develop a plan for cultivating generosity year-round? The East Ohio United Methodist Foundation has created an incentive for local churches in its conference, called the Five Star Stewardship Award. “The important thing is not to compete with other churches or gain a certain number of points, but…
Read MoreTalking with Children about Stewardship
Children can both learn and teach about faithful stewardship. All that we have belongs to God, and we get to share, manage, and use it on God’s behalf. Stewardship is caring the way God cares for the earth; our minds and bodies; our abilities, money and things; and our choices, time and relationships, all in…
Read MorePersonal Connection to Mission
His white-whiskered face lit up. “I’ve been a Volunteer-in-Mission for years,” he said, citing how many times he had gone to Louisiana to help after the hurricanes. Hands-on ministry isn’t just for folks in their twenties. People of all ages engage with both head and heart when they get their own two hands involved. Personal…
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