Blogs and Articles
To encourage worshipful, generous-hearted living
For the most recent blog or to see articles by dates, look down the list on the right.
Yesterday was this year’s Big Day of Giving. Begun in 2013, it’s a program of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, to grow philanthropy through a 24-hour online giving challenge that highlights the year-round work of the region’s nonprofit community. Last year, donors gave almost 39,500 donations, worth $7.2 million. Yesterday, givers donated nearly $7.4 million…
Read MoreEarth Day has become a tradition in a lot of places in recent years, and this year, this week, is no exception. It gives us the chance to celebrate and learn more about God’s gift of the earth and all living things that depend upon it, including ourselves and native human communities around the globe.…
Read MoreI was thrilled to learn about the Ecumenical Stewardship Center’s plans for resourcing churches starting next year! When our Resource Editorial Team met today, we heard about future possibilities for congregational resourcing, networking opportunities, and the growth of a digital stewardship library. For many years, the Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation magazine has…
Read MoreHappiness can be elusive. Surveys from way back have shown that Americans in all economic levels thought they’d be happy if they had just 10% more. But recent research 1 is even more striking: When Harvard Business School asked more than 4,000 millionaires how much money it would take to be perfectly happy, 25% said…
Read MoreHere’s a great reminder of why we make planned gifts in any form! “Wills and trusts form a profound and lasting impression of what we affectionately hold deep in our hearts. We use them to honor congregations, church institutions, and our favorite charities by naming percentages or fixed dollar amounts. We can also use them…
Read MoreI learned a long time ago that if math is the language of the cosmos, I’m in big trouble! But A Brief History of Time, by theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, gave me a whole new way of seeing the universe and imagining it beyond any ability to view or comprehend. Don’t get me wrong: I…
Read MoreI was thrilled to receive Live Courageously, this year’s issue of Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation, from the Ecumenical Stewardship Center. In addition to a center section Leader’s Guide for an annual financial commitment program based on small groups, it includes “Bright Spot” stories celebrating real people practicing faithful stewardship and generosity, book…
Read MoreMost of us have heard of a Director of Planned Giving in a foundation, but how about one for a local church? I was pleased to meet Pat Lile shortly after she was named Director of Planned Giving in 2010 for First United Methodist Church in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas. In a position funded by…
Read MoreIt’s an admirable and challenging thing to be a good steward of one’s body: being healthy and living fit. But it’s another order entirely to give praise to God with our physical being, and showing that to the world! I was stunned and thrilled to see the world’s top figure skating athletes at the Olympics,…
Read MoreI was intrigued by a recent article in MONEY magazine, 1 and the explosive reactions to it from some other MONEY readers. It’s written by Roz Warren, a freelance writer and part-time librarian. So what radical thing did she do? She pulled all her money out of the stock market. Warren had made a financial…
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