Generational Stewardship
Helping Children Be Thankful
Almost every parent has been there: pressuring their young child to write the obligatory thank-notes to Aunt Charlotte and the next-door neighbor after Christmas or their birthday. But does sending those notes under mild duress make your kids really feel grateful? The fact is: we cannot make children be thankful. We can only make them…
Read MoreRemember Who You Are
It was thrilling to see the new version of the movie The Lion King! It was a whole, new experience with real animals (and evidently very sophisticated computer work): a you-are-there experience. I don’t know if it’s because this version was based on the screenplay, but it contained several have-to-reflect-on-it adult one-liners. I mean “adult”…
Read MoreChristian Family Week
Today marks the beginning of Christian Family Week. That can be a limited thing if it brings up a certain U.S. stereotype – perhaps a Leave It to Beaver image of a stay-at-home mom, successful-gone dad and 2.2 kids in a 1950s white suburb. But these days families come in all types and sizes, like…
Read More“Teach Your Parents Well”
I remember the good-natured difference of opinion my dad and I had in my teen years about “nature versus nurture.” He would say that a person’s good traits were “in your genes,” and I would say, “It’s how you are raised.” – But when it comes to generosity, scientific studies have increasingly found that it’s…
Read MoreMove Over Millennials: The iGens Are Here
That’s right: move over, Millennials! Teens and their younger siblings (born between 1995 and 2012) are showing some very different attitudes and behaviors from their slightly older cousins.1 Psychologist Jean Twenge has analyzed four national mega-data surveys of 11 million teens since the 1960s, comparing this generation with the responses of Millennials, GenXers and older…
Read MoreHelping Children to Forgive
Forgiving someone can be one of the greatest forms of giving. Writing about it in my new book, Growing Generous Souls, I’m reminded of how difficult it can be, but also how life-changing and rewarding it is for both the receiver and the giver. Above all, forgiveness is a process, and loads of studies have…
Read MoreA Tapestry of Grace
In a few months I will go to my fiftieth high school reunion. This is a courageous step, since I haven’t attended any of the previous reunion events along the way. But I’ve been curious to see what my classmates have done in their lives ever since graduation. Thankfully the organizers set up a website,…
Read MoreMillennial Givers
Thanks to Gary Hoag at www.generositymonk.com, 1 I learned about some key findings from “The Generosity Project” 2 sponsored by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. The report is based on an online survey of 16,800 givers to non-church Christian ministries. Twenty-two percent of those were Millennials, ages eighteen through thirty-four. I emphasize Millennials’ participation…
Read MoreContagious Generosity
What an act of generosity! Our friends were coming up to this year as their fiftieth anniversary. Having lived in Australia and the United States over the years, they had formed strong friendships with a great number of people. So they decided to spend their special anniversary money, and more, on bringing the two communities…
Read MoreGiving Simply
“I never carry my checkbook to church. Ninety percent of the time I make financial giving decisions, it’s in front of the computer monitor. How can I even participate in supporting the church financially when you don’t have online giving or even automatic transfer?” The young woman looked around at the room filled with stewardship…
Read MoreCompass Young Adult Network
I was delighted to discover a brand new network of resources especially for young adults, called Compass: Navigating Faith and Finances, at https://www.stewardshipresources.org/COMPASS. It’s designed to engage young adults in conversations about the ways faith can inform their management of money. – Not that they’re the only ones who want help in money management; I’m…
Read MoreGenerational Stewardship Chart
Generational Stewardship Chart
Read MoreTwo Resources for Family Finances
What might you do if you wanted to help members of your congregation hone their personal or family financial planning? Here are three resources that would encourage them and also help them with practical financial issues: 1. Freed-Up Financial Living is a terrific plug-and-play resource that gives both foundational biblical financial principles and all the…
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 MoreIdeas for Stewardship among Young Adults
1. Know who young adults are. Pay attention to them. Ask. Listen. Be willing to change, do differently 2. What motivates young adults? 3. Do we acknowledge “first gift”/commitment? 4. What is the mission of the church? How are resources devoted to achieving the mission? 5. Jesus did not ask for $ too often but…
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