Posts Tagged ‘church funding’
‘Tis the Season
By now, those of us who attend worship somewhere most likely have noticed that ‘tis the season for financial commitment programs – what many church leaders call “stewardship campaigns.” It’s when we think about God’s overwhelming generosity of blessings in our lives, and respond by financially supporting God’s work right here on earth, primarily through…
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Key Stewardship Resources for Church Leaders
All print resources are available from http://www.cokesbury.com Betsy Schwarzentraub A Disciple’s Path: Deepening Your Relationship With Christ and the Church Leader Guide with CD and Companion Reader, by James A. Harnish with Justin LaRosa A Spirituality of Fundraising by Henri Nouwen, edited by John Mogabgab Afire With God: Becoming Spirited Stewards, by Betsy Schwarzentraub Committed…
Read MoreSample Annual Financial Commitment Programs
Go and See – (Ecumenical Stewardship Center) Go and See is a Sunday morning mission fair inspired by the miracle of loaves and fishes. This festival approach encourages participants in a sense of discovery and wonder – discovering the gifts God has given us, and wondering at the joy and increase the Holy Spirit brings…
Read MoreExtraordinary Money Church Campaign
Michael Reeves’ Extraordinary Money! (Discipleship Resources, 2002) could have been called “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Capital Campaigns But Were Afraid to Ask.” – because there is a lot of fear out there about capital campaigns. People ask questions such as: • “Can we do it ourselves?” Reeves says, “Don’t!” and gives seven…
Read MoreExtravagant Generosity: The Heart of Giving
Plenty of stewardship programs out there offer some good ideas, yet fail to provide leaders with practical help, such as sermons, orders of worship, email messages, letters, newsletter announcements, and marketing tools. Other programs talk a little bit about the role of giving in spiritual life, but do not involve church members in thinking and…
Read MoreFull Disclosure on the Bible and Financial Giving
Herb Miller, nationally known author of the “Consecration Sunday” annual stewardship program and syndicated columnist, now has gone back to the source, giving us a much-needed resource: Full Disclosure: Everything the Bible Says About Financial Giving (Discipleship Resources, 2003). This book is not meant primarily for the academic student, but rather for someone who wants…
Read MoreA Mission-Based Financial Commitment Program
We talk about mission. We do mission. So how can we make our church’s annual financial commitment program mission-based, instead of sounding like one more “sell job” about our church’s programs? 1. Keep the main thing the Main Thing. Most people really do hear what we say. It’s just that they have lots of buttons…
Read MoreA Spirituality of Fundraising
Written 2/15/2011 Okay, I admit it: I’ve been using the term “fundraising” for everything I don’t like about many secular financial appeal campaigns: lack of theological grounding, emotional manipulation, focus on the money, disregard for the donor as a person, and mechanistic gimmicks. But Henri Nouwen, author, Catholic priest, spiritual mentor, and model for so…
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