Preaching and Money
How can the issue of money be addressed honestly and effectively from the pulpit? Two new books guide preachers in defining a homiletic posture that…
Browsing: Stewardship
Articles
Teaching Children to Tithe
Teaching children to tithe is an important part of their faith education that we often overlook. Giving to God is a core value of our…
Christmas Giving for Christ
Soon the seasons of Advent and Christmas will be with us, and we will be inundated with commercials and product advertisements on television, radio, and…
Being a Stewardship Leader Requires Clarity
What do you think about financial stewardship? While there are a host of resources for churches on developing giving, it’s important to clarify your own…
Mature Disciples Supporting New Givers
My mother became a Christian when I was four. From that day forward, we were in church every Sunday … almost. Stewardship Sunday was the…
From Fundraising to Stewardship
One of the simple realities of congregational life is that most churches are financially dependent on voluntary giving. Most pastors do not relish the annual…
Three New Financial Stewardship Books
Three established authors on the subject of congregational finances have new books to help congregations develop joyful and generous givers. Each author has important contributions…
Do Endowments Help or Hurt?
Some churches have endowments in which the principal is invested, with the earnings made available to support the work of the congregation. One pastor said…
Faith and the Use of Church Money
I have heard many stories of pastors telling their congregations they need to go into debt or stretch themselves financially as “a matter of faith.”…
Your Money Autobiography
There is a disaster in your community, and opportunities for giving donations abound. What is your response? You receive a cash gift for your birthday.…
Reasons Why People Give
In our U.S. Congregational Life Survey, worshipers rated the extent to which ten factors influence their decision to give to their congregation. The most important…
New Ways of Viewing Faith and Money
Many Christians tend to oversimplify the essence of scripture’s teaching with regard to money in such statements as “Christians must tithe” or “the faithful will…
Yours for the Asking
Recently I talked with a pastor about how to fund a $6,000 need beyond the resources of the church budget. I felt he had an…
Is Your Church the Best Place to Give?
The other day I was visiting with a key donor of a church along with the pastor. The pastor was asking the donor if she…
Helping a Congregation Connect to Mission
My congregation has been in an ongoing mission partnership with the Child Rescue Center and Mercy Hospital in Sierra Leone, Africa, since 2000. However, there…
Giving Up to Our Potential
The oft-repeated claim that churchgoers are the most generous of Americans was always a reassurance to me as I labored in the vineyard of stewardship…
Put Your Money Where You Want Your Heart to Be
If you want your heart to be with God, here’s a suggestion I’ve found to be very powerful in my own life. Put your money…
God’s Leaders Multiply, Not Maintain
As we begin thinking about fall stewardship campaigns, our minds may turn to the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30), the story of a master…
Helping Our Children Become Worshipful Givers
Children and youth are typically given little attention in relation to worship through giving. The reasons range from, “They are only children,” to “They don’t…
Paying Attention to Those Who Give and Those Who Don’t
I have come to see the importance of thinking about different segments within the congregation. There is tremendous diversity within any congregation when it comes…
Motivating Generous Giving
Scott Cormode writes that pastors need to provide the theological categories to make spiritual sense of money and the issues that it creates. There are…
The Gift
Ann Michel writes about the remarkable bequest given toward college education by Osceola McCarty, who completed sixth grade, as an example of selfless living and generosity. “What would stewardship season…
