In his “The Importance of Gift Policies” post last week, The Importance of Gifts Policies – Part One: Receiving and Refusing Gifts, Bruce Barkhauer describes what Gift Policies are and why they matter. This week in part two of the series, Bruce tackles a topic that might be controversial for your congregation: what to do…
Let’s be honest, the word “policy” probably doesn’t bring to mind creative, innovating, life-changing ministry. Yet, wise leaders know policies are integral to directing, protecting, and leading organizations. This week we launch the first of a two week series on Gifts Policies. In today’s article, Bruce Barkhauer introduces Gifts Policies and their benefits. Next week,…
Like many of you, I can’t remember my own baptism. Yet, I’m reminded of it often in the act of public worship, and in the invitation to touch the water of the font. In today’s post, pastor Taryn Montgomery shares a powerful story of how these baptismal practices connect beyond our minds and souls, to…
Last week in Growing Generosity (Part 1) Catherine Malotky introduced the concept “high net worth” donors using a measure that may have surprised you. This week in Part 2, Catherine describes three methods these households may employ to make charitable gifts. Is your congregation ready and able to put these gifts to work in your…
I recently saw a tweet linking to a dozen charts depicting twelve wildly differing definitions of what it means to be “middle class” in the U.S. Unfortunately, I can’t find the tweet anymore. But nevertheless, here’s the takeaway: perceptions of personal wealth differ dramatically and many of those in the upper class by one definition…
Recently, my wife and I were having dinner with a newly married couple. As happens in my line of work, the topic of finances came up. The newlyweds were astonished that my wife and I discussed money regularly (without fighting), knew off the top of our heads our household budget lines, and generally approached money…
Last week, Pastor Jeni Grangaard, who works in global mission for the ELCA, reminded us of the gift of time and her walks in a beautiful valley in Jerusalem. This week, Jeni’s husband Colin, continues reflecting upon their life working with young adults in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Their ministry is a culmination of…
Folk singer David LaMotte has a song with a chorus, “There’s no time like the present…and there’s no present like time.” In today’s post, Pastor Jeni Grangaard invites us to slow down, take note, and become aware of our gifts beyond money. Our gift of now. It’s a post that, I hope, will cause us…
This week, Alex Benson reviews a helpful stewardship book that works to step back from traditional stewardship frameworks to engage congregational development holistically. In Holy Currencies, Eric Law suggests a sort of program for sustainable mission, and a way to approach broadening that mission. I hope you find the review — and, if it seems…
Sometimes we can get overwhelmed by the wide array of out-there innovative possibilities and miss the potential right in front of us. In today’s post, Chandler Carriker shares the story of how Lutheran World Relief discovered a new way to drive mission by reorganizing work it already supported. In fact, it’s become so essential to…
Our newsletter articles on digital giving are consistently some of our most popular and most referenced pieces. In the past, we’ve written about the benefits of electronic giving, choosing an online giving vendor, iPad giving stations, and challenges in implementing online giving. Today, Alex Benson follows-up her post from a few weeks ago with one…
It’s always fun to describe my job to people who have no connection to the Christian faith. They have heard the word, “stewardship,” of course, but not exactly in the way the church uses it. Sometimes, though, I wonder if their first impressions might be healthier than many impressions of stewardship in the church. Today’s…
In the early 2000s, president George W. Bush used a particularly apt, catchy phrase in an education policy speech: “the soft bigotry of low expectations.” Bush was making an argument for higher educational standards across the board, and not just for white, well-off students in “good” schools. I’m not sure what the stewardship version of…
In my course, “Starting New Missional Ministries” students have an assignment in which they respond to the prompt, “In a world of conflicting values, pluralistic leanings, and abundant choice, why does church matter?” Try it yourself. It’s a tough question, but an essential one for us — both individually and for our churches collectively. In…
This semester I’m teaching a class called, “Starting New Missional Ministries,” a course on new church development and the redevelopment of struggling congregations. We read scripture (Acts particularly) and the latest missional church literature. We also have class visitors who are beginning congregations themselves. And, wouldn’t you know, the topic of money and finances comes…
