I’m here to find resources that can help me innovate faithfully and renew Christian communities.
Ding. Beep. Chirp. Flash. These days, it’s hard to find time to pay attention to what matters when so many competing gadgets are alerting us to their priorities. But, when we do make space for what matters, what, well, does matter? Today’s post begins a three-week series on Stewarding Attention by Jason Misselt. I hope…
In preparation for Thanksgiving Day last November, there were dozens of articles and interviews concerning the challenges of sharing a meal—a cordial meal—with relatives and friends holding wildly differing political views. We are now in the season of Easter, but that challenge remains. I’ve been wondering what it might have to do with stewardship and…
This week, I reflect on a topic I’ve noticed is fairly rampant in stewardship circles: individualism. But, how might we combat it? I suggest three ways congregations and their leaders might chart another course towards community, connection, and relationships. Yours truly, Adam Copeland, Center for Stewardship Leaders Making Stewardship Corporate Adam J. Copeland American culture…
We conclude our Stewardship this Lent series today with a post from Rolf Jacobson, professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary. His post reminds me of a phrase from the education world. The “null curriculum” is sort of the shadow curriculum for teachers (or preachers!). If the regular curriculum is what we teach, the null…
Our “Stewardship this Lent” series continues this week with Dr. Benjamin Stewart, a worship professor at The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Perhaps you’re like me and have heard many sermons on Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones over the years. I think it’s a passage that’s particularly difficult to preach in…
I don’t know about you, but Lent often calls me to assess where I’ve been. Not where in a geographical sense, but where in terms of my relationship with God, my care for neighbors, and my spiritual practices. Today’s post by Columbia Theological Seminary’s Israel Galindo draws upon the beloved Psalm 23. Galindo considers a…
Week two of our Stewardship this Lent series takes us to Exodus 17, the story of the Water from the Rock. Cameron Howard, assistant professor of Old Testament, guides us from the grumblings of the Israelites to the longings of our church today. Longing for water, longing for conservation, longing for life. Lent, she argues,…
For the season of Lent, we’re launching a new series, “Stewardship this Lent,” in which seminary faculty will reflect on the resonances between, well, stewardship and Lent. I’ve invited the writers to consider the Sunday readings from the Revised Common Lectionary. While some might go other directions, several of the upcoming Tuesday Lenten posts will…
One of the recurring congregational stewardship questions concerns the best way to deal with what’s often called “mission giving,” or the part of a congregation’s budget specifically designated for service, mission, and non-profits beyond the congregation’s walls. In a sea of worthy causes, how does a congregation discern where to direct their dollars? What’s the…
Remember that old game called “telephone”? You gather with a group in a big circle and you whisper a message to the person beside you, who quietly passes that same message along to the next person and so on. The fun, though, is that by the time the message has come back to the beginning,…
For a project to be revealed later (how’s that for suspense?), Alex Benson has recently read through hundreds of past stewardship newsletters. I thought that presented a wonderful opportunity, and invited Alex to share her takeaways from her marathon stewardship reading sessions. The top ten list below is a splendid summary of our archive. Where…
I recently came across a stewardship angle totally new to me. That’s a bit strange, though, because it’s in quite an old book. Back in 1954, Jacques Ellul wrote that with our wealth, Christians are called to announce the truth about God. We must use money, Ellul wrote, as a means through which we testify…
At my last place of work, the college administration organized an informal mentorship program for all new faculty. I don’t remember all the details, but I do recall that the Dean promised to pay for coffee or lunch anytime new faculty members met with their faculty mentors. The program wasn’t perfect, but it at least…
One of my favorite leadership principles goes something like this: systems are organized to achieve exactly the type of results they ultimately achieve. In other words, it’s unrealistic to expect results out-of-line with how we’ve organized our systems, even if we’d really prefer a different sort of outcome. When it comes to stewardship, this type…
The church leader looking for books on stewardship faces a rich supply of options. Recent publications tend to emphasize themes of year-round stewardship, embracing the virtue of generosity, and issuing calls to re-examine our relationship with money. With only a few exceptions, though, the field often lacks much sophistical biblical study. Late last year, scholar…
