Don’t let the size of your congregation dictate how leaders are equipped to mission. Instead, take a cue from Sandy Plains United Methodist Church in rural North Carolina where they keep “every member in mind” for leadership in church and mission. (Image: Janet Ramsden, Creative Commons)
You can’t pay all the volunteer leaders in your church for the work they put into your congregation, and you can’t possibly run the church without them. But there are some really terrific ways to reward your folks that won’t tax your budget at all, Carey Nieuwhof explains. (Photo: ThinkPanama, Creative Commons)
Now some nine months after the pandemic cratered church attendance, there are some hopeful signs, reports Meredith McNabb of the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving. The digital adaptations that helped congregations thrive are here to stay. (Photo: Gabriela Pinto, Creative Commons)
Covid-19 has left us all depleted, and that’s all the more reason to emphasize stewardship of our health in 2021. This free Toolkit has a monthly stewardship message and RCL-based snippets for the Sunday bulletins, and more. (Photo: Neil T, Creative Commons)
Too many congregations use a tired — and less effective — approach to filling a year-end gap in their budgets: They send out letters begging for donations, sometimes even using veiled threats that the church will close. There’s a much better way, says this article from Church Law & Tax. (Photo: Steve Jurvetson, Creative Commons)
Millennials have distinguished themselves from previous generations in their world view and way of engaging the world. To engage them in discipleship and stewardship requires a church to understand the Millennial mindset and find new approaches. From Kayla Matthews in NonProfitPro. (Photo: OECD, Creative Commons)
During the Sunday offering, are you asking your congregation to “give money” or are you inviting them to participate in what God is doing in the world? Here, from the United Methodist Church, is a beautiful brochure that explains how to raise money AND disciples. (Photo: Lisafx, Bigstock.com)
What’s happening in congregational stewardship? Drawing on close to 20 years of observation with thousands of congregations, the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving identifies these different sets of values and practices as as traditional and emerging paradigms. From Luther Seminary. (Photo: Robert Couse-Baker, Creative Commons)
The pandemic has challenged how churches operate, but most congregations are getting by as they adopt creative strategies to adopt to the new normal, a study by the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving. How is your church faring? (Image: AJC1 i, Creative Commons)
In many churches money talk is a leader’s “third rail” — touch it and you die! It doesn’t have to be that way. Lovett Weems of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership offers two principles that, applied consistently over time, can help make it easier to talk about money in church. (Photo: Rhys A., Creative […]
