An important part of leadership is the ability to help people change–minds, hearts, and actions. Scientist, law professor, and author Ozan Varol believes that facts don’t change minds. Instead, try getting out of your “echo chamber” and working on your “empathy muscle,” he says. “In the end, it takes courage and determination to see the truth […]
It seems that tragedy and terror strike ever more frequently. God’s people are needed now more than ever to provide a faithful witness and the presence of Christ in word and Sacrament. We need to show up, to take the cross of Christ into this beautiful and broken world. Pastor and writer Carey Nieuwhof offers […]
It happens to the best of congregations: It’s almost October and you haven’t yet planned a fall stewardship emphasis. It’s too late to pull out the stops and go with a complicated program with a lot of moving parts, but here are four ideas for a simple stewardship campaign. If your congregation hasn’t done much […]
“Stewardship is another way of talking about ministry, and it would revolutionize ministry if people could think of it in terms of stewardship—that we are accountable to God for what we do and with what he has trusted to us.” That’s one insight from an enriching interview with R. Paul Stevens in ChristianityToday. The author […]
What does change have to do with stewardship? On one hand, stewardship always implies change — of giving, of accomplishing mission, of work together. On the other hand, though, stewardship is about constants, the grace of Jesus Christ and his call upon on lives. In this article from Luther Seminary’s Center for Stewardship Leaders, write […]
OK, so you’ve known for a long time that your congregation really needs someone to step up and run the stewardship ministry, but what are the qualifications and what would the person actually do? Or, is the person currently in that position understand the full potential of the task? The United Methodist Church posted this […]
Membership in Mainline congregations is aging, and the trend shows no signs of stopping. That presents not only challenges but also opportunities when it comes to stewardship, says Charles R. Lane, a popular stewardship speaker, author and consultant. He offers great advice in these essays for Luther Seminary’s Center for Stewardship Leaders. Click above for […]
Every congregation has its own attitudes, ideas, understandings and suppositions about how church money should be gathered, counted and spent. You could call it their money style. Knowing their money style will enable a wise leader to set effective policies and procedures to keep tabs on the finances. This article from ChistianityToday looks at four typical church […]
American culture is intensely individualistic. Given this context, it’s no surprise that a lot of talk about money and stewardship is focused on the individual. Scripture, on the other hand, tends towards a more communal culture. How might we make stewardship more communal? What might communal stewardship look like in congregations? Adam J. Copeland of […]
Stewardship is the great “Silent Subject” in many churches. There is very little teaching from the pulpit, and when stewardship is mentioned, it is a code word for giving. Very few churches provide training on how to implement biblical principles into one’s daily financial life. Yet there are profound practical and spiritual reasons why the […]
