Make a big bowl of popcorn and invite your finance/stewardship leaders team to watch this compelling presentation by the author of Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate. If your congregation is like most — spinning its wheels with the same old stewardship approach — this may get you moving again. From the Tennessee Annual Conference, UMC.
Stewardship Pastor Dave Briggs offers five essential insights about stewardship insights that you should be teaching, preaching, and living in your ministry context. Doing so, he says, will help you build a healthy stewardship culture and a healthier church. (Photo: OTA Photos, Creative Commons)
The stewardship of the gospel begins where we are. It is within and outside the congregation that we share the responsibility and accountability with other stewards of the gospel. And it needs to be said as forcibly as possible that what we do is as important as what we say. Someone has wisely observed that “It is not enough to talk the talk, unless we also walk the walk.” (Photo: Sultry,Creative Commons)
If you’re a tithing skeptic, you probably want to skip this. This is for church leaders who believe that giving a minimum of one-tenth of their income to the Lord’s church is a) scriptural, b) necessary to support the work, and c) an essential part of growing in Christlikeness. From Crosswalk.com. (Photo: Woodleywonderworks, Creative Commons)
You’ve taught them the facts of life and how to drive, but have you taught your kids about money? Teaching teenagers about money gives them confidence to manage their finances as an adult. Here are some tips to share before the kids fly the coop. From Thrivent.com. (Photo: Steven DePolo, Creative Commons)
“When educating children about climate care, it’s important to keep it simple,” Ryan Smith says. “Show them that the earth is a gift from God, in which they are bestowed the responsibility of maintaining.” In his blog post for Blessed Tomorrow, Smith also introduces an article from The Christian Post. (Photo: Dan Hughes, Creative Commons)
Paul teaches us that true generosity requires us to give to those in need and make a place for them in our gatherings, as this Bible study looking at Paul’s letters explores. Such generosity is enabled by the transforming grace of God. From Baylor University. (Photo: Alan Light, Creative Commons)
A four-week small-group curriculum on the theme of generosity in Mark’s Gospel is the core of these materials from the Church of England, but for participants there’s also a five-week daily Bible devotional. All for free PDF download. (Photo: Kevin M. Klerks, Creative Commons)
Stewardship is not about fundraising, but rather God’s mission in the world, and our mission as followers of Jesus . This resource from The Episcopal Network for Stewardship lists Bible verses for study, as well as a format for stewardship and adult education groups.
In the days of yore, kids would see their parents put their envelopes in the offering plate. Now in the age of direct-deposit checking and automatic charitable contributions, it takes some extra effort to teach children about giving and to model generosity for them, says this writer from U.S. Catholic. (Photo: Barney Moss, Creative Commons)
