Browsing Links

Write Your Money Autobiography
To gain awareness of your attitudes towards wealth there’s no better way than writing a money autobiography. The Faith and Money Network has a nice guide. Do the exercise as a family or congregational group and then compare what you learned about yourselves.

To Build or Not to Build
To build or not to build … that is the question many congregations ponder at some point in their lives. If you church is asking it now, it’s not alone. Here is a tip sheet with some key considerations to ponder. From the New Jersey Synod, ELCA. (Photo © Les Cunliffe – Fotolia.com)

Online Creation Care Library
Tyndale Seminary offers an online “Creation Care Reading Room” for people without easy access to a seminary library. You’ll find many helpful resources here. (Photo © Elena Schweitzer – Fotolia.com)

Pope Francis’ Lenten Message of Creation
Pope Francis issued a letter and released a video for Lent this past week touching on issues of creation care. We can learn from the Pope’s message strategy. Creation care is universal and involves everyone because it impacts everyone, regardless of religious affiliation. (Photo: Semilla Luz, Creative Commons)

Parenting Money Autobiography
Because children learn from observing parents’ stewardship practices, the Faith & Money Network offers this “parents’ supplement” to their money autobiography. Consider using is during Lent. (Photo: foilman, Creative Commons)

Tell Your Story!
What’s the best way to excite people about giving to your ministry? The simple truth is to tell the story of how your donors’ contributions connect to a ministry that changes people’s lives, says this blog post from Horizons Stewardship Company. (Photo © mangostock – Fotolia.com)

Five Reasons Why I Give: Reflections from a Millennial
You’ve heard it over and over: It’s hard to get Millennials to church, and even harder to get them to contribute generously. Here’s testimony from a young man who finds it joyful and fulfilling to give generously. What can we learn from him? From Ecumenical Stewardship Center. (Photo © momius – Fotolia.com)

Church Financial Woes: A Crisis of Spirit
Financial problems plaguing many churches have spiritual roots, says noted sociology Robert Wuthnow. “The problem lies less in parishioners’ pocketbooks than in their hearts and less in churches’ budgets than in the clergy’s understanding of the needs and desires of church members’ lives.” From the UCC’s Massachusetts Conference. (Photo © cmlndm – Fotolia.com)

Hold a Letter-Writing Workshop
There’s a real art to writing an effective stewardship letter, and most people are not trained in it. This workshop outline from ELCA Stewardship Resources will help your team to craft letters that will help give you the results you want.

Just Imagine…
Yes! Angela Emerson help you imagine a culture of generosity that begins by leadership imagining together a congregational stewardship statement that can infuse every decision and activity of your parish’s life together. Â (Photo: www.GlynLowe.com, Creative Commons)