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Basic Guide to Congregational Endowments
Looking for a basic guide to begin planning an endowment fund for your congregation? Download this free 42-page PDF from Thrivent and the InFaith Community Foundation. It has plenty of good material to get you started. (Photo: Raul Hernandez Gonzalez, Creative Commons)
Got a Minute? Watch a Stewardship Tip
Here’s a wonderful buffet of brief video segments from the Center for Faith and Giving featuring pastors and stewardship experts discussing various stewardship topics. Watch these yourself, share them with your stewardship team, or use them as congregational giving moments. (Photo: Ed Brambley, Creative Commons)
You Have to Ask!
Brian Rose is convinced that we have to have the “money” talk in church. In this short article, Rose (lead navigator for Auxano) offers seven actions to get you started and keep you going. Let’s face it, if we don’t ask, the church won’t receive and our ministries will lack funding. (Photo: keoni kabral, Creative […]
Sacrificial Giving Program
Sacrificial giving requires of us that we put God’s priorities before our own, that we put the support of God’s Church and its mission before our own pleasure and comfort. In other words, we give to the Church a planned, proportionate amount of our income in gratitude for all that God has given to us. This six-week program will give you all the tools and inspiration you need to bring this idea into your congregation. (Photo by Lisafx, via Bigstock.com)
Growing Generous Givers
Often church leaders work countless hours planning how to limit spending, but they focus little attention on how to increase giving. We succeed where we focus our time and energy. Here, from BuildingChurchLeaders.com, is a fine piece on how to help increase giving. (Photo © laurent hamels – Fotolia.com)
How Giving Transformed Grief
We all have something to give in every stage of our lives. Here’s a story by Cindy del Rosario about how one dad transformed the grief of losing his son to cancer into a way to help other children facing the disease. (Photo: Emilio Nares Foundation)
Increase Your Church’s E-Giving
Fewer people today are writing checks, yet that’s still the way many churches expect to receive gifts and offerings. Expand your congregation’s options with opportunities to give through Electronic Fund Transfers, credit cards or RQ codes. This article from Kluth.org gives you some ideas. (Photo by Jhaymesisviphotography, used by Creative Commons license)
Book Review: ‘Gratitude’ by Peter Leithart
Peter Leithart’s new book, titled simply Gratitude: An Intellectual History, takes a sweeping look at gift-giving from ancient to modern times, with particular emphasis on how Christ changed — and continues to influence — the culture and customs surround gifts. Review from Christianitytoday.com. (Photo by Tiger Girl, used by Creative Commons license)
Secrets of a Giving Church
The Christian Reformed Church is a tiny denomination with just a quarter million members, but their members give in an outsized way — more than twice the national average among Protestant churches. They are doing something right, ChristianityToday reports. (Photo by iqoncept, via bigstockphoto.com)
What if Everybody Tithed?
As a whole, American Christians give about 2.5 percent of their income to churches — lower than even during the Great Depression, when they gave 3.3 percent. And yet churches are still able to teach the ignorant, feed the hungry and care for the least among us. Imagine what we could do if every churchgoer […]
