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The Measure of Our Wealth
Every month I receive statements detailing to the penny the balances in my checking, savings and retirement accounts. Also without fail I receive statements detailing to the penny my liabilities in credit cards and other debt. Then I use a household accounting software program to put all this information together. The result? I know exactly how much money I have month by month. We do a good job of tracking how rich we are in worldly wealth. But we are not so good when it comes to knowing how rich we are in God. (Photo © Borys Shevchuk – Fotolia)
Hope and Action: A Small-Church Growth Strategies Handbook
Across the Episcopal Church, a number of small congregations are finding strength and growth. Close examination revealed they have some common characteristics: They are ‘spiritually vital and alive,”‘ they have a “strong mission and purpose,” they are ‘moral beacons in their local communities,” and they are “willing to change to meet new challenges.” The free 100-page booklet reveals their successes and strategies — and provides extensive resources for further study. (Photo by Navdeep Raj, used by Creative Commons license. Thanks!)
Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations
Congregations spend a lot of energy on a lot of different efforts, but here are five concepts to focus what your church does in order to make it more productive and faithful. The Five Practices website contains lots of supporting information and ideas to get your congregation moving. It’s the creation of Robert Schnase, Bishop of the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church. (Photo by AlicePopkorn, used by Creative Commons License. Thanks!)
