There are about 750 churches in the East Ohio Annual Conference and if all 750 did a stewardship campaign, all 750 would be different.  And I think that’s how it should be.  Churches have different cultures, serve different demographics, are in different places in their discipling.  But in my opinion each and every campaign should […]

As you continue to plan your campaign, it is important to know where you want the campaign to get you.  And to know that you need to know where you are. There are some figures you need to have a handle on to figure that out. Group 1:  Congregation numbers These are the basics and […]

Based on the calls and emails from last week’s post there was a part of it that many of you were uncomfortable with. As I’m sure you will recall I suggested that you send different stewardship messages to different folks, with tithers, your middle donors and your nongiving or barely giving folks. But ministers aren’t […]

This fall as you begin to draft your letter for the stewardship campaign I’m willing to bet that most you will write something like: While we have been able to do so much this past year thanks to your incredible generosity please consider giving more, as our budget has increased for next year. But what […]

In the church tithing is a word kind of like “cancer”, it’s best whispered only in appropriate company.  At least that’s the opinion of many folks I talk stewardship with but  I think this is wholly inaccurate.  I hear the word used lots of times, usually in a sentence like “would the ushers come forward […]

Timing is, they say, everything.  Here is the report I gave at Annual Conference in 2015.  Looking back, it seems I was a year ahead of my time.   I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but in the last couple of months things are different in downtown Cleveland.  The Cavaliers are good.  Really […]

I often begin my sermon for stewardship Sunday by saying that it’s my favorite day of the church year, the day that the congregation decides what kind of church it chooses to be next year:  a church of scarcity or a church of abundance.  It’s not about the money, it’s about the ministry that will […]

Some thoughts about Portland that I never got around to writing about… Portland reminds me of Austin, Texas or Denver, Colorado.  It’s a city that feels young, lots of millennials out on their bikes or walking, dining at some of the non-snootiest places I’ve seen and generally being happy. VooDoo Doughnuts really are that good […]

Some thoughts on General Conference that I never got around to writing about… The diversity was amazing.  We had delegates from six continents (Antarctica was not represented) and we had seven official languages.  Live proceedings were translated into these five languages and we all had headphones like in the U.N.  At one point Bishop Streiff decided […]

I gave myself five days before writing this post as an intentional time of reflection.  As I sat in the Portland Airport (the picture above is me waiting for my plane) I was exhausted, demoralized and skeptical.  After a rigorous schedule of naps, I am no longer exhausted.  I remain, to some extent, demoralized and […]