I had planned to take most of Advent off from writing this blog, but since I have all of my shopping done I thought I’d update you on the recent tax changes signed by the President. I think the biggest Christmas gift we were given was an extension of the IRA Rollover. For most people […]

Advent, of course, is the time before Christmas.  It is the process of building toward Christmas Eve and, of course, Christmas morning.  The problem is that once December 26 has come, it’s over. Adam Hamilton, who regular readers to this blog know I respect greatly, uses Christmas as a lead-in to January.  In his book […]

By now I’m fairly sure that everyone who is doing a fall stewardship campaign has completed it. So give us all some feedback on what you did and how you did.  If you scroll down a bit, just above the big orange signs it says “Leave a comment” in red letters.  Or you can email […]

My neighborhood at home is off of a state route that is under major construction.  Just south of our street the road is closed.  Really, really closed.  So closed that the concrete is gone and the dirt is showing.  They don’t get more closed than that. This fact is announced in several signs before you […]

I don’t know if you know it or not, but our denomination is in trouble.  Deep trouble. You’ve seen or heard the numbers.  Attendance is down, churches are closing, debt is up. So what are we supposed to do? A group of church leaders met throughout this past year to figure that out.  Our own […]

Wow, what a great response to last week’s post about electronic giving!  It was the most-read entry we’ve had in 12 weeks! One church member told me that his church does nearly all of its “transactions” with members electronically.  These are things other than the offering, like registering for VBS.  And the biggest fan is the […]

A couple of weeks ago I reposted an article I did for the Joining Hands Magazine about electronic giving.  Thanks for all of the positive feedback and I wanted to answer for all of you the question I got most often, “How do I do it?” The good news is that it’s easier and cheaper […]

By now your fall stewardship campaign may be over, for others that time is still a month or so away. Whatever your timeline, keep in mind that the day after your commitment Sunday does not indicate the end of the campaign. There is still work to be done. I strongly urge you to contact each […]

The nice thing about the church is that no matter how incredibly boring the sermon may be, it’s still more exciting than reading the budget. Let’s change that.  The budget, I mean, you’re on your own with the sermon. While a line item budget is a necessary tool for fiscal management it really tells a lousy […]

The good people in the Conference Communications Office asked me to contribute to the fall edition of Joining Hands Magazine. This issue deals with bridging the gap between generations and below are my thoughts. If you haven’t read it yet  or don’t receive a subscription you can read it on-line. In response to the earthquake […]