There is no doubt that church committee work is cyclical and this is absolutely true for Stewardship Committees.  After Labor Day they start to get organized, are busy in October and November, are done by Thanksgiving or so and are back to sleep before the Christmas decorations are put away. Afterall, there is really nothing […]

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 […]

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 […]

Churches in Africa do things a bit differently. From what I understand the offering is a time for great joy, as congregants celebrate that they have something to contribute. In remote areas where food and water are a daily struggle, having a li’l something extra to share is truly something special. We don’t really do […]

One of the key tasks in any stewardship campaign is writing The Letter. Sometimes The Letter is written by the committee, but usually by the pastor. Hours are spent wordsmithing, proof reading, getting a fresh pair of eyes on it to make sure nothing was skipped or could be misinterpreted. This year I encourage you […]

The old adage goes that you should be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.  In stewardship I believe there is a corollary, ask for what you want, there’s a good chance you’ll get it. Which raises the obvious question, what is it we should be asking for? I will tell you that […]