This is, hands down, the least favorite time of year for pastors everywhere: church budget planning season. Nobody likes budget planning, from the tedious work it entails to the way in which money necessarily informs the work of the church,…
Giving and receiving: Transformative gifts
Through the acts of giving and receiving, many miracles happen. Both the giver and the receiver become transformed.
What Prince did before he died — and 5 reasons it matters
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing from the radio. It was so shocking that I wanted to pull the car to the side of the road to take it all in. This was not the news that Prince, the…
Making our list, checking it twice
By Barry Howard At our house we make a lot of lists, especially in December — the grocery list, the Christmas card list, the gift list, the guest list, the holiday event list and the end-of-year giving list. During this…
What’s necessary vs. extravagant giving
By Scott Dickison As far as the typical news cycle goes, this column is about a week late. August 29 marked the 10 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall on American soil. But then again, on Labor Day of 2005…
Cultivating generous giving
By Molly T. Marshall Since my vocation as a seminary president requires travel and presence in varied congregations, which means irregular attendance at my home church, I volunteered to be a member of the stewardship committee. It meets at times…
Should a pastor know what church members give?
Every time I teach a stewardship workshop or class, this question invariably comes up: “Should a pastor have access to contribution records?” In some congregations, pastors are prohibited from knowing what people contribute. In others, pastors choose to shield themselves…
Pastors as social entrepreneurs
Seldom do I meet a pastor who, when they find out I’m in fundraising, asks about raising money. Ironically, most seminaries don’t teach this elemental aspect of ministry—congregations are nonprofits; contributions are elemental to their growth. However, before congregations and…
To hand someone a dollar or not?
by Kim Priddy, Associate Pastor of Missions To hand someone a dollar or not? This is a debate that is faced when you come upon someone holding a cardboard sign at an intersection that reads: “Hungry- Anything Helps.” The bible…