As you make financial plans for the rest of this year and next year, try not to let yourself and other leaders get trapped in fearful speculation about the future.
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Churches should act more like philanthropies
How can we do more than just react to urgent needs?
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Can we talk about money?
‘Tis the season for stewardship! Questions concerning money are usually among a congregation’s top priorities, but no two churches’ money issues are exactly the same. A church with rich endowments may struggle to discern how to transform abundant financial resources into real…
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Budgets matter
The process of deciding a budget sets priorities for the year. Yet the process can be routine and boring. How can the conversations be livelier, more Spirit-inspired? “Let’s Talk About Resources” — part of Lake Institute on Faith & Giving’s “Shifting Ground”…
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Money, mission and meeting in person
How are congregations managing their money during COVID-19? How are they engaging their members? Or planning for their future? Our partners at Lake Institute on Faith & Giving recently released the results of a survey of more than 550 congregations that offer a…
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Marcia Shetler: 3 Teams to Lead Your Stewardship Ministry
Changing the structure of your stewardship ministries might bring new life to familiar work, writes the CEO of the Executive Stewardship Center.
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R. Mark King: Using an Oft-Neglected Asset to Fund Ministry
An executive pastor describes how church land can be a source of ministry funding
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Leadership in Scarcity
by Mark Miller-McLemore | My church was located across from an abandoned strip mall and the local “No-Tell Motel,” where drugs and sex were peddled. We worked closely with homeless people through a shelter program in our building. It was a place…
Read MoreNever Let Money (or the lack of it) Stop You From One of God’s Good Ideas! The Pastoral Residency for Turnaround Ministry
by Mary Louise Gifford In 1953, with its membership over nine hundred people, no one could have predicted the cultural and personal changes that would lead the thriving congregation at Wollaston Congregational Church (WCCUCC) in Quincy, MA, to the gates of…
Read MorePutting Your Money Where Your Mission Is
Some pundits see a silver lining in our recent economic troubles: Americans have finally kicked the habit of conspicuous consumption. I’ll believe it when I see it. Over the last couple of years, I have consulted with a number of…
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