“I met with a few pastor friends of mine, and none of them are going back to passing an offering plate.” That was a comment a pastor made to me recently over lunch. My first question was, why? The answer most pastors would give would be because of Covid. Can...
By Richie Rhea, Care Pastor, NorthRoad Community Church, Moscow Mills, Missouri VBS. So many memories. I was blessed to attend Vacation Bible School every year of my childhood. As a pastor, I haven’t missed a single year. Some years, I’ve attended more than one. That’s about 63 years of uninterrupted VBS....
Welcome to another Stewardship Journal! In this edition of the Stewardship Journal, longtime MBC pastor Richie Rhea writes a post entitled Should We Teach Giving During VBS? Richie raises some great points that I believe will be beneficial for all to consider. VBS has been one of the greatest outreach tools...
Have you ever heard that grandmothers and mothers would always eat the chicken neck when they served their families chicken? I remember hearing that, and I found these statements from writers… “When I was little, my mom and her mom always said that a mom's favorite parts of the chicken were...
We recommend that churches encourage members to sign up for automated giving in January and May. Here is a sample that you might consider putting in your Sunday bulletin. How many checks a month do you write? Paper check usage has declined from 60% of all payments in 2000 to around 20%...
There are two sides to a coin. Look at a quarter, and you might be looking at an eagle. Yet another person looking at the same quarter would argue that they are looking at the image of George Washington. Which one is correct? They both are. The answer depends upon...
“Through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, Southern Baptists have given over $5 billion to international missions,” proclaims the International Mission Board’s website.1. Many churches saw their greatest response ever to the offering this past year, setting record dollar amounts. So, how can the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering be in trouble?...
Welcome to another Stewardship Journal! In this edition of the Stewardship Journal, we explore the current state of giving to the church by reviewing the recently released report by empty tomb, inc., entitled The State of Church Giving through 2019. Our lead post asks, Is the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering in...
How many of you already have your vacation planned? How many of you wish you were on vacation right now? We all need a break from time to time. We are fast approaching summer which for many of you means your annual break from slaving away at the salt mine...
“You do know you are making a statement?” I commented to Sr. Pastor Jeremy Freeman as we discussed raising money to fund a $10 million sanctuary. When I asked him that question, the U.S. was on Covid variant; I can’t remember which. Building sanctuaries is not what the “experts” would...
