Two years ago, I issued a stark warning to a group of Southern Baptist leaders: without immediate action, thousands of their churches could vanish by 2030. Last year, the warning was tragically confirmed. In April, Lifeway Research reported that the Southern Baptist Convention lost 1,253 churches in 2022. This is...
I’m focused on helping churches be financially secure by 2030. For years, I have marched under the motto, “Reversing Giving One Church at a Time.” With the decline of giving picking up speed and endangering the future of thousands of churches, there is never a better time to prepare for...
Welcome to the last edition of the Stewardship Journal. The Journal was started in 2021 by the Missouri Baptist State Convention for pastors and church leaders. It expanded in 2024 to include other state Conventions. The Journal is one of the few sources of stewardship advice in the SBC Convention....
Do you know how to use gratitude to increase generosity? With this edition of the Stewardship Journal, you will! As we approach Thanksgiving, it’s a great time to look at the value of saying thank you to your donors. Here is a preview of the posts: Mark Brooks, The Stewardship Coach,...
Are you ready for the 2030s? This edition of the Stewardship Journal is focused on future planning around building a stewardship base for your church that will sustain you into and through the 2030s, should Jesus tarry! Let’s break down our posts, all by Mark Brooks, The Stewardship Coach. Visioneering the...
The church that survives into the future is the church that prepares today for the future. That’s been one of my Brooks Mantras on stewardship that I have been repeating to you since around 2018. Pastor Shane, Bishop of Christ Church outside of Saint Louis, took that advice to heart...
As I wind down my newsletters, I plan on bringing back some of what I consider my key articles. Build, renovate, or repurpose the facilities you need and pay off any debt quickly. That has been my advice for the last few years. I thought about that last Sunday night as...
As we near the end of the year and the start of the New Year, I will be sharing with you posts about how to end well and start well. Here is a post I wrote last year that contains four timeless stewardship plans. “Almost all on Wall Street and in...
Welcome to another edition of the Stewardship Journal. We have a big announcement with this Journal that you will not want to miss. Let’s get to the announcement first. Mark Brooks, The Stewardship Coach, writes all our posts in this Journal. Mark begins with an announcement in his post that says...
Are you actively preparing for the future of giving? Or is it a thought that's been pushed aside by the daily demands of ministry? The truth is, the urgency of the present often overshadows the importance of future planning. However, as you'll discover in this week’s Journal, the future of...
