The Fundamentals of Effective Offerings
“This is a football!” Legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi once started a team meeting after a loss, stating that the team would return to the basics. He held up a football and said, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” Sometimes, you must go back to the fundamentals. The same is true for every local […]
Five Fundamental Keys on How to Receive the Offering
If you are a golfer, you know the importance of the fundamentals. It starts with a good grip on the club. If you want to improve, you get a coach who can help make the adjustments needed to make your game more effective. Consider me your Stewardship Coach, giving you the basics of stewardship. Let […]
From My Desk To Yours
Welcome to the first edition of the 2024 Stewardship Journal. The Journal was started in 2021 by the Missouri Baptist Convention to provide their pastors with information and advice on all things related to stewardship and generosity. With this edition, the Journal is going national, with several state conventions now sponsoring this newsletter. Your state […]
Previewing the 2024 Stewardship Journal
Why should you read the Stewardship Journal? Because, Southern Baptists, we have a problem. Our denomination is in decline. Consider this: This decline will impact giving, which will mean more church closures. No church is immune. Sadly, until now, only four state conventions have given their churches any type of stewardship help. Our goal is […]
How to Start the Giving Year Out Right
First, for those new to the Stewardship Coach column/newsletter, my Bonus Section gives you practical advice on how to build out a culture of generosity. In this edition, I write about how to start your giving year out right. January is next only to July as one of the more challenging months of your giving […]
Setting the Stage for Financial Stability
How much time did you take making announcements yesterday compared to how much time you stressed worship through giving? The typical church spends two to three minutes on announcements and zero time mentioning the offering. Is it any wonder that giving is declining, and younger generations are giving less to the church than their parents? […]
The Stewardship Journal Goes National
“The mission of Missouri Baptists to transform lives and communities with the gospel is too important to risk losing any of our churches. As I read and reviewed the current stress on giving, I knew we had to take action and provide our churches with the tools and resources to help them stay financially secure. […]
How to Be the Exception When Giving Caves In
I’ll never forget days like that day in March of 2020 when our nation came to a screeching halt. I was in the shower getting ready to fly to Atlanta to talk with a denominational guy about helping them build a stewardship platform. I kept hearing my phone ring. The first voicemail was from a […]
From The Stewardship Journal Team
Welcome to the last edition of the 2023 Stewardship Journal. Before we share what is in this week’s Journal, please allow us to first thank you for your continued support. We appreciate your words of encouragement and your support. We believe our best days are ahead of us! Here is what is in this week’s […]
The 21st-Century Offering
“Digital offerings will be the end of the offering as worship.” That is what someone wrote to me many years ago when I wrote a post encouraging churches to set up online giving. Ten years later, my response is still the same as I gave then: the offering isn’t dead due to technology, but it […]