From the Desk of Our Executive Director

Welcome to another edition of the Stewardship Journal.

Are you ready for Church 3.0? James Emery White in his new book, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church in a Post-Christian Digital Age, uses this term to describe the church of the 21st century. Like it or not, we are in a new day that requires new approaches. This week’s Journal explores some of the issues surrounding this new reality.

Our lead post is entitled The 24-Hour Offering. The title alone tells us that we are in new territory. Churches have historically thought of the offering as something that occurred Sunday morning during the eleven o’clock hour. In the digital world that we now live in, if that is the only time you give people an opportunity to give, you might be in trouble. This post will share with you why you need to begin thinking beyond the Sunday morning offering to a 24/7/365 approach.

Mark Brooks’ Stewardship Coach column is titled The 3.0 Church. Mark shares information from White’s book Hybrid Church. For those worried that 3.0 Church might compromise on biblical truth, Mark states, “The 21^st century has changed our methods of communicating. It hasn’t changed what we communicate. The Good News that Jesus is the answer to all the ills and challenges of our day!” Amen!

This week’s Bonus Section is entitled The Why Vision Worksheet. We are weeks away from Easter and you need to have the “ask” of your offering nailed down ASAP! Here is a vision worksheet to help you craft your vision. After deciding what the focus of your Easter Offering will be, you can use this worksheet as a guide for developing the story of that mission or ministry. The story illustrates the vision of our focus, showing the why or value of a gift.

Last week we announced that the link to all future Mission and Ministry Moment can be found at the end of Mark’s column. Starting this month, we moved all Missions and Ministry talks from the weekly Stewardship Journal site to Mark’s Stewardship Coach platform. This gives MBC pastors and staff access to hundreds of talks. You will find easy-to-follow steps in this edition.

Remember, if you know of someone that would like to receive the Journal, please send them this link for easy signup https://mobaptist.org/stewardship/stewardship-journal/.

Thanks for keeping the Stewardship Journal on your reading list. Our goal is to help you establish a culture of generosity based on biblical principles so that you and your church can continue to be about…

Advancing the Gospel!