Neil Franks – Driving Through Missouri
As I travel the back roads of Missouri, this time of year always catches my attention. After watching the barren fields of the winter give way to the fledgling seedlings grow into tall stalks of deep green, I now see the browning tassels of corn waving in the late summer breeze. I am amazed at […]
How to Use Labor Day to Make Up Lost Ground
I want to share with you how a Labor Day offering plan can help close your giving gap. First, you might be surprised that I would contend you could see an increase in giving on Labor Day. Three-day weekends are typically tough on offerings. Yet, with a good plan of action, you can meet and […]
If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail
I’ve been helping churches increase giving and givers for over twenty years. In my time as a Minister of Stewardship, I have observed that one of the major reasons churches experience financial difficulties is, in part, a lack of planning. I have a saying, I call them Brooks Mantras, that says if you fail to […]
The Power of a Story
In my over twenty years as a Southern Baptist pastor, few people commented on my sermon points. I think they forgot them before they left the building! But they still remember many of the illustrations and stories I told to this day to buttress my points. That’s the power of a story. Think about it, […]
How to Make Budget in Less Than Two Minutes
Are we headed for a recession? Mark Brooks, The Stewardship Coach, gives his answer to that question in his column of this edition, saying, “My view is that recession or not, we are in for a challenging year for giving.” As a result, we at the Journal have been writing issues around budget planning with […]
How to Avoid Budget Inflation
With inflation running nearly double digits and an economy filled with uncertainties, how should your church prepare for next year’s budget? Our team at the Stewardship Journal probes that question in our lead post. It’s budget planning time for many churches and setting a budget that can’t be met is a self-inflicted wound that often […]
The Number One Reason Churches Fail to Make Their Budget
A few years ago, we were asked to make a presentation to a church about raising capital dollars. In preparation for that meeting, we discovered from the church newsletter that giving was running about 10% below the previous year. Some of that decline was related to a decline in attendance. At the same time, we […]
How Donor Confidence Will Impact Your Giving
“Consumers’ Economic Outlook Worsens” and “Stocks Fall on Consumer Gloom” were two recent headlines in the Wall Street Journal that caught our attention. Americans feel the financial strain of our current downward economy from the gas pump to the grocery shelves. We are reeling from a 40-year-high inflation impacting the price of everything. As a […]
Failing Forward: Learning From Our Peers
John Maxwell once authored a book entitled Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes Into Stepping Stones for Success. His premise was that we often learn more from our mistakes than we do our failures. We have found this is often true when it comes to churches. In fact, there is a popular saying that goes like this, […]
How Partnerships Happen (Re-post)
One year ago, we asked long-time MBC pastor, Richie Rhea, to write a post about the importance of partnering together in the aftermath of a contentious Southern Baptist Convention. Given the nature leading up to the Convention in Anaheim, we thought his words were worth re-posting. Here is his original unchanged post from last year. […]