The Future of Capital Funding
I have lost track of how much money I have helped churches raise in capital campaigns. In over twenty-five years, I have learned a few things. For years I have been asking, what is the future for raising the capital funding? The list below is some of the key issues churches will face as they […]
An Easy Formula to Evaluate Your Church’s Growth (or Decline)
Is your church growing or declining? How would you know? We found a great article posted on the BP Toolbox site by Thom Rainer. We subscribe to the theory that if Rainer writes it, we need to read it. The following post, reposted here with permission, gives us a great gauge of growth. Without growth, […]
Preparing for the Future With a Legacy Lane Strategy
The churches that survived the closures in March 2020 owe their survival to a crucial group. Despite alarming predictions of widespread closures due to a decline in giving, these churches held their ground. Our financial analysis of current clients and extensive research of numerous articles and studies underscored the significant role of a few top-tiered […]
The Legacy Team
One answer to assuring the future financial security of the church is to use Legacy donors to create a Legacy Team. As you will see in the definition, membership isn’t based on wealth, but on a desire to use whatever wealth they have for The Kingdom. Here are some thoughts I wrote on the Legacy […]
What Happens When We Blame Others for Ministry Difficulties
Chuck Lawless, in a recent post on BP Toolbox, brought up the topic of blaming others for ministry difficulties. It is our experience, and studies show this, that the Senior Pastor must be highly engaged and involved in building a culture of generosity. So, pastor, the path to financial security at your church starts with […]
Overcoming Your Church’s Biggest Stewardship Roadblock…You
“You write the best stuff on stewardship. Your problem is no one cares.” A few years back, I was talking about writing with my friend, Brian Dodd. He made that comment to me. It’s the most stinging compliment I ever got. It is also revealing of why giving continues to decline in America. Stewardship is […]
The Senior Pastor’s Weekly Stewardship Overview
How much time should a Senior Pastor spend on stewardship? I believe every Senior Pastor should commit 5% to 10% of their time to educating themselves, building out, and working on a stewardship plan. If that sounds daunting, start with thirty minutes a week and then build from there. The following is a list of […]
An Interview with Dr. Ronnie Floyd
One of our goals at the Stewardship Journal is to bring you thoughts and writings from various outside sources. In coming issues, you will find posts from Thom Rainer, Chuck Lawless, and many others. In this edition, our focus has been on pastoral leadership with regard to stewardship. One area where pastors often are poor […]
The Three-Day Weekend Edition
Pastoring a church miles from Razorback Stadium, where the University of Arkansas Razorbacks play football, made me aware of the need to pay attention to the calendar when it came to planning. When I started in the stewardship ministry, I quickly learned that even giving initiatives must pay attention to the calendar. The Sunday after […]
A May Strategy for Summer Giving
May is your month to help you get ahead of the curve of summer giving’s challenges. The following post I wrote for my sponsor, OnlineGiving.org, illustrates the best way to avoid the slump three-day weekends give churches. For every church in America, summer presents both opportunities and challenges. The opportunities run from summer mission trips […]