I believe that by 2030, less than six years from now, we will witness a significant wave of church closures across the U.S. Church closures are happening already, and the pace of closures is picking up. A few weeks ago, Lifeway Research posted the following headline: Southern Baptists Lost More...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
“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...
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...
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...
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...
