- The focus on giving as a discipleship practice is strong. Keep in mind that we are encouraging people to change behavior, a difficult task for the best of us. In your year-long stewardship work, encourage first time givers quarterly. Recognize in newsletter articles or Facebook posts that changing habits is hard and the idea is not perfection, but practice. If we don't recognize and support this difficult work, we will have givers who "give up" after their first unsuccessful try.
- A catered lunch is great, but the real strength is to get people there. The individual phone calls and follow up to get an RSVP from everyone in the congregation is the real strength. Pot-luck is not, however, a good idea. People forget or don't have time and then won't stay. One church had elders who enjoyed cooking. They made soup and bread for the congregation and the elders served the congregation. That is a great image and a great plan. The sharing of cooking is also a giving of gifts…and it is much less expensive than a catered meal!
- Miller schedules a leadership meeting at a restaurant with your guest speaker. This seems effective a couple of times, but I think by the third year, meeting in a home, bringing covered dish or sharing responsibility for the meal, and letting elders who have practiced generous giving or who are learning to give generously speak of their journey and encourage their peers. The pastor should share his or her story as well. By year three, the pastor must have a stewardship story to share or you cannot expect a congregation to change its behavior.
- I think a guest speaker is a great transition tool. Often a visiting preacher can say words that for a pastor would be high risk. As the congregation becomes comfortable with the change in practice, a guest speaker may not be necessary. We enjoy a variety of voices, however. And it is great living into our connectional system!
- Miller's letters are a bit weak. Our congregations often need more education about the theology behind generous giving. They also need support and encouragement. Don't make the letters too long, but include what your congregation needs to understand the practice. Don't assume that everyone understands what is going on.
- The most important celebration is NOT the bottom line of how much money is pledged, but the number of giving units, the number of those who have pledged for the first time, those who commit to work toward tithe, those who tithe, and those who commit beyond a tithe. Those are the significant pieces of information. Be sure you collect that data and celebrate it! Your bottom line may not increase by what you consider "enough," but if you have increasing numbers that pledge for the first time and numbers that commit to move toward a tithe, you have a positive trend for the future. Celebrating that will move your church forward.
- Share the name of first time pledgers and first time tithers with your session and your stewardship team. Leaders in the congregation should know to be grateful and encouraging of their brothers and sisters in Christ.
Herb Miller guarantees results, but only if you change NOTHING in his book. So this is a disclaimer that these are my opinions and the practices I've seen other churches adopt. I make no guarantees, except that God's faithfulness is sure and dependable.
Enjoy your stewardship season! We are blessed!
