Prayers for Generous Giving...

Many of us have leadership dinners before our Consecration/Stewardship Sunday. If we don't have a dinner, we do have sessions that should be encouraged to be spiritual leaders during this time…which is opposed to the more natural inclination to hide and not be in any conversation about stewardship.

So, we prayed for our people this year. Obviously, if you are in a huge church, this is a bigger challenge…but you also have a bigger leadership team…so make it work for you.

We had one of our leaders start and end with this stewardship prayer, then the session members had a list of members and we "went around the table" and they each read a name until all names had been spoken aloud. We were at two tables, so each table did half the congregation. It took about three minutes. (As a bonus, it then stimulated a few conversations about who people were…)

Here is the prayer: (One note: "for such a time as this" was our theme this year…you can tweak it to include your main focus.)

Generous God,

As you call us to leadership in such a time as this, as we recognize more and more each day that all we have belongs to you, as we come into our time of congregational consecration, we lift up the names of this congregation to you:  (read names)

Grant them courage and blessing. Teach them generosity and grace. Make your presence known in their lives, whatever their circumstance.

We pray in the name of the one who lived a life of ultimate generosity, Jesus Christ our Lord… Amen. 

 

Church Budgets and Overhead

Sometimes someone else nails it. So consider this a signpost to a magnificent article on why church budgets are "overhead" heavy and why that might just be OK.

The Shocking Un-Truth about Church Budgets…

Seriously…don't miss this one.

Generational Realities of Stewardship

As you are communicating during Stewardship season with congregants of all ages, this may be helpful information for you. Some of the information was gleaned from Karl Travis's presentation at Stewardship Kaleidoscope, other information is from personal experience.

Generational Realities in Financial Discipleship

GIs/Civics   1901-1924

• Seniors are much more likely than any other group to describe themselves as religious; feel absolutely committed to the Christian faith.
• Likeliest to give, to tithe, to pledge
• Trained to give from childhood
• Give undesignated funds
• Express appreciation for past support and loyalty to the congregation’s life and traditions and for the legacy the GIs have given to the congregation.
• While GIs often find themselves asked for money, they are seldom asked for input, ideas, or problem-solving. Find opportunity to seek their input.
• Be willing to get to the bottom line. It is helpful to emphasize the big picture of the congregation in concrete terms, particularly numbers.
• See giving as a responsibility

Areas of focus:

• estate planning

Silent/Adaptive  1925-1942

• Likely pledgers, tithers
• Trained to give from childhood
• Undesignated givers
• Understand giving as public necessity
• Prefer face-to-face, relational meetings; be prepared to talk and listen.
• Use personalized, intimate stories to make your appeal.
• Stress the aspect of a fair share and proportionate giving
• Be bold in asking for a contribution

Areas of focus:

• estate planning
• Fear management (will our congregation survive)

Baby Boomers/Idealists 1943-1960

• Low rates of saving and giving
• Unlikely to pledge or tithe
• Charitable giving comes from “disposible income”
• Tend toward skepticism of church’s trustworthiness
• Giving is an option.
• Boomers get hooked on vision, environmental concerns, children, and justice issues. 
• Most Boomers still take a 24/7 approach to life, and often live to work
• Boomers want home to be a refuge from everyone and everything--including the congregation.
• Be prepared to speak at length because Boomers usually want to talk.
• Speak of congregational programs in terms of upgrading and enhancing quality, with a view toward making them the best.
• Highlight parts of a budget concerned with the environment, children, and social justice concerns.
• Stress the spiritual benefits of being a member of a faith community that gives fuller meaning to life and work.

Areas of focus:

• Earning trust
• Providing control and choice in giving
• Education about generous giving as spiritual practice
• The congregation should model giving--tithing their budget to mission

Gen X/ Nomads 1961-1982

• Taught little to nothing about stewardship in PC(USA) churches
• Many come from unchurched backgrounds, even those who were “members”
• Giving understood as personal possibility, if understood as a spiritual discipline
• Especially for this generation, volunteering time and having a chance to put talents and skills to work are authentic expressions of their stewardship.
• Be brief to the point of bluntness. Stick to the main core and central themes and avoid details or nuances.
• Children’s issues and needs, particularly children’s safety, go over bog. Gen Xers really want a congregation to be a safe place--physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually.
• The ways kids get real-world, hands-on experience through service projects speaks to this generation.
• The congregational Web site is important to this generation.
• Electronic funds transfer as a method of taking a member’s contribution appeals.
• They like to be invited to the table and listened to--given a sense of ownership. They need ownership if they are to give.

Areas of focus:

• Education
• Explanation of how a congregation spends and invests money in mission and ministry
• Interpretation of stewardship as spiritual discipline
• Modeling a tithe of congregational budget is significant
• Teach theological thinking about WANTS and NEEDS. Stewardship is a disciple’s antidote to economic materialism

Gen Y/Millennials/Civics 1983-present

• Need specific stewardship education, though they are familiar with a cultural use of the word, especially around environmental issues.
• Invite them to the table and listen to them. They want a sense of ownership.
• Electronic giving is necessary. They do not use checks.

Areas of focus:

• experience generous giving
• support fledgling practice
• mentoring is effective support
• Connect generous giving to God’s transformation of the world

Thoughts on Herb Miller's Consecration Sunday...

We have completed our third year of this particular way of doing stewardship. It is one of the best plans out there now. Most churches see an increase in giving because giving is set firmly in the practice of discipleship instead of making the church budget or paying the bills. However, here are some learnings from churches who have participated:

• 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!

Stewardship Resources from Austin Presbyterian Seminary

The spring issue of APTS Windows focuses on stewardship issues. There is a particularly good article on Generational Generosity and some online resources listed on page 17. You can access it by clicking here.

Healthy Congregational Practice...

The Lake Institute puts out periodic materials on religious giving. Their Giving USA 2014 report can be accessed free here. In most congregations, giving hasn't recovered from the 2008-9 recession. In those congregations where it has, these are the "distinguishing marks."

Recommended Approaches: Not all congregations have experienced declines in giving. According to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (cited in the report) the congregations that grew revenue in 2013 over 2012 were defined by four distinguishing marks. Their per attendee giving rates were much higher; they set budgets lower than anticipated income; they provided a variety of methods for giving; they were intentional about stewardship. These observations led to four recommendations:

•   Be transparent in the use of gifts and their impact: Donors are increasingly giving to causes they identify with, not just institutions they trust.
•   Provide multiple ways for donors to give: The offering plate and envelopes do not provide consistency for those who might be absent and would be willing to give electronically.
•   Personally solicit major gifts: There is a pastoral responsibility to the wealthy that is not about money but may include asking them to be generous.
•   Consistently thank donors: Personally written thank you notes and phone calls conveying gratitude deepen relationships.

• Research like that provided by Giving USA enables those who are attempting to do the good work of raising religious funds to arm themselves with accurate information so they may plan and act with confidence that they are doing what is most beneficial for their organizations and donors. Gain understanding from the research. Form a plan that reflects new perspectives. Execute the plan. 

Remember stewardship training is available for sessions/congregations of every size. It can be customized to help meet your specific challenges. There will also be a stewardship workshop at the big Little Tent event in August.

Stewardship Prayer...

A great prayer from Henri Nouwen

Dear God,
I am so afraid to open my clenched fists!
Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to?
Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands?
Please help me to gradually open my hands
and to discover that I am not what I own,
but what you want to give me.
And what you want to give me is love,
unconditional, everlasting love. Amen.

Per Capita explanation...

Here's an explanation of per capita that you might use as a "spoken offertory" or in a newsletter or bulletin insert. It references some specifics for my church, but tweak those parts to reflect your own experiences. We posted signs all over the church that said "Got Per Capita?" and the amount for our church for this year for our presbytery giving (including the actual per capita assessment for GA). After several weeks, do this in worship:

Got Per Capita?
You’ve seen the signs...so what exactly is per capita and why are we talking about it today? 

Per capita is an amount of money per active adult member that congregations pay to the larger Presbyterian church. You might hear it referred to as a head tax, but it’s really better thought of as our gift to each other.

Per capita directly pays the bills for our General Assembly meetings, so that everyone who is asked to represent us at that meeting can participate regardless of distance or financial resources. But it does more than pay that bill.
Per capita helps us help each other do mission, ordain ministers, solve problems, support new congregations. The Young Adult Volunteer in Mission program and Jay Hankins and Allie Utley participated in is supported in part by per capita money.

You may be thinking that we don’t see much that happens with that money...not like we see the work of the dollars kept here at Forest HIlls and you might be right. Much of the denominational work and mission may not be visible to us at this moment. But this church exists because of the generous gifts other presbyterians provided when we beginning. The larger church provided us with ordained pastors, the larger church helped us organize, the larger church nurtured our faith so God could call us together as a congregation to serve here in this part of High Point. It’s like pitching in to pay for gas on a road trip with friends. You don’t see the gas, but it keeps the car moving forward and it gets us where God wants us to go.
The tradition of this church it to let you know what our per capita is for the year and encourage you to participate by giving that amount. Some members “pay it forward” and pay someone else’s per capita as well...just for fun...perhaps in honor of their connection or their influence on faith and life in this community.

We know the church of Jesus Christ extends far beyond our walls. Per capita is a way we enact the belief that we are part of a greater church, part of a greater purpose, part of things seen and unseen that we could not imagine or achieve on our own.

Thanks be to God.