Transcript Slide 1

Delight in Giving
2012
Best Practices
in
Basic Stewardship
Opening Prayer
Where we are today…
• In the midst of a contentious election year
• In a still-uncertain economic climate
• At the end (we hope) of a long, hot summer
• It’s September, and November is coming!
This is a great time to get
started on your
Fall stewardship campaign…
…or to build
on your year-round
stewardship ministry.
Stewardship
the “big
picture” of the
life of the
church…
and
Stewardship
an everyday
spiritual
practice for
Christians
From now to November…
Ten Best
Practices
for your
Fall
stewardship
campaign
1. Build the stewardship committee
If you have a committee that’s meeting, great!
•
Re-connect with a fun autumn gathering
•
Add a few new members
•
Consider an ad hoc campaign committee
If you don’t have a committee, form one!
•
Invite the unexpected
•
Create a timeline
www.ucc.org/stewardship
Enlist all of the leadership of the church
2. Set the tone
Adjust your perspective:
• abundance, not scarcity
• positive, not negative
• joy, not anxiety
Shape your language:
• “the budget” is really
the mission spending plan
all mission: local and wider
Abundance
“Abundance is not
something we
acquire; it is
something we tune
into.”
Wayne Dyer
3. Nurture Financial Wellness
• Don’t shy away from the
topic of money
• Provide support and
education
• Ask for the same gift from
everyone: not the same
amount, but meaningful
Challenge the comfortable,
comfort the challenged
4. Approach giving
as a year-round,
whole life spiritual
practice.
A practice forms us as
disciples:
We grow into more
generous people as we give
generously.
Practice Pledging
• The spiritual practices of
first fruits giving
and
proportional giving
• Challenge ourselves to
grow our giving by a
regular percentage each
year
Our time and talents
…are also shared with joy
5. Understand motivations
•
•
•
•
•
Reasonability
Challenge
Commitment
Compassion
Community
Kennon Callahan
Stewardship and Giving in an Effective Church
(San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992)
Compassion and Community:
The Universal Motivations
We TRANSMIT on the
Commitment and Challenge
frequencies,
but our RECEIVERS are set
on
Compassion and Community.
6. Ground your work in Scripture
• Delight in Giving: 2 Corinthians 9:7
• Other Scriptures in the theme materials
• Abundance Bible study
www.ucc.org/stewardship
• Share Scripture in all of your
communications
to the congregation
7. Teach giving by modeling it
• First fruits: the first line on your budget
• Ask preachers to share the story of their
own giving
• Talk/write about the church’s giving
Our Church’s Wider Mission
8. Make giving moments life-giving
• The offering
A time of delight in
giving?
• Consecration Sunday
A celebration you
wouldn’t want to
miss?
9. Tell the story of
your church’s vision
• Creativity:
gather an ad hoc
committee of
story-tellers
• Create a
narrative
budget
• Use DVDs,
photos, skits, etc.
Review of the Ten Best Practices:
1. Build the stewardship committee.
2. Set the tone.
3. Nurture financial wellness.
4. Approach stewardship as a year-round, whole-life
spiritual practice.
5. Understand motivations for giving.
6. Ground your work in Scripture.
7. Teach giving by modeling it.
8. Make giving moments life-giving.
9. Tell the story of your church – lay out the vision!
10. Use the UCC 2012
stewardship theme materials
Use the theme in your communications
Delight in Giving
“It is our conviction that we are created in
the image of our giving God. In the next few
weeks we invite you to take notice of
moments of delight in your life, give thanks for
gifts received, and anticipate the delight you
will experience in making your pledge of
support for the ministry of our church.”
Generating Delight
through
Open-hearted Living
Delight God takes
in the giver
Delight the giver takes
in the giving
Delight that’s created
through the giving
Looking Upward
The healing of
the bent-over woman
Luke 13:10-17
The Body of Christ
We are essential in carrying
on the work of Jesus.
We have accepted the yoke
of being Jesus in the world.
We keep the Body of Christ
alive through our giving.
Deuteronomy 8:12-18
We remember the One who
has provided for us
We trust there will be enough
We share with one another
We experience delight in
giving
Question:
When have
you
experienced
unexpected
abundance?
When have you
experienced
surprising
delight
in giving
that generated
joy in others?
When has
giving
led to
deeper
connections
with others
in your life?
Discussion