CONTENTS 4 CAPITAL CAMPAIGNS: WHAT CHURCHES DON’T WANT TO HEAR By Jim Sheppard
6 THE POWER OF SMALL STEPS By Ruben Swint
8 STEWARDSHIP REPORTS SURPRISE SENIOR PASTORS By Brad Leeper
9 MISSIONAL STEWARDSHIP By Ruben Swint
Sponsored By:
10 A CLEAR VISION By Jim Sheppard
12 THE FOOL
By Allen Walworth
14 TRENDS IN GIVING By Ruben Swint
14 STEWARDSHIP RESOLUTIONS FOR 2008 By Ruben Swint
15 DEAR JOHN AND MARTHA
A Stewardship Letter to Your Congregation
ABOUT THE AUTHORS — ADVERTORIAL
Jim Sheppard
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One of the leading church consultants in America, Jim Sheppard has led 94 capital stewardship campaigns – including 22 that raised more than $10 million – and has helped his clients raise more than $700 million since 1992. A proven leader and inspirational speaker, he has successfully adapted to a variety of contexts and cultures, demonstrating sensitivity to both clergy and laity perspectives. Represented among his clients are some of the largest church capital campaigns in America. In his previous career, Jim was a CPA and the CEO of a major division of an NYSE financial services firm. Drawing from his business experience and active involvement as an officer in his home church (Perimeter Church in Duluth, Ga.), he brings a wealth of knowledge to Generis as CEO and principal, advising clients in matters of church growth, strategic planning and financial administration. He understands the financial challenges that churches face today – annual giving, debt, capital projects and planned giving – and is a positive force in bridging these global needs with the power of spiritually motivated stewardship. Jim holds a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Georgia, and is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and the National Association of Church Business Administrators (NACBA). Jim and his wife Nancy live in Atlanta and have two daughters, Anna, 23, and Emily, 20. In his spare time he enjoys reading, golf, fly fishing and hunting.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS — ADVERTORIAL
Brad Leeper
Based on experience and affinity, Brad Leeper is drawn to innovative, growing churches and the challenges of helping them expand practically and spiritually. As a Generis senior strategist, he is well served by his experiences as a consultant to churches across the nation, a staff leader in resource development for local ministries, a director for Campus Crusade for Christ and a church elder in his 5,000-member home church, Perimeter Church. Leeper has an understanding of the multi-site church strategy and other pioneering church movements. His unique approach allows him to serve larger churches with significant funding requirements. A 19-year member of Perimeter Church, he served for four years on the Global Outreach Executive Team, which oversees a significant missions budget. He currently serves on the Kingdom Resource Team, which develops strategic giving for the church. He also served until spring 2007 on a high school ministry board, and now works closely with several ministries across the country. A member of the NACBA, Leeper has professional certifications in church risk management and human resources, with diverse experience in financial analysis, adult education, cross-cultural missions and strategic planning. He earned a master’s in theology from Dallas Seminary and a bachelor’s in economics from West Virginia University. He and his wife Lisa have two delightful daughters, Laura and Sarah, and a son-in-law, Jared.
Allen Walworth
A gifted and proven consultant with more than 10 years of full-time experience in the church stewardship ministry, Allen Walworth brings a lot to his work with churches of all denominations: the passion and calling of an ordained pastor, the training and discipline of a Bible scholar, and the wisdom of a tenured church “coach.” Allen is president and principal of Generis. Over the past decade, Walworth has partnered with 90 churches, helping them raise more than $260 million toward their ministry visions. Five of those campaigns raised more than $10 million each, and one congregation raised more than 15 times its annual budget in a single capital campaign! Walworth’s passion for stewardship is fueled by his pastor’s heart and knowledge of Scripture. Before becoming a stewardship consultant, he was a senior pastor for 17 years, leading small-town and urban churches ranging in attendance from 1,000 to 9,000 members. He is an in-demand speaker at churches and other ministry venues across the country. Walworth holds a PhD in New Testament studies, and has taught at the college and seminary levels. Allen and his wife Connie live in Florida where they enjoy golf, tennis and their five grown children.
Ruben Swint
With 19 years of experience as a fundraiser, Ruben Swint is a gifted stewardship consultant. Not only is he well-versed in annual, capital and planned giving, but his disposition – defined as “strategist” by the famous Myers Briggs Personality Type Indicator – is ideally suited to his profession. Highly perceptive and confident, he listens, discerns and accurately reads situations, while providing sound strategic and tactical guidance to the churches and organizations he serves. After six successful years in business, Swint answered his calling and earned a Master of Divinity in church administration from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. With that, he led his church in a $5-million rebuilding program following a devastating fire. In the 19 years since – both as a denominational staff fundraiser and in his own practice – he has guided more than 120 capital campaigns, helping churches build, renovate and retire debt. For six of those 19 years, he also served as a foundation president, directing $20 million in investments and securing $25 million in planned gifts. An inspiring speaker and published writer, Swint often leads professional conferences in the field. He is an active member of the AFP and the NACBA. He earned his bachelor’s in history from Columbus State University.
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Capital Campaigns: What churches don’t want to hear By Jim Sheppard
It’s inevitable: Growing churches at some point will find themselves scrambling to accommodate the people God is sending their way – which means they need facilities, which in turn means they need to raise money. But churches are often unprepared for the hard work and the hard truths that come with such a project. Most churches don’t have the cash on hand to fund a new building or expansion; the operating or general fund is already spoken for and the church must turn to its constituency for additional funds. The most frequent means of accomplishing this is through a capital funds effort, often called a capital stewardship campaign. A capital campaign is a complex endeavor involving many moving parts that need to be sequenced and coordinated to position the church for optimal success. The success of the campaign is important to the life of the church because it is often tied to maintaining ministry momentum. Depending on the size of the church, it will take four to 10 months (even longer, in some cases) to plan and implement the campaign. Think of a capital campaign as a pilgrimage: taking church people from a point of awareness to a point of commitment. In our role as advisers on capital funds efforts, sometimes we have to say things that churches and pastors don’t necessarily want to hear:
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1. You will have to talk about money. This is the elephant in the room, so let’s go ahead and get this one out of the way. You will have to talk about money – there is no way around it. The key is to be honest, straightforward and non-manipulative. Contrary to popular opinion, church people don’t mind their pastor talking about money; it’s when they think he or she is not being straight that they get uptight. Talk straight about money and possessions. If you don’t, you raise suspicions. Because it involves money, the capital funds effort will invoke some of the highest sensitivities in the church. As one pastor told me, “I have people who will sit in my office and tell me some of the deepest, darkest secrets of their lives, but when I begin to talk about money, they go silent.” Talking about money in the church can require sensitivity, but it is necessary.
2. Your people are not as up-to-speed as you assume they are. No matter how obvious the need may be for the planned project, do not assume your people see it and understand it the way you and your leaders do. Church people are busy and committed and do not have the margin in their daily schedules to think about these things. You will have to create a process that invokes their attention and focus. Generally, the senior pastor must lead this effort.
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You will have to talk about money – there is no way around it. Building consensus begins with transparent, authentic communication. Church people do not want you to spin the project a certain way just to win their support. Give them the facts and answer their questions. A campaign communication effort must engage the entire congregation in a meaningful way over time. Make sure you have thought through the entire project. The congregation will ask questions (yes, even some hard questions). Do not assume you can get all of the project details together later. Be prepared. Detailed construction drawings are not necessary, but you will need cost estimates, lending information and initial government approval for the project before moving ahead with the campaign. Thinking the project through in a comprehensive manner will inspire confidence in the campaign.
3. You will have to give it priority. A capital funds effort must be properly prioritized. A capital campaign should not stop a church from doing ministry, but it should get top-billing for a season. It must have the focus and passion of the senior pastor; otherwise, church members will assume it’s not that important and will not prioritize it in their own lives. The campaign result will reflect the lack of priority. Here are some suggestions: • Clear the deck of other intensive ministry efforts during the campaign season. • When planning a campaign calendar, pay attention to key dates in the life of the community (sports, civic, etc.). • Plan around the school and holiday calendar. • Plan well in advance.
4. Leaders must give. This is a big one. You cannot lead your people to a place that you are not going. If you and your leaders are not fully committed to lead by example, you will not be able to bring the kind of passion and focus that will make the campaign process work. Sacrificial giving – that is, over and above current giving – will be required. It is a myth that the senior pastor can coast in a campaign and not lead the way in this area. This can be hard if not all leaders are giving to the effort. No one should be in leadership on a campaign team if they are not personally committed to sacrificial giving.
5. The senior pastor will have to challenge major donors. Generally, capital campaigns (excluding those for debt retirement) will produce three-year pledges of two to four times the annual operating income. A church can raise two to two-and-a-half times its annual income even without wealthy donors. If a church needs more than that, there must be a focus on those who can make larger gifts ($100,000 to $250,000 or more, depending on church size). In most cases, this process will involve the senior pastor visiting with these people to
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present the vision, make the case for the project and challenge the donor to prayerfully consider a significant gift. Asking for larger gifts first is the model King David used when building the temple in Jerusalem. You cannot overlook the power of major gifts in a capital funds effort – whether you believe you have access to wealthy donors or not. Most churches have at least a few, though they can be hard to identify (read “The Millionaire Next Door” by Thomas Stanley). You may not want to hear these things, but they are important if you are to execute your capital funds and building effort well. One final comment: There are a lot of charitable causes appealing to your people for their funds. In general, the one who makes the best case for support wins. No matter how committed a person or family is to your church, be assured their alma mater or the local cancer hospital will be vying for those same dollars. If they make a better case, that is where the money will go. Be bold and make your case well. You might wonder, “Where is God in all of this?” I have assumed that your church will place God at the center of your capital fundraising plan and that everything you do will be for His glory. It is important to bathe the entire effort in prayer. While we are called to plant and water (in the words of the Apostle Paul), it is God who grants the increase.
No Vision, No Project A building project must be a logical extension of the vision and mission of the church. Any project that does not meet this criteria will create a disconnect with prospective donors. The project needs to be expressed not in terms of brick and mortar, but in terms of people, ministries, and impact on the community or the world. In other words: • Why are we building this? • Why are we building it now? • What happens if we do not build this now? Do not assume your church knows and understands the vision and mission. Having traction with leaders does not guarantee traction with the broader constituency. Take opportunities in advance of the building effort to persistently and consistently inform and remind the church. Vision drives facility expansion – make no mistake about it.
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The Power of Small
By Ruben Swint
Two new books contain principles that can shape effective strategies for increased giving in congregations. “Small Change,” by Larry Terkel and Susan Neiburg Terkel, provides a process for creating significant life changes by making small changes over time. Small changes are easier than huge transformations, make a big impact over time and are more realistic, given human nature. The second book is “One Small Step Can Change Your Life,” by Robert Maurer. He explains how kaizen, the Japanese concept of continuous incremental improvements, can change one’s life. Kaizen principles have been used to create world-class quality results from Japanese manufacturers. Kaizen fits change situations that require long-term transformation. Many congregations struggle today to fund their missions. Many congregational leaders shudder to think about the state of congregational giving 10 to 15 years from now, when most members of the Builder generation will have passed away. And few leaders have the will, skills or energy to bring about the massive change in giving that will be needed from younger members. A generational tsunami threatens to wash away the funding support for future ministries. Congregational leaders also suspect that current stewardship development and fundraising strategies have run their course. The old stewardship programs are carried on as a tradition of the church. They do not impact young adult involvement and giving in a significant way. To keep doing the same things and expecting different results is unrealistic. What is needed is large change. Congregations are among the most change-resistant organizations. Congregational leaders who seek to bring about large change are often wounded in the process, and leadership suffers. Members often feel threatened by significant change. Perhaps what is needed is not immediate large change, but rather the continuity of small steps that, over time, can lead to the desired large change. Small steps for increased giving contain power because they are small. They do not appear threatening. They do not risk leadership and are easily implemented. Small steps are not costly and do not initially challenge the status quo. The power of small steps is found in the following STEPS:
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Many people have a hard time understanding the relationship of numbers to results. Speak another language. Congregations often employ the words “budget,” “expenses,” “income” and “needs.” This is the language of an institution. People are rarely excited about meeting institutional needs. Instead of using these words, employ the language of mission. A congregation’s mission is carried out by a ministry plan, not a budget. Congregations have solutions, not needs. To carry out its ministry plan of solutions, a congregation must count the costs of discipleship and pay the costs of being on mission, not just cover its expenses. Income is earned by selling goods and services. Funding missions comes from the contributions of fully devoted disciples. Speak the language of mission and discipleship to explain how people are helped and changed by the ministry solutions your congregation provides in the name of Christ. Talk about success. Most newsletters mailed by churches to their members are elaborate calendars for future events and activities. Rarely do these regular mailings communicate ministry competencies or mission successes. Using the paper and postage already planned, congregations should regularly publish the success stories of ministry that have occurred. Use photos and personal accounts from members involved in ministry, or from participants benefiting from ministry. Remind congregants that their faithful contributions make a difference through the ministries they fund. Consider an annual report that sums up the huge impact that the church’s ministries have on people. Explain numbers with pictures. Many people have a hard time understanding the relationship of numbers to results. Depict numbers in visual formats in congregation-wide publications. A simple chart of four bars can be included in each regular newsletter and potentially inform all members – not just those who attend official meetings. The first bar represents the ministry plan or budget (to date). The second bar represents ministry costs. The third bar represents contributions, and the fourth bar represents last year’s contributions. Consider changing the monthly expectation of contributions from one-twelfth the annual ministry plan. Instead, calculate the historical percentage of annual contributions received for each month in past years and apply it to each month in the current plan. The first bar then represents the anticipated contributions to date. This will provide another opportunity to talk about success, since more monthly bar charts will demonstrate that contributions are at anticipated levels. Preach mission and vision. Christians live in a world overloaded with distractions. Sophisticated communication industries send mesmerizing messages of pleasure, materialism and status. Faith, grace and compassion often slip away. Bill Hybels, senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, once said his congregation “leaks.” So, he preaches mission and vision on a regular basis. Remind your congregation repeatedly and in differing ways of its identity, values and direction (ultimately and in ministry this year). Stewardship is our faithful service toward Jesus’ vision of the Kingdom of God as reflected in our particular faith communities. The apostle Paul says in I Corinthians 4:1 that he is a “steward of the mysteries of God.” Do not let stewardship become a synonym for annual fundraising. Rather, embrace stewardship as the Christian’s daily responsibility to embody and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Stick with it! The power of these small steps resides not only in their “smallness,” but in their continuous application as well. Not much will be different after one or two years of small changes. By the third year, however, these small steps should result in informed, inspired and increased giving. Continuous small changes, compounding year after year, will add up to the big change that is desired. The funding of future and expanded ministries begins now with small steps – easily enacted, low in cost and rigorously applied year after year. W ww. c h u r c h s o l u t i o n s m a g . c o m
G e n e r i s e B o o k C h u r c h S o l u t i o n s
By Brad Leeper
Stewardship Reports Surprise Senior Pastors Expanding a ministry energizes the heart of most senior leaders. Thinking about gaining more committed disciples, drawing new people to the faith and communicating eternal truths to those without biblical roots motivates an impassioned leader to the core. In fact, when partnering with these fervent leaders in preparation to expand the vision through a specific project, I almost need an automated external defibrillator on occasion! A critical part of this work centers on getting an honest look at the giving patterns of a church. If we wish to fully resource a ministry expansion, knowing the giving configurations helps us build appropriate plans and expectations. Sometimes, leaders’ deep passions crash into a sea of ice water when they view their church financial data in depth. All too often, naïve assumptions about giving lead to shock and surprise. Those chilly waters then gain major icebergs that challenge the precise navigation of the original visionary course. The surprises consistently and profoundly discourage senior leaders – even the most seasoned, courageous leaders. Most pastors assume they are taking the high road by choosing not to be aware of who gives what. To support this stance, they cite the James 2 passage about showing the rich man preference. They are more comfortable preaching about sex than tackling stewardship in such an intimate, authentic manner. While valid arguments (including privacy considerations) guide such decisions, my deep belief is that leaders should know appropriate information. Money is the great intersection of the spiritual and the physical, says John Ortberg, senior pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, Calif. We err and waste time in taking a detour around this junction. When pastors decide to review the data (specific giving amounts broken down by giver), they are first surprised that their moral compasses don’t explode. Leaders quickly understands that scrutinizing giving data does not violate the James 2 truths. The issue is not showing preference to the rich man; it is implementing discipleship into the lives of people and releasing ample resources into the church vision. Looking at the financial data gives leaders fresh insight into an arena long locked away from their knowledge. With this knowledge, leaders gain an understanding of their church and can think about appropriately raising the bar of stewardship. The second surprise comes when the pastor realizes that his own giving total is at the top of the list. Why are pastors on the top ten? Barna reports and other research say less than 10 percent of people give more than a traditional tithe, while pastors tend to tithe and be generous. But the shock of looking at a top-ten list (without names, but the pastor can identify his own total) and seeing his number way up the list brings stunned silence. Anger tends to follow rather quickly.
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Some pastors are more comfortable preaching about sex than tackling stewardship in such an intimate, authentic manner. Reviewing the giving data exposes not only your congregation, but also your leadership team. Generosity is a benchmark of any leader, and giving data exposes false leaders. It is not unusual for the pastor to ask those with the financial data to give a report on whether the leaders are at least giving something. Pastors are startled when they sense that their high-income members are not giving. We all know the people who have the club membership, the second cabin on the lake or the luxury car. Typically, high capacity people are not in the top ten. They either give to more tantalizing visions outside the church, are unaware of biblical stewardship or are clueless as to how to give. I am frequently amazed at people who have the gift of making money and yet have no idea of how to appropriately invest those funds into Kingdom work. Quite often, even committed disciples are puzzled by stewardship. Do not assume that people know how to give or are naturally generous. Most of your church members live from paycheck to paycheck. I recently sat in on a worship service that passed around the coffers with no explanation of how the act fit into worship or how the gifts impacted the lives of people around the world. The ball was fumbled at this important moment. People give radically when they understand how their giving builds their faith and impacts the world.
I had a conversation with a church leader from a well-known, national church. The church had just completed an in-house capital campaign. The results were about one-third of what they could have easily been. In inquiring about the process, I learned that the pastor prided himself on the fact that his church did not make a big deal about money. The pastor’s pride, according to this staff member, promptly led the church into a failed ministry expansion. It will take years for this church to recover from the misstep. Stewardship silence means that financial resources will go to other ministries or an explosive consumptive lifestyle. More than $2 billion were given to parachurch organizations in 2005, according to the NonProfit Times. There is far more capacity for giving than what we are experiencing in churches. And there is a strong correlation between the pastor’s generosity and how the church’s vision is ultimately resourced. People are eager to know how to live biblically. In a culture of stewardship – where it’s preached, taught, celebrated and modeled – your members will respond and give generously. The good surprise is the one that comes from realizing how much impact a church can have on itself and its community when the vision is financially resourced to the degree that it should be.
Missional Stewardship Stewardship can be defined in many ways. "Steward" and "stewardship" are biblical words with deep and rich meanings for Christian theologies and lifestyles. A steward is a responsible person who acts with the authority of someone else. An owner, trustee or CEO grants authority and resources for the faithful accomplishment of an organization’s purpose and goals. A Christian steward is gifted, called and empowered to act as God’s agent in the world for Kingdom purposes and goals. A Christian steward is one who lives and works toward the goals set by God. The Bible expresses God’s desire for a life of meaning and purpose for each person, and for each person to show compassion and justice toward one another. A Christian is empowered by the Holy Spirit to work toward these goals. Stewardship is responsibly accomplishing goals set by someone else. Stewardship requires loyalty, faithfulness and diligence to meet those goals using that person’s resources. Stewardship is what we do, with all we have, to accomplish our God-given mission as individuals and as congregations.
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By Ruben Swint
For many Christians and congregations, stewardship needs a larger frame of reference than, “How much of ‘my’ money will I give to the church?” Stewardship is more than fundraising, giving and tithing. A steward lives, works, gives and serves with attention paid to what God desires. Stewardship is engaged when Christians act on God’s intention of a full life for all people. Therefore, Christian stewards: • live and share the Good News found in Jesus • work for justice and peace • acknowledge and utilize our God-given abilities and opportunities • share material resources and personal energy in caring for others • conserve our planet’s capacity to sustain physical life • participate in communities of faith for worship, nurture and ministry
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M By Jim Sheppard
any members who aren’t giving to their potential are waiting for their church to present a clear vision. They will even rationalize their lack of participation by saying, “The church seems to have enough money to get done what needs to be done.” They do not understand how much more could be accomplished if they were to participate. We hear many stories of churches having difficulty funding the annual operating budget. But there are also many thrilling stories about people who decided to do something extraordinary: • In the midst of a capital campaign, a man (who in the past gave almost nothing in the way of financial support to the operating budget of the church) made a $500,000 commitment for capital needs. • Two days after the pastor announced from the pulpit that the church was starting a fund to buy a van for the youth group, a couple who wasn’t significantly involved in the life of their church, and didn’t give regularly, suddenly decided to write the church a check for full purchase price of the new van. • A man whose name appeared on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest people in America decided to give $1,500,000 to the church in which he was raised – even though he no longer attended that church. There are many factors involved in decisions like these, but it cannot be denied that these people caught the vision of what their church was trying to do. Vision enables people to see what doesn’t yet exist. In this respect, it is like faith. A capital campaign to expand and renovate a downtown church that has been treading water for years excites a
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person who has been blessed. He sees what his church can become and he wants to do all he can to make it happen. A church, buying its first van to transport the youth group, excites the parents of the kids who are involved, and one family decides to write a check for the van. A man catches the vision of the church he attended as a child, and wants to use part of what God has blessed him with to help the church. Big vision attracts big giving. A lack of vision is why many churches struggle to fund their annual operating budget. They may have done a fine job of putting together the department-by-department budget and communicating the numeric information to the congregation; but the congregation can’t see beyond the numbers into the impact for Christ. What can be done to change this? There are many actions that could be taken, but we will focus on just one: creating and communicating a persuasive vision of ministry. This is not to say that there is something wrong with comprehensive financial due diligence; it should be a part of the process. But the church must find a way to articulate the ministryfunding plan (a better term than “budget”) other than through numbers alone. An integral part of the vision of a ministry should be to expand the sphere of influence of the church to affect more people – in other words, more compassion and community. People do not give to budgets, buildings and institutions; they give to people and causes. In his book, “Giving and Stewardship in an Effective Church,” Kennon Callahan says that, while the congregational leaders are likely to respond to the motivations of challenge and commitment, the average lay person is more likely to respond to the motivations of compassion and community. By focusing more on the impact of the church, compassion and community are more clearly communicated.
James Collins, in his book, “Built To Last,” talks about the hallmarks of great organizations. One of those marks is what he calls “big hairy audacious goals” – BHAG. Collins says, “A BHAG engages people – it reaches out and grabs them in the gut. It is tangible, energizing, highly focused. People ‘get it’ right away; it takes little or no explanation.” Churches should consider BHAGs as part of their overall vision of ministry. Once the vision is clear, the communications strategy must be carefully thought out. It must be explained in a way that presents the vision of the church as trying to expand its sphere of influence to: • Evangelize those who do not know Jesus Christ • Help others who are less fortunate • Reach out to the hurting For example, rather than presenting the video of the mission team to Central America doing their work, show more up-close footage of the people who were impacted by the mission team’s work. Rather than showing all the church volunteers who worked on the Habitat for Humanity house, interview the family who will occupy the house. Rather than showing the church outreach team going to the downtown soup kitchen for the homeless, show interviews of homeless people sharing what it means to have the church reach out to them. The mission of the Church is clear: to make disciples (Matthew 28:19). However, the vision of ministry for each church will differ based on culture, demographics, pressing community needs and other factors. As you approach your next emphasis for annual ministry support, ask yourself, “Do we have a clear vision of ministry? Is it big enough to stimulate participation? Has it been clearly communicated?”
A lack of vision is why many churches struggle to fund their annual operating budget. W W W. c h u r c h s o l u t i o n s m a g . c o m
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By Allen Walworth
A popular TV show in recent years has been the reality series, “The Apprentice.” Perhaps you watched some of the shows or at least heard about them through interviews with the star, realestate mogul Donald Trump. Trump, or “the Donald,” as he prefers to be called, is a wealthy man. And wealth is the primary fuel of his stardom – not his acting ability or his comb-over hairstyle. The Donald is rich. And the would-be apprentices vying for his attention, and for his six-figure job offer, want to be just like him.
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A passage in Luke 12 is a good example of this: Two brothers who are arguing over the division of the family inheritance are in danger of falling prey to the grasp of covetousness, Jesus warns. For the first season of the show, more than 200,000 applicants lined up to audition. And the next season saw more than one million applicants. Trump’s new book, “How to Get Rich,” is a best-seller. I guess he should know. Forbes magazine’s annual list of richest people in the world lists his net worth at $1.3 billion. (By the way, what does it say about American readers that Forbes would publish such a list in the first place? Do you think America has a love affair with wealth?) Let’s face it: We are enamored by the prospect of wealth, and glorify those who have it. So, the $1-billion-per-year empire of the 18-year-old Olsen twins, or the multi-billion-dollar wealth of Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, is always fodder for news and commentary. The wealthy are our society’s heroes, our idols, our stars. Our lust for money is out of control. It’s time for a corrective view. And Scripture provides just the wisdom we need on this issue, offering a balanced view of material wealth. God created all things in this world, and He called it all “good.” Wealth, money and material goods are not evil in themselves. Jesus had some wealthy friends, owned an expensive garment without seams, and lived a life that some of his critics called excessive with food and drink. He was obviously not an ascetic or a hermit, vowing a life of poverty to cleanse the soul. The example of Christ shows that material things are not demonic. But material things are not divine, either. Jesus had many friends and disciples who owned little or nothing. He borrowed much of what he used in life, and he warned his followers frequently of the dangers associated with money. A passage in Luke 12 is a good example of this: Two brothers who are arguing over the division of the family inheritance are in danger of falling prey to the grasp of covetousness, Jesus warns. They are placing the value of money before the value of brotherhood. Like so many of us, they think that money can give them more than it can. It can deliver material comforts, yes. And there is nothing wrong with that. But bank accounts and real estate deeds do not translate to character, and may even cheapen it. Money can’t buy happiness, peace or real relationships. This is also the lesson taught in Ecclesiastes 1 and 2. W W W. c h u r c h s o l u t i o n s m a g . c o m
In Luke 12, Jesus also tells the parable of a rich farmer. He is not an evil man. He does not become wealthy by stealing or cheating anyone. He just has a bumper crop one year, thanks to his hard work and factors he did not control – the proper and timely delivery of sun and rain on the soil, and the miracle of seeds opening up to become plants for harvest. His wealth would make him a real success story in our society. Maybe he would be listed in Forbes and host a TV reality series with would-be farm hands who compete for the privilege of owning a farm of their own. But Jesus calls him foolish. Why? The farmer’s folly is that he failed to learn the lessons that material goods are supposed to teach. And what are those lessons? First, when we hold material wealth, we are supposed to respond with gratitude, aware that those goods are blessings from a generous God. Even if we worked hard for the money, it still belongs to God in the end. We are only stewards, and we should hold wealth lightly and gratefully in our hands – not with a clenched fist or a hoarding spirit. Second, wealth is supposed to move us toward generosity to others. When we discover that God intends wealth to pass through us on its way to someone in need, we begin to understand the grace and the responsibility God places on us. This is one of the great joys in life – to have the privilege of receiving and distributing His resources. And if we learn these lessons, wealth will bless us, but also enable us to bless others. In this case, material goods are good indeed, and lead to a truly joyous life before God. Tragically, the rich farmer in Jesus’ story failed to learn these lessons and died planning a long and selfish retirement, leaving all the accumulated wealth for someone else to distribute. In the end, all of us are separated from whatever goods we have failed to distribute. The Egyptian Pharaohs had it all wrong: You really cannot take it with you. Or, as the Arab proverb says, “There are no pockets in a burial shroud.” The rich farmer missed this truth, blinded as he was by his sudden windfall of abundance. And for this reason Jesus called him foolish. He had the rare chance to spread his abundance to those in need. What a pity that he died without ever experiencing that joy! I wonder if the brothers who were arguing over the family inheritance – and for whom Jesus told his parable originally – got the point before it was too late. More importantly, I wonder: Will we?
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Trends in Giving By Ruben Swint
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n article on giving trends sounds just like what we need for our churches, doesn’t it? If we knew what the trends were, we could react to them. Right? Unfortunately, that has not been my experience. Knowledge of the trends has not led to the changes needed to bring about different results. The one big trend in most of the churches I interact with is that, year after year, budget giving falls flat when compared with inflation. There is little or no increase in ministry purchasing power. The second trend is that senior members who give generously will not always be with us; we say goodbye on a regular basis to members of the greatest generation. The third trend is that most of our churches are wedded to the budgetdriven model of stewardship that developed in the 1950s, and they are fearful of letting go of the familiar. Stewardship is budget-driven rather than mission-inspired.
So let me attempt to offer – in a 2-Timothy spirit of power and love and self control – a vision of the trends we should be experiencing in our congregations: 1. We are facing and overcoming our fears associated with money so that personal finances, spending and giving are not taboo subjects. 2. We are preaching, studying and acting on the whole counsel of God, including those texts that mention generosity, possessions, greed and contentment. 3. Clergy and lay leaders are modeling Christian lifestyles that are unburdened by consumer debt. 4. We are learning and applying Christian moneymanagement principles and strategies, and talking about these experiences with one another. 5. We are less obsessive about meeting a budget and much more interested in fulfilling our mission (the real stewardship). 6. Our generosity is extending beyond our congregation. 7. We are asking for and receiving current major gifts and estate gifts in proportion to the wealth of our members. This vision of trends we should be experiencing is based upon God’s abundance. For too long, too many of us have reacted as if to a scarcity of resources. But God has been generous to us – God has been extravagant! God is providing us with every gift in abundance. To paraphrase 2 Corinthians 9:8, if we are content with enough, we will have more than enough for every good work.
Stewardship Resolutions for 2008 By Ruben Swint I will face and overcome my fears associated with money. I will use more of my natural abilities and talents with which God has blessed me. I will say "no" to the urgent and "yes" to the important as I plan my schedule. I will receive the whole counsel of God, including those texts that mention generosity, sharing, possessions, greed and contentment. I will model a Christian lifestyle unburdened by debt and consumerism. I will reserve time on my calendar for my spouse, my family and myself. I will honor my body as the temple of the Holy Spirit, and keep it clean and healthy. I will challenge myself to give a major gift in proportion to my wealth. I will give another $5 every time I want to buy a latte. I will teach my children to work, earn, give, save and spend – in that order. I will participate in special offerings to meet the needs of the hurting, hungry, homeless and hopeless. I will encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ to step onto the giving path.
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A Stewardship Letter to Your Congregation Dear John and martha,
i don’t really know who you are. By that, i mean that i do know you, but i don’t know if you are receiving this letter or not. only our financial secretary knows that. i do know that you are important to me and to Fellowship community church. Your spiritual, emotional, physical and economic health concerns me as your pastor, hence the reason for my letter. 2007 was a good year for our church. We had some significant ministry successes that enabled us to move forward in accomplishing our church’s mission. We received enough contributions of money and time to reach and touch people through our ministries. as a community, we did well. however, not everyone in our faith family contributed to these successes. this letter is not about the financial needs of our congregation. those were met in 2007. this is a letter addressing the spiritual need we all have to contribute – to involve ourselves, to give. all i know about who receives this letter is that we have no record of your gifts to our church in 2007, or that our records show you gave much less than you had intended, based on what you expressed to us in the past. since i don’t know who is receiving this letter, you don’t need to avoid me the next time we meet or talk. if you feel you are receiving this letter through our error, please call our financial secretary and help us correct our records. if our records are accurate, i encourage you to examine the spiritual discipline of giving in your life as god’s child. if your circumstances have made it difficult or impossible for you to give, then your faith family and i can help. if you are experiencing a financial crisis or a crisis of any kind, we want to help. if you like, we can schedule a time together to talk confidentially about how we can minister to you during this difficult time. the claims of culture and the claims of christ have always been in tension, and today’s society is no different. choosing which claim is our priority – this is the test of discipleship for us in 21st-century america. We are called to faithfully manage financial resources in order to prove ourselves capable of handling spiritual treasures such as faith, hope and love. giving and serving are accurate measures of our christ-likeness. Where we place our treasure is where our heart is. You are important to me; i love you and care for you in christ. Please call today and set a time for us to talk and pray together. i want to give you the help that i suspect you need. Your Friend and Pastor, ruben swint W W W. c h u r c h s o l u t i o n s m a g . c o m
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