I’m always on the lookout for solid teaching about Stewardship and I recently came across a great series of messages from Willow Creek called “In God We Trust.” It’s a three message series, and it’s great to hear such solid content from the likes of Andy Stanley and Bill Hybels. I recommend you carve out a little time, follow the … Read More
Great Christmas Offering Report (even in a new church!)
I know we’re about as far away from Christmas as you can get, but I’ve been wanting to share some of the great testimonies that many of you have been sending in about how God used your Christmas Offering to bless your church and fund more ministry in 2010. Here’s a recent report from Ryan Heller, a New York Coaching … Read More
The Best Church Tracking Software
OK, OK, the title of today’s post is a little misleading. I apologize in advance for disappointing you. It gives you hope that I’m going to endorse or recommend or review one specific church tracking software and tell you “this is unequivocally the best package – go and get it,” but alas…. The truth is, there’s no such thing as … Read More
2009 Year End Giving Statements – What to Include?
Each year about this time I start getting emails from churches about sending their year-end giving statements, so I thought I’d share a few thoughts today. While most churches send year-end giving statements, many of them miss out on a great chance to share information, celebrate & remind people of all that God is doing and cast vision for the … Read More
Should You Keep Mailing Offering Envelopes?
Any of you who have listened to The Stewardship Seminar or The Stewardship Intensive know that I am a firm believer in creating custom offering envelopes for your church and including them in each week’s program/bulletin. In fact, I shared our latest envelope design from The Journey (including our Christmas Offering info) in a post a few weeks ago (click … Read More
Cultivating the Spiritual Gift of Generosity
As church leaders, we’re all called to make disciples. A big part of the disciple-making process is helping people recognize and grow in using their spiritual gifts for God’s Kingdom. This is not a foreign concept to any pastor I know – in fact, you are probably doing it already with respect to some spiritual gifts. For example, if someone … Read More
How to Structure Your Church for Growth (Part 4)
Today’s 4th and final installment on structuring your church for growth is going to be a bit of a turn from the previous 3 posts. After looking at the issues of by-laws, church governance, and budgeting, today I’d like to share a few quick thoughts about the importance of having your salary package set up properly. For whatever reason, many … Read More
Your Christmas Offering Questions (Part 2 from Webinars)
Hundreds of you joined me a couple of weeks ago for my “How to Plan and Conduct a Christmas Offering” Webinars and hundreds more have downloaded the new Christmas Offering report that I released in October. In spite of my best efforts however, there are still a few questions that I didn’t clearly address. Today’s 2nd post is my effort … Read More
How to Structure Your Church for Growth (Part 3)
Today’s post is the third in a 4 part series about structuring your church for growth. If you missed the other two, you can find them here: Part 1 (by-laws) & Part 2 (church governance). While the first two topics (by-laws and church governance) are areas where some churches are tied by denominational mandate or tradition, today’s topic addresses an … Read More
Your Christmas Offering Questions (Part 1 from Webinars)
Hundreds of you joined me last week for my series of “How to Plan and Conduct a Christmas Offering” Webinars and even more have downloaded the new Christmas Offering report that I released a couple of weeks ago. In spite of my best efforts however, there are still a few questions that I didn’t clearly address. I’m writing this post … Read More