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 Network Alumni and Lead Pastor of The Edge Church in Aurora, Colorado.  It goes to show that the Christmas Offering works — even in a brand new church:

Hey Nelson,

I wanted to give you a good report on our special offering.  A few months ago I participated in your free training session on how to conduct a special Christmas offering.

I was a little apprehensive to try to raise the extra money because our church was only one month old and we had a small launch team.  However, I decided to go for it.  We were not able to do all the promotional things I would have liked but we did send out an info packet telling everyone why the offering was important.

Our goal was to raise $3,500 and as of last Sunday we had raised $3,800.  I can’t wait to give the church a good report on Sunday.  Also during this time the attendance of our church almost doubled.  We are now preparing to add a second service on Easter.

Thanks for all your encouragement and assistance in raising funds for the kingdom.

Ryan Heller
Lead Pastor
The Edge Church

That’s great news Ryan – keep on making an impact for the Kingdom in Colorado!

P.S. If you’re looking to ramp up your Stewardship System to turn first time givers into extravagant givers and fund God’s vision for your church, check out The Stewardship Seminar.

© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.