delight in giving 2012 best practices in basic stewardship
TRANSCRIPT
Delight in Giving
2012Best Practices
inBasic 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 committeeIf 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 is not something we
acquire; it is something we tune
into.”Wayne Dyer
Abundance
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• CommunityKennon 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 Delightthrough
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