“You can’t love Jesus and not give,” pastor and author Clif Christopher said in his keynote at the 2020 Extravagant Generosity program Jan. 10. “It’s just impossible.” Yet some churches lose the battle with money because “there are more people who think money can save them than think Jesus can save them,” said Christopher, author...
Category: Stewardship
January 21, 2020
Extravaganza of Generosity
“You can’t love Jesus and not give,” pastor and author Clif Christopher said in his keynote at the 2020 Extravagant Generosity program Jan. 10. “It’s just impossible.” Yet some churches lose the battle with money because “there are more people who think money can save them than think Jesus can save them,” said Christopher, author...
January 21, 2020
Cultivate a Heart of Love
Dear friends, If you missed our Stewardship Extravaganza in January, you missed a great event with excellent keynote addresses, an outstanding sermon and wonderful workshops. But, here is a chance to benefit from that experience. One of the workshop leaders, Rob Blezard, has a monthly “Toolkit” that provides helpful bulletin inserts, thoughtful newsletter articles and...
December 3, 2019
Giving Tuesday… And Wednesday…
Yes, after Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, society has finally gotten to Giving Tuesday. And, if your mailboxes, email boxes and social media sites are like mine, they have already been inundated with multiple requests from every organization you ever donated to (including church related sites) and many more to whom some...
October 15, 2019
Inspire Extravagant Generosity
Save January 10-11 for a weekend of informative and useful presentations designed to inspire Extravagant Generosity in your church! This event is hosted at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1000 W. Main St., Lansdale, PA 19446. This stewardship extravaganza features keynote speakers J. Clif Christopher (author of: It’s Not Your Father’s Offering Plate, Whose Offering Plate...
September 4, 2019
Crafting a Strategic Stewardship Campaign
Stewardship expert Catherine Malotky shares the success story of a church that approached groups of members who had different giving histories with different invitations to give and enjoyed a 30 percent increase in annual giving. I don’t know if this would work for you, but sometimes different approaches that borrow ideas from successful fundraisers can...
June 4, 2019
Save the Date for ‘Extravagant Generosity’
Save the dates — January 10-11, 2020 — for a can’t miss learning event. “Extravagant Generosity: A Stewardship Extravaganza” features keynotes by Clif Christopher, author of It’s Not Your Father’s Offering Plate, Whose Offering Plate Is It? and The Church Money Manual, and Aimee Laramore, author of Pathways to Generosity: Year-round Giving and Gratitude. Workshop leaders include: Scott Schantzenbach, Rob...
April 8, 2019
How to Be an Effective Small Church
Some years ago, David Ray traveled across the United States, west to east and north to south, and back north, visiting twenty-one smaller faith communities that were noted for the quality and faithfulness of their life together. He asked probing questions and listened carefully, looking for the common denominators, the faithful and exceptional qualities that...
February 19, 2019
New Online Giving Option for Congregations
CHICAGO (Feb. 19, 2019) – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has formed a preferred vendor agreement with Vanco, an eGiving software developer and payment processor serving more than 20,000 churches across the country. The agreement offers Vanco’s GivePlus suite of eGiving solutions to ELCA congregations. The ELCA churchwide organization has sought new working...
February 7, 2019
Hospitality: The Warm Heart of Generosity
ELCA staff member Steve Oelschlager writes in the most recent issue of Stewardnet, “How might our life together regularly teach and encourage people to want to be part of something bigger than themselves, sacrificing self for the benefit of others?” I think the answer has everything to do with creating remarkable cultures in which hospitality...
January 3, 2019
Generosity: Yours for the Asking
Clif Christopher (who will be our Keynote Speaker at the January 10-11, 2020 Stewardship Extravaganza) shares the following story: Recently I talked with a pastor about how to fund a $6,000 need beyond the resources of the church budget. I felt he had an excellent case for the funds. The ministry sounded important. I asked,...
October 22, 2018
Are You Leaving Money on the Table?
The Synod Generosity Team and the Delaware Conference invite you to a workshop on generosity and planned giving on Saturday, November 10, 8:30 am to noon, at Reformation Lutheran Church, 102 W. Rose Tree Road, Media. You’ll learn about: Five common ways congregations leave money on the table, and how to get money off the...
October 3, 2018
Generosity Tip: Telling the Story
People, especially millennials, support those causes that have compelling stories that show how money is spent and what outcomes been realized. This is true for our congregations as well as the Synod and the ELCA. Telling your story at the congregational level is the easiest (though not all congregation’s do this intentionally). But what about at...
September 12, 2018
Generosity Tip: It’s About Time
As we enter a new program year, families and the church face an important issue – how do we manage (steward) our time? Summer is over, weekend trips to the shore or mountains are memories, school is already in full swing and with school come all of the school and extracurricular activities, and your children...
July 11, 2018
Generosity Tip: Legacy Gifts
Yvonne Lembo, a member of our Synod Generosity Team, also works with the ELCA as a regional gift planner. Our ELCA gift planners are a resource that we under-utilize but can be an extra asset for congregations that want to develop or expand their Endowment Funds. Here’s an article that Yvonne wrote for this month’s...
June 5, 2018
Generosity: The Narrative Offering
For the past year we have had six congregations in SEPA Synod and eight congregations in NEPA Synod participating in a pilot program to Create Congregational Cultures of Generosity. Teams from each congregation of the Pastor(s) and four to six lay leaders attended a two day intensive training program to help them understand what to...
March 26, 2018
The Pros Use Coaches. Shouldn’t You?
Did you ever notice how many coaches professional athletes use? These are the best in the world in their sport, and yet all of them use coaches on a regular basis. In fact, in team sports like football or baseball (Go Phillies!!!) there are even specialized coaches for quarterbacks or pitchers; linebackers or a hitting...
March 5, 2018
New Online Giving Option for Congregations
CHICAGO (March 1, 2018) –The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has reached a preferred vendor agreement with Tithe.ly, a company that offers mobile and online tools to enhance financial giving to ELCA congregations and ministries. As a national organization working with many congregations and denominations, Tithe.ly offers a cost-effective way to increase congregational giving. Congregations...
January 31, 2018
Model Self-Giving During Lent
Lent is just around the corner and for many congregations it is an opportunity to encourage members to follow practices of self-denial, self-sacrifice and other practices to more fully follow the example of our Lord Jesus. At the same time, I have seen changes of emphases with regards to “giving something up” in Lent. While...
January 4, 2018
Stewardship: Pope Francis and Money
When I talk to congregational leaders about stewardship, I like to remind them that money is mission. I was interested to see that Pope Francis agrees with me. A recent article by Margaret Marcuson applauds Pope Francis not only for talking about money, but working to align the practices of the Vatican Bank with its...
December 6, 2017
Tip: December is Generosity Month
December is the most generous month of the year. Churches and other Not-for-Profit organizations receive more contributions than in any other month. “Giving Tuesday” has now joined “Black Friday,” “Small Business Saturday,” and “Cyber Monday” in the pantheon of officially designated categories for spending/donating money. We need to applaud this addition and celebrate generosity as...
