Set Your Pledge Campaign Up for Success
Personal Update: After my May post, The Power of Prayer, I received many beautiful and encouraging emails. They are treasured. I thought I’d give you an update...on Friday at around 8:15pm (but who’s watching the clock?), my husband, Tom, finished his chemo treatments. Hallelujah! Now we wait…and wait some more. But today, we celebrate and are grateful. Thank you for wrapping us in prayer.
And then…to top off an ending and to mark a new beginning, our daughter, Rachel, and her boyfriend, Peyton, got engaged on Monday evening. Our hearts are full.
Now, on to this week’s blog…an updated and still-relevant post from a few years ago.
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Can you feel it? It was that slight shiver that went up your spine this morning. And it struck you – it’s time for flannel sheets. Time for the heavy sweater. Time to get the wooly slippers out. Time for a mug of hot apple cider. Yep, sorry to say, summer is just about gone. And the passing of yet another summer into fall also means for many of you that stewardship month is just around the corner.
Hopefully when your people hear the words “stewardship,” “giving,” and especially “money” they do not recoil as if you just let out a tirade of swear words straight from the pulpit. That’s because, over the course of the year:
a. you’ve talked about giving,
b. your congregation knows what their offering supports, and
c. they recognize money is a spiritual issue because you’ve preached about it.
That said, for some churches, it is time to specifically focus on stewardship. There are dozens and dozens of stewardship programs for you to review and use. (Don’t believe me? See my recent post, 3 Ways to Run a Pledge Campaign)
Most of them are just fine – and most are prescribed to the letter of the law (I’m looking at you Herb Miller and your Consecration Sunday program). If these are of use to you, that’s fabulous.
But no matter what program you use, there are some things that should be in place before you even get started. My pal, Rev. Ken Sloane, Director of Stewardship and Connectional Ministries for the United Methodist Church’s Discipleship Ministries, has laid out 5 Key Elements in Successful Stewardship Strategies. These are topics that you can bring up throughout the year or include in your stewardship month:
1. Self-Examination – What is your and your congregation’s relationship with money? Do you, do they live a life of abundance or scarcity?
2. First Fruits – Who should be the first to receive your money (hint: read Leviticus 23:9-14)?
3. Personal Witness – Are people in your congregation (other than you) telling stories of how giving has impacted them and others?
4. Church Mission – Do people know why your congregation exists?
5. High Expectations – What does it mean to be a part of your faith community? Have you set some basic expectations of what membership or belonging means?
Read the full article here.
There are three other key components to a successful stewardship strategy I would add:
Joy
Joy and a little more
Joy
Yes…giving is serious business but it’s also a sign of life.
And our lives, for the most part, should be expressions of joy. Joy must be at the core of why we give because all the gifts we have – time, talents, and treasure are to be returned to the One who has given us life.
It’s that humbling and thrilling all at the same time.
So get your pot of soup on, sit by the fire (if you don’t have a fireplace pull up a rocking chair and watch this), and spend time reflecting on why you feel joy in giving your financial gifts to God. It’ll definitely warm your pea-pickin’ heart in no time.
Originally posted September 20, 2017.
*** Coming up! Julia Frisbie, Executive Director of the Faith Foundation Northwest and I will be leading a webinar on September 18 from 6:30-7:30: Pledge Campaign Best Practices. Be sure to sign up now! ***
Photo credit: Michael Morse @pexels.com
Cesie Delve Scheuermann (pronounced “CC Delv Sherman,” yes, really) is a Stewardship Consultant for the OR-ID Annual Conference. She is also a Senior Ministry Strategist with Horizons Stewardship. For 25 years, while working as a volunteer and part-time consultant, she has helped raise over three million dollars for numerous churches and non-profit organizations. She mourns that she missed her opportunity to try Pumpkin Spice Ramen Noodles.
You can reach Cesie at inspiringgenerosity@gmail.com, at CesieScheuermann.com, or at cesieds@horizons.net. Want to schedule a meeting? She’s got you covered!