Tag: generosity

As a churchgoer, a recreational observer of Evangelical trends, and – most significantly – a redeemed (albeit imperfect) follower of Jesus, one of the most encouraging recent shifts I’ve seen in American Christendom is the emphasis more and more pastors are placing on kicking people OUT the doors of their church.

Certainly there will always be a place for evangelism and invitation campaigns, but – with the rise of The Missional Church Movement and others like it – churches are behaving less like social clubs and more like military outfits. Instead of collecting members, the focus is shifting toward training, equipping, and sending Christians out into the world to make a difference (a real difference!) in their respective neighborhoods, towns, cities, and states.

As Pastor Choco de Jesus of New Life Covenant Church said at a conference I attended recently, “Churches need to do more for their cities than occupy a street corner.” Indeed! It seems more and more churches are rising to answer this call, and – as they do – they are discovering that impact-driven ministries cannot be sustained without a generous congregation behind it.

And that’s what I want to talk about today. Generosity is my “beat,” and – as I talk and listen and learn – I am becoming ever more convinced that Outreach Campaigns must play a central role in every church’s stewardship ministry. (Yes, even the ones struggling to make ends meet each month.)

How can I say that with such confidence? Because here are just a few of the things outreach ministries, service projects, and the like can do for generosity at your church… (more…)

(NOTE: This article was originally published on SermonCentral.com as part of a four part series on giving to the church. Once you’ve finished reading this one, head over to Sermon Central for other great articles on church generosity!)

Working in business development for a church giving platform, I am often asked if there is a Biblical precedent for churches using digital technology to accept tithes and offerings; any scriptural evidence that “text-2-give is acceptable to the Lord? I’ll save you a concordance search: there isn’t.

In many ways, the Bible remains frustratingly vague when it comes to our most pressing questions about stewardship and generosity. This may explain why so much of our preaching about finances remains frustrating and vague.

How should we teach our people to give? How often? And how much? Do we teach that believers have to give to their home church? Or is it okay for our congregants to send money elsewhere? And what about tithing? Is that the minimum requirement for Christians or the maximum? Is it even relevant to New Covenant believers?

Over the years, many good-faith efforts have been made to answer these questions. More than a few pastors and theologians have attempted to codify the ABC’s (and $1.23s) of giving to the church. And yet, for pastors and parishioners alike, these efforts have provided little assurance. (more…)

Huzzah! Another New Year begins. New calendars. New seasons. New starts. And – of course – new goals!

My wife and I were on a jog last week and we decided to use that time as an opportunity to go over our 2016 goals. We tried to think of at least one for five key categories (aka The Five ‘F’s’): Family, Friends, Faith, Finance, and Fitness.

Most of the ones we came up with will be familiar to anyone with even a passing interest in calendar- based resolutions. Run two half-marathons. Save a chunk of money for our first house. Get plugged into a small group at our new church. All the staples. haha.

What we lacked in creativity, we tried to make up for with specificity. By picking measurable activities and goals, we’re hoping to have more success this year than we have in the past with our more general resolutions. (e.g. Get into shape! Make some new friends! Eat less(ish) candy! etc.)

Maybe you have some resolutions you’re working toward in your own life. Or maybe you’ve got some goals that you’d love to see your church accomplish in 2016. Expanded ministries? New outreach opportunities? Maybe adding an additional service or breaking ground on a new facility? The opportunities are endless. (more…)

Next to the retail employees at your local mall, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone working harder in the months ahead than pastors and church leaders.

There are Christmas concerts and nativity pageants to be coordinated, extra services and outreach opportunities to be planned, not to mention all of the traveling, shopping, and family get-togethers that pack an already crowded schedule!

With so much going on, it’s understandable that certain things like generosity end up getting “back burner-ed” for a few weeks. But it shouldn’t!

As I’m sure you know, the holidays are the single most important season for your churches’ finances! (Fun Fact: Nearly 18.00% of all charitable giving and over 22% of online giving takes place in the month of December alone!) It’s no exaggeration to say that many churches’ budgets will be saved or sunk in the weeks ahead. In fact, over 40% of churches report that they receive fully HALF of their annual budget in the month of December alone.

Whatever the case may be at your church, generosity is too important a topic to ignore until January. But that doesn’t mean it needs to occupy a ton of time either! Below are three easy things you can do in the weeks ahead to ensure that your church ends 2015 on a high note. (more…)

What happens when 4 dudes get together in a hotel room to talk about generosity? THIS!!

Earlier this month, Kent Woodyard, Mogiv’s Director of Business Development, fled the Midwest to attend Exponential West, a conference for pastors and church planters in Irvine, CA. While there, Kent took a break from the sessions and the sunshine to meet-up with some friends to talk about generosity. The cameras caught everything on tape, and we want to share that tape with you!

“Generosity” is a pretty broad topic so it’s no surprise that it ended up being a broad conversation covering everything from church cultural concerns to examples of pastors modeling sacrificial generosity to stories of how generosity can serve as a gateway for The Gospel.  (more…)