Scientists and church folk alike know that living a life of gratitude reaps benefits spiritually, mentally and physically. “Thankfulness releases us from anger and from materialism,” says Doris Whitaker, University of Mississippi Medical Center chaplain. “It helps us acknowledge that there’s something greater than us.” Here, with links to lots of other resources, are some ways to cultivate generosity.
Churches need money for ministry, but the needs of congregations today outpace the will of people to give, especially given the generational differences between “the great generation” and baby boomers, and then between baby boomers and millennials. As traditional funding sources are maxed out, There is one asset that nearly all churches possess—land. Why not look into a land-use policy that can help finance ministry? (Photo: Alejandro Rdguez, Creative Commons)
Author Tim Shapiro suggests six measures for whether your congregation is celebrating and cultivating generosity as a way of life. How is your congregation stewarding the call to help people develop lives of deep faith and generosity? (Photo: taxcredits.net, Creative Commons)
“Stewardship is another way of talking about ministry, and it would revolutionize ministry if people could think of it in terms of stewardship—that we are accountable to God for what we do and with what he has trusted to us,” says R. Paul Stevens in this Christianity Today interview. (Photo: Keoni Cabral, Creative Commons)
There is a deep hunger in our culture for honest talk about money and faith. The best wayis to talk about money whenever you can — and not ask for it, argues stewardship writer Grace Duddy Pomroy. From the Center for Stewardship Leaders.
One of Christian theology’s most prophetic voices offers a challenging biblical analysis of the role of money in our culture. Wealth in America, Brueggemann says, acts as a narcotic, numbing us. “The great contradiction is that we have more and more money and less and less generosity — less and less public money for the needy, less charity for the neighbor.” (Photo: Prisoner 5413, Creative Commons)
Good financial stewardship doesn’t have to be complicated. Check out these 11 ways to simplify your finances from author Bob Lotich of SeedTime. (Photo: Steven DePolo, Creative Commons)
Much has been written about the habits it takes to be a highly effective person, or a highly effective family or a highly effective teen. This series of seven brief reflections — which your congregation can reprint in a bulletin or newsletter — explores the habits of a highly effective steward. Since stewardship is a part of discipleship, and discipleship is a journey for each of us, we hope that these habits will help us reflect on this area of our Christian life. (Photo: Fit Approach, Creative Commons)
“What’s in your wallet?” It’s good for Christians to wrestle with the question because there is no clearer indicator of our ultimate values than our financial priorities and practices – how we spend, how we live, how we save, and how we give reveal the true altar of our hearts, says pastor, author and speaker […]
The tithe as a spiritual discipline is vastly underappreciated by modern Christians. I believe that if we boldly reintroduce the challenge to tithe, personally embrace the conviction of its worth, and then do it, we will provide abundant resources for God’s work in the world as well as invigorate our experience of life in Christ.
