What does it take to be a steward? The ELCA has boiled it down to seven principles that can be learned, taught and adopted. Handy PDF is good for individual exploration or congregational group study. (Photo © Vibe Images – Fotolia.com)
A financial audit helps maintain trust
Do your congregants know that their tithes and offerings are handled responsibly? If trust slips, so do donations. Smart churches help assure their donors by conducting a financial audit once every year. Think of it as a “check up” to make sure the congregation is financially healthy. This ELCA guide can help. (Photo: 401(K) 2012, […]
Awakening to God’s Call to Earthkeeping
Here is a real gem! This 50-page resource includes a leader guide and participant materials for use in a faith-based small group context: adult or older youth Sunday school, Christian Education classes, women’s circles, men’s groups, congregational “Green Team,” or in a retreat setting. (Also can be ordered for $5 from the ELCA Resource Catalog.)
How to Improve Financial Stewardship
This resource outlines the six most popular financial response models used by ELCA congregations. An easy-to-follow guide for new stewardship leaders. Available in PDF as a free download.
Prosperity and Punishment
Narrative Lectionary for September 21, 2014, Genesis 39:1-23
Stewardship is not about prosperity as we define it today but is more about prospering in place—flourishing in good soil or amongst the cracks and pieces of broken pavement and shattered dreams. With God all things are possible. With God there is always abundance. Stewardship is how we live in and care for this abundance. (Photo: rennett stowe, Creative Commons)
Bishops Support Carbon Limits
The presiding bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Episcopal Church called a proposed federal rule on carbon emissions a “critical step toward safeguarding the lives and livelihood of future generations.” From ELCA News. (Photo © Jan Will – Fotolia.com)
Stewardship 101
This handy four-page PDF outlines the basic concepts involved in stewardship that confront Christians and congregations in North America, including hyper consumerism, idolatry, discipleship and commitment. Good for anyone trying to steer a godly course in our culture.
Online Spiritual Gifts Assessment
Where is God calling you to serve? With what gifts has God blessed you to share with the world? These are key questions for any follower of Jesus Christ, and most of us could use a little help answering them. This online spiritual gifts inventory from the ELCA will help your discernment process. (Photo © […]
