Bishop Pete Weaver led us in an inspiring workshop on stewardship in our churches; certainly a relevant topic given the seriousness of our financial situation at Peoples. We are not alone in our struggle either -- most of our sister UM churches are in the same boat.
Why is this? Some of the reasons mentioned by other churches were lack of ministry vision to get people psyched to give, failure to communicate financial status and where money goes (in an exciting way), personal debt of the congregation and a culture that encourages luxury rather than sacrifice, church building maintenace, living on the edge of the budget so giving goes only to heat, salaries and pension rather than exciting missional opportunities, lack of accountability in our personal giving, encouraging low commitment membership so we don't offend people (the fastest growing churches actually require the highest commitment ones also).
The bishop spoke about worship creating the environment for joyful and sacrificial giving, and challenged pastors to use more "creative energy" in designing unique ways to present the offering each week. He also spoke about creating a "narrative budget" rather than communicating financal numbers with an unintelligible spreadsheet!
There was also a presentation on Good $ense, the workshop hosted here at Peoples just a few months ago, and good discussion in small groups on all of these topics. This is part of a comprehensive program of personal and church stewardship worshops and materals that the conference is making available to churches.
"You don't make a pickle by sprinkling a cucumber with vinegar," said the Bishop. Likewise, we don't create an environment of biblical stewardship with a three-week canned stewardship package once a year. Rather churches need "immersion in stewardship" throughout the year.
We look forward to hearing your inspirational and revolutionary ideas!
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