« June 2008 | Main | August 2008 »
July 31, 2008
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Law #5
Law #5 is Church members (just like the rest of us) do what is measured, incented, and celebrated.
The hard part about this one is that church leaders are not naturally wired to quantify the ministry impact they are having. Church leaders are visionaries and dreamers. We are people who are much more comfortable with our rhetoric than our calculators.
(The exception to this is the emerging role of the Church Business Administrator or Executive Pastor roles that are being filled by business professionals gifted in the areas of accounting, human resources, administration and business management. I personally think this is a good thing and should be viewed as a complement to the other ministry staff of the local church.)
Even though quanitfying ministry impact or ministry results is not natural, it doesn't absolve church leadership from producing these results for the membership. After all, it's the people in the pew who put the dollars in the plate. They have a right and should have the final say in how the money of the church is being used.
Our para-church and secular non-profit leaders are doing a much better job at proving the effectiveness of every dollar contributed to their organization than the church. We need to step it up and be prepared to defend why the church is the best place to invest in Kingdom building activites.
After the work has been done and the results are in, it's easy to celebrate the success and reflect on the failures. Measuring results, incenting performance and celebrating the successes emphasizes action rather than talk. And there if there is one thing the Church could benefit from it's more action and less talk.
Bottom line, the people in the pew are evaluated based on their performance in their own lives and they expect the same accountability to be extended to the Church.
People will give more consistently and in greater amounts when they understand how their money is being used and the see the results of the ministry their dollars fund.
Previous posts in this series:
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Introduction
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Law #1
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Law #2
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Law #3
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Law #4
Posted by bstroup at 9:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 30, 2008
Raising funds or raising stewards
I recently heard someone say that the church's call is much higher than simply raising funds. We are called to raise stewards. That is people who understand that this life is not our own and neither is our time, talents or treasures. These things are given to us by the grace of God to be used and managed to advance his Kingdom.
Is it time to Revive Stewardship Trianing? If so, who is ultimately responsible to carry that banner?
The answer is yes. Stewardship is the responsibility of every Christian because stewardship is the description of a disciple, a follower of the way of Jesus. Stewardship is described step by step by Jesus himself when he said anyone who wants to follow me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. (Matt. 16:24)
And the answer to the question of responsibility....it's me...and you...and every other professed follower of Jesus, the Christ.
What are you doing to raise stewards in your church? It's a subject that speaks directly to the Church's ability to sustain its ministry, influence and impact in the future. If we continue to ignore and marginalize this conversation, we'll never be able to rise to the challenge of the Great Commission. If we ignore Matt 16:24, we'll never actualize Romans 12:2.
And if our lives aren't changed by the Good News we profess, then our faith holds no value.
Posted by bstroup at 4:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 29, 2008
3 new catagories
I have set up three new catagories (the section in on the lower left hand side of your screen) to easily find the most widely read subjects on the blog: E-Giving, The Pulpit vs. the Pew on Tithing and Planned Giving.
If you notice other subjects that you'd like to see specific catagories for, let me know.
Posted by bstroup at 11:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 28, 2008
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Law #4
The 4th Law of the Church Member Experience is Unengage church members don't create engaged church members.
In Stewardship and Assimilation are closely linked I addressed the core principle behind Law #4.
At the risk of repeating myself, let me add to what I've previously posted. People who are excited about your church and the ministry it provides will naturally draw people to your church. Word of mouth recommendations will always reign supreme in influencing people. In fact, your church members will consistently be more effective at generating new prospects and converting those prospects to new church members than church staff will ever be.
Rest assured, marginal or inactive church members will never do anything to generate interest in the ministry of your church. In fact, they may do more harm than good. (But that is another discussion for another time.)
Engaged church members create an ideal environment to grow stewards - people who understand that all they have (their time, talents and treasures) are assests entrusted to them to be managed ultimately for Kingdom growth.
Previous posts in this series:
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Introduction
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Law #1
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Law #2
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Law #3
Posted by bstroup at 3:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 23, 2008
New study shows no generational gap in giving
The common perception is the younger generations aren't as generous as previous generations were and continue to be. A new study reveals that this assumption may need to be reconsidered.
What I found most interesting were the findings that younger generations want to contribute to global causes that make the world a better place to live while older generations give to suuport programs and institutions.
I also was intrigued by the argument that non-profts are "leaving money on the table" by not asking for larger donations from younger generations. The study suggested that younger generations are willing to give more but are only being asked for smaller amounts.
What this means is that the future is very bright for the church. It confirms that God will continue to provide the means to fully fund and sustain the work of his people until his ultimate return. The tough part is that the responsibility falls upon the shoulders of church leadership to step up to the plate and raise this next generation to be stewards or managers of the assests God has given them in their time, talents and money.
The vocabulary of the conversation of stewardship will change, but the end result is the same. Are we willing to reconsider how we are approaching stewardship to ensure the end result is the development of more stewards and not replicas of past success?
Posted by bstroup at 1:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 22, 2008
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Law #3
The 3rd Law of the Church Member Experinece is Church member familiarity (with doctrine, people, educational and service opportunities, etc.) breeds alignment.
The old saying in sales is that "people buy from who they know, like and trust." The more familiar people are with your church, the values you represent and the people who make up your church, the more likely they are to fund and support your ministry.
What's difficult as church leaders (people who are in the middle of everything) is that not everyone is privy to the same amount (and depth) of information you have about your church. So we often times assume everyone "just knows" what we believe and the ministry and service opportunities available. This simply isn't true. We can't make this assumption and doing so will impact giving habits.
Those people who are most familiar with your church's theology/doctrine, operations, leadership and overall ministry, who hear and are a part of your church's story will be the ones who have the strongest emotional and identity connection (i.e. alignment) with your church. This will result in better church member giving.
What are you doing to ensure that everyone in your church is aware of what you believe, familiar with the people in your leadership (beyond basic function and "stage" time) and what ministry your church is involved in?
(By the way, when your "Welcome Packet" weighs more than the yellow pages it's time to take a different communication strategy.)
Maybe it's time to begin hosting coffee hour or small, arranged dinners with small groups of your people so that they can personally hear the heart beat of each of your leaders.
Previous posts in this series:
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Introduction
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Law #1
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Law #2
Posted by bstroup at 8:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 16, 2008
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Law #2
The 2nd Law of the Church Member Experience is People are instinctively self-centered rather than corporately-centered. Even though people gather in faith groups all around the world on - at least - a weekly basis doesn't mean they have a corporate-centered mentality.
Finding an individual role within a larger context is what leads to those formative, relationship-building experiences that creates a sense of ownership and belonging to a corporate entity. And giving is a natural response to feelings of ownership and belonging. In theological words, we might say "communion of the saints."
It is in serving together, living our lives together, praying together, etc. where we become aware that we are not "lone rangers" sent by God to save the world on our own. Rather, a healthy understanding would render a much different perspective. One that might be closer to the notes on the page of a scripted symphony rather than an impromtu guitar solo.
People give money when they realize they are part of a cause, entity, organization that is larger than themselves. The paradox lies in attempting to foster a corporate mentality in our individual, North American culture.
What are you doing in your church to ensure that people see how their part of the local church ministry contributes to the entire church ministry and how their local church contributes to the advancement of the Kingdom in their state, continent and the world?
Previous posts in this series:
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Introduction
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Law #1
Posted by bstroup at 9:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 15, 2008
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Law #1
In yesterday's introduction to a new series on Giving and the Church Member experience we began with a challenge to think systematically about how we (church leaders) manage our relationships with our members. Knowing that giving is an emotional process, relationships become the catalyst to better giving and more sustained funding over time.
6 Laws of the Church Member Experience
1. Every ministry opportunity or worship service creates a personal reaction.
The temptation in this "law" is to assume that the church member is a customer who is shopping for a particular "product." This tempation has monpolized the discussion of church growth and music style to the point that we've actually created a sub-group of people (church leaders and members) who "shop" church based on the style of music. (The fallacy of that premise and its unintended results are for another discussion on another blog.)
That's not how I want to interpret this law. In fact, I think it misses the point altogether. Every ministry opportunity, act of service or worship time that our church members participate in contributes to their "total church" experience in addition to the spiritual formation of their own lives. And that "total church" experience directly results in an inward connection that is either strengthened or weakened.
Keeping in mind that giving is an outward sign of an inward commitment to an idea, cause or person that inspires or motivates an individual, the level of giving in our church is directly related to our ability to continue to contribute to a healthy and complete "total church" experience that fosters authentic encounters with God and results in true spiritual transformation.
Are we measuring the results or (as Jesus might have said) the fruit of our ministry to ensure that it's leading people to become followers of "the Way", or is our ministry simply filling the to-do lists of well intentioned "church going" people? The former experience is ripe to produce faithful and sustained giving while the later will at best produce a token of our affection.
How is the giving in your church: a generous act in response to grace or a token of our affection? What are you doing to ensure that you are fostering a spiritually formative environment that will result in Christ-followers and in better giving?
Posted by bstroup at 1:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 14, 2008
Giving and the Church Member Experience, Introduction
I try to read as much as I can from many different sources. This exposes me to different ideas both inside and outside my discipline of stewardship and giving. I often find myself borrowing from other disciplines and incorporating them into my work.
I was reading Customer Experience Matters. The writer identifies 6 things he calls "laws" that define the customer's experience. But I didn't just find it there. I also read about it in a recent post on Donor Power Blog. The 6 Laws of the Customer Experience are:
1. Every interaction creates a personal reaction.
2. People are instinctively self-centered.
3. Customer familiarity breeds alignment.
4. Unengaged employees don't create engaged customers.
5. Employees do what is measured, incented and celebrated.
6. You can't fake it.
I began thinking about how the "laws" could be translated into the vocabulary and culture of the church. Since we know that church giving is an emotional process, the stronger the experience is with a local church the stronger or more likely the individual is to contribute through their time, talent and resources.
Let me take a stab at re-wording these for the sake of our discussion.
6 Laws of the Church Member Experience1. Every ministry opportunity or worship service creates a personal reaction.
2. People are instinctively self-centered rather than corporate-centered.
3. Church member familiarity (with doctrine, people, educational and service opportunities, etc.) breeds alignment.
4. Unengaged church members don't create engaged church members.
5. Church members (just like the rest of us) do what is measured, incented, and celebrated.
6. Churche Members can't fake (or fabricate) sincerety of belief or commitment.
This post begins a series where we'll take a look at each of these six laws to determine how we (church leaders) can work toward creating authentic experiences for our members that will foster and sustain a sense of internal connection with a local body of believers that motivates them to demonstrate such in measurable ways such as giving of their time, talents and treasures.
Posted by bstroup at 1:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 9, 2008
Church budgeting
For those churches whose fiscal year isn't January to December, it most likely is September to August. This follows the Sunday School year. That means there are churches (right now) steeped in the mud of the budgeting process as I write this. (What fun!)
Church budgeting can feel like a marathon. Trying to get committees to turn in their requests on time and getting the finance committee to agree and finally present a budget proposal to the church can be a daunting task for any church leader. And then there is the business meeting when the budget is finally proposed....
Here are some previous posts on the subject to jump-start your thinking on the subject:
Budget Time
Budget Resources
Free Article on Church Budgeting
What resources do you depend on every year to help you through this process?
Posted by bstroup at 3:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 7, 2008
LifeWay and Capital Stewardship
Did you know that LifeWay offers multiple capital stewardship options for churches? I didn't even know this department existed until a few months ago. This department just re-designed their Web site. John Burke heads up this group. (He's a great guy. If you don't know him, you need to. His experience in fundraising and capital development is impressive.)
For easy reference, I've also added LifeWay Capital Stewardship to the "Quick Links" section of the blog. (Look on the right-hand side of your screen. You may have to scroll down to see it.)
Read a recent article John published on the 5 Common Pitfalls in Church Campaigns.
I'm looking forward to finding ways for John and I to work together. I would encourage you to do the same.
Posted by bstroup at 3:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 3, 2008
The economy and ministry in review
Earlier this week, my post Thom Rainer asks which economy are we trusting in centered on how Christians should approach economic questions from a different, Kingdom perspective. With that in mind, I'd like to point to two previous posts to help us in our conversation.
The Church emerging from a spiraling economy
LifeWay Research looks at the economy and giving
What are you doing in your church to help your members form a Kingdom perspective on our current economic outlook?
Posted by bstroup at 10:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 1, 2008
Thom Rainer asks which economy are we trusting in
The economy is at the forefront of all of our minds. Those of us who lead churches are responsible for ensuring that the ministry of the local church is sustained in good and bad economic times.
But LifeWay's President, Thom Rainer, asks another very important question: Which economy are we going to live by: the economy of this world or the economy of the Kingdom of God? This is an important question.
Maslov's hierarchy of needs is the nature upon which our economy is built. The pursuit of God and righteousness is the foundation upon which life is built. Jesus said one can't serve God and money. It is easy to give lip service to truths like this in days like these while holding back a portion of our devotion, "just in case." But Jesus tells us to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). Press that into your heart! He wants us to really want God.
Which economy are we living by? Before we answer, let's examine our behavior--not just what we say. Church leaders must demonstrate a different way of living - one that is consistent with the life Jesus' lived and called all Christians to live. If nothing is different in our lives, how can we ever expect to lead a body of believers to dynamically transform and grow beyond the captivity of the economy of this world?
Posted by bstroup at 10:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack