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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 July 15, 2008 1:58 AM
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