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Stewardship Seminar Summary
With the current economic landscape, there has been a great deal of interest around the topic of church finances and stewardship in general. I think it’s a prime time for church leaders to clarify and communicate a biblical theology of money and to implement solid biblical principles within our churches.
I got the opportunity to teach The Stewardship Seminar live in Baltimore a couple of months ago and wanted to reprint this article for you today - it contains a nice summary of what I taught:
Southern Baptist Nelson Searcy teaches about stewardship
June 01, 2009
By David Jackson and Shannon Baker
BALTIMORE—Nationally known church planters Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas learned about stewardship the hard way.
“This seminar came about out of desperation,” shared Searcy at a recent seminar he and Thomas taught at White Marsh Church in Baltimore. “We were about to lose our partners. We had to learn fast and apply it right away.”
About 100 attendees from locations as diverse as California, Michigan and Tennessee, attended the two-day conference that focused also on church planting and evangelism.
Nelson, the lead and teaching pastor, and Kerrick Thomas, executive and teaching pastor at The Journey Church in the New York City-metro area, lead a successful Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) church plant that presently meets in five locations with over 1,200 currently in attendance.
Searcy said, “Here’s the deal: it’s impossible to be a fully-developed disciple without being a fully-developed steward. Your heart follows your treasure!”
Searcy and Thomas contend that the goal is to move people into becoming more fully developed stewards, from non-givers to regular-givers to tithers to extravagant givers.
“If people would give just at poverty-level tithing you’d probably double your income for ministry!” said the pastors, outlining three steps to increase giving in the local church.
Educate.
“Teach people to give; this is the first step in moving non-givers into first-time givers,” they said, suggesting that the topic of stewardship should be taught at least four times a year.
“Tie them to felt-needs in life around the calendar and seasons of life,” Thomas suggested. Searcy agreed, noting that adding a system of accountability helps increase giving.
“We report to those who support, so use an envelope and we will let you know about our expenses,” he shared, reminding, “Remember: people give to vision, not to need.”
Thomas explained, “Constantly remind people that the church’s ministry is supported by its members.” Searcy added, “Unchurched people have no idea how your church is funded. We let them know that our ministry opportunities are a result of their giving.”
Offer options.
Searcy suggests churches should give the people different options for giving.
“If you only allow people to give at your services you may be losing as much as 40 percent of your receipts!” he cautioned, sharing more opportunistic ways. For example, create a self-mailing envelope and put it in the bulletin with a business reply permit that doesn’t even need stamps.
“You don’t have to pay for those that aren’t mailed. If you just put the envelope in the bulletin not the pew rack, you will get more, I promise…and besides, [speaking of the traditional offering envelope] they’re too small! No one can put big money in a small envelope.”
The pastors said that another way to encourage giving is to set up a ‘bill pay’ with their own bank or as an ACH as an automated debit option. “This is a great option since you will KNOW what will be coming in every week unless they make a change,” Searcy said.
Otherwise, church members may give online at their website through PayPal or other online payment services.
“Sixty percent of our giving comes in ways OTHER than weekend services!” Searcy and Thomas said. “The point is: if you want to get more first time givers, you must provide more options.”
Follow up with givers.
The Journey Church pastors suggested that churches send thank you notes to first time givers and quarterly giving statements to all givers. They also acknowledge unusual gifts with a special response including a gift and a hand-written note.
Each method communicates to the givers that their gifts are important, as do the following ways:
To gain regular givers: Searcy related what pastor and national speaker, Bob Roberts, once said, “People will rise to the level of commitment you ask. For every 100 people who participate in a giving small group, the church will receive $100,000 a year.”
Searcy said that stewardship should be introduced in the church’s membership class covenant and that the language of the class should answer newcomers’ questions.
“Ask them ‘which way’ they plan to give, not ‘if’ they will give,” he urged.
Likewise, “if people have not given at all in a year, we look at the list together as a staff and ask people to follow up with them; it’s an accountability issue for you as a leader.
To secure tithers: “Tithing shows that God has first place in your life; it’s the first ten percent of your gross income,” shared Thomas.
Searcy added, “This is the first place principle in all areas of life: if you want God to bless you in anything, give Him first place in that area of your life.” Thomas agreed, “It’s not a tithe if it comes last or if it’s leftovers…He comes first.”
They suggest that churches challenge members to consider a four-month “Tithe Challenge” to accept God’s test regarding the tithe (based on Mal. 3:10). They acknowledged, “…unbelievers have no problem with this, but people that come to you from other churches do!”
To develop extravagant givers: Searcy said, “God calls on us to give sacrificially from time to time; this can be the beginning of an extravagant giving lifestyle. People need to be educated that the tithe is the minimum of what God expects. Offerings are above this amount.”
On their website, the Journey Church offers financial tools to help their church members manage their money wisely. Included are a personal financial profile and plan as well as a monthly budget ledger form. Also included are former financial messages preached at The Journey, books about financial management, as well as several articles about how to make financial decisions.
Acknowledging that many churches are beginning to feel the crunch of the current financial recession, Searcy also offers a practical podcast on how to turn this tough time into the church’s finest hour online at www.churchleaderinsights.com.
*This is a reprint. The original article can be found here.
P.S. If you’d like to fill in the blanks in your church’s Stewardship System, invest in the full recording of The Stewardship Seminar.
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If Your Staff Has Questions, Demand Options
Assembling and getting the most out of your staff is one of the toughest things that a pastor deals with in leading a growing church. On top of all that has to be done from week to week, staff communication can quickly become overwhelming.
In one of my recent coaching networks, someone asked this question: “How do you deal with all the questions that staff members bring you?”
What a great question - and one that many of us don’t think to ask. I wanted to take just a moment to share a principle on this topic.
Here’s the quick hit (in case you’re running late for an appointment):
If Your Staff Has Questions, Demand Options
What I mean is that, as a leader, you should never respond to a question from a staff member (in person, by phone or email) unless they first give you two or three suggested answers.
Why?
1) Because they know better than you. The fact that they are asking tells you that they have already spent more time thinking about it than you have.
This is essential, because it only gets more true the larger your church grows. When The Journey was just getting started, I knew everything that happened in every area. Not so these days.
Let the staff member share their thoughts on the question, then you can help them build on those thoughts.
2) Your staff needs to learn to think for themselves. In leadership development, it’s vital that you are being intentional about helping your staff learn to think.
If they can just run to you and let you fix it every time they run into a problem, how are you helping them grow?
Use your staff’s questions to teach them to think.
3) Perhaps the most important reason for implementing this principle is that you get better answers when you have multiple people thinking about the solution. It’s the old “two heads are better than one” idiom.
All of us are smarter than any of us.
I hope that’s helpful!
P.S. To learn six secret skills every leader can develop, check out Leadership Skills for a Growing Church
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Church Growth Hero - Dr. Ralph Winter
Yesterday was the memorial service for Dr. Ralph Winter. I only met Dr. Winter one time at a missions planning meeting in Irvine, CA, but his writings and speaking have had a great impact on my thinking.
I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that Dr. Winter was the most influential missiologist of the second half of the 20th century. He was the founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission, William Carey International University, and the International Society for Frontier Missiology.
Beyond all of that, perhaps his most notable contribution to world missions was his introduction of the concept of “unreached people groups” in 1974. This led to a shift in thinking from a country by country approach to a more Biblical, “all peoples” approach to reaching the world for Christ.
I hope you’ll take a moment to thank God for Dr. Ralph Winter and for using him in such a powerful way to stoke the fire of world evangelization.
Dr. Ralph D. Winter
1924 - 2009Here are a couple of Dr. Winter’s most influential works:
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Great Lesson - Saturday Quote
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
— Benjamin Franklin: 18th century statesman, scientist, and writer -
A Gift Certificate for You
I hope you got my podcast email that went out earlier this week. If not, you can subscribe here. You can also listen to my latest podcast here.
At the bottom of the email I shared a 10% off coupon code. We’ve had a bunch of people using that code already, but I know it slipped past a few of you.
So I’ve decided to reward you for faithfully reading my blog. I’m sweetening the deal and giving you 20% OFF of whatever you invest in through the Church Leader Insights store between now and Monday.
Simply enter the special code BLOGREADER and click “Apply” when you’re checking out to receive 20% OFF!
And remember, this discount is only good through Monday!
P.S. You never know what you might be missing if you’re not reading my emails… or my blog
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Free Download - My Mid-Year Giving Letter
Just a couple of days ago I put the finishing touches on my mid-year Giving Letter that will go out with the 2nd Quarter Giving Statements to all of The Journey’s givers. I thought I would take a moment today to share it with you (the link to download it is below).
In addition to the letter I’m enclosing:
- Year to Date Giving Statement
- Giving Envelope
- Auto Debit Form
- Series Promo Postcard
- And custom printed ice cream scoop
All of this in 6 x 9 envelope. The ice cream scoop makes it lumpy so its certain to be opened. Your giving letters are worthless if no one opens them!
In the past, my giving letters have been very well received. You can see the ones I’ve posted prior for a sample on how to write this one up.
Here’s the current letter:
2Q 2009 Giving Statement Letter.doc
P.S. To learn more about how to get your church’s Stewardship System running on all cylinders, check out The Stewardship Intensive.
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Q & A: Too Much Space?
I just want to thank all of you (over 600 senior pastors) who participated in one of my Top 3 Growth Barriers Webinars last week. What an awesome experience!
Here’s one of the follow-up questions I answered about the SPACE growth barrier:
Q: As I was listening to you teach about the “space” growth barrier, I got to thinking about our situation and wondering if there is a “reverse space” growth barrier as well…
In other words, is there a point when the room is too empty? At what point does the room feel so empty that the extra seats become another growth barrier altogether? What can be done if “too much space” is having a negative impact to growth?
A: Thanks so much for logging on for the Top 3 Growth Barriers Webinar. I hope you found it helpful!
Let me first say that your questions is a good one and it sounds to me like you’re asking the right questions trying to find out what’s keeping your church from growing.
Here’s my basic advice on this issue: It’s easier to make a large space feel smaller than to make a small space feel big.
If the space is too large, there are some very practical things you can do to “shrink” the area.
One great technique for shrinking the space is to put up pipe and drape (like you might see at a trade show) to cordon off part of the space so you have about twice as many seats as you need. If you have the measurements of your building, a company like Georgia Expo can supply you with the pipe and drape.
Let’s say you have 100 people, you would use the pipe and drape to shrink the room to 200 seats or so. As your church grows, you simply move the pipe and drape back, opening up more and more seats. This does a great job of creating the smaller space and gives you plenty of flexibility to expand as you grow.
We use this technique at The Journey’s Brooklyn location and it works great.
I have also used custom chair covers to cut off the chairs in the back of the room (forcing people to sit toward the front).
I hope that helps!
P.S. You can learn all about SPACE and the other 8 most common growth barriers that all churches face, regardless of size, in The Growth Barriers Workshop.
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Sunday Coaching Alumni Highlight
It’s Sunday, so it’s time for me to tell you about another one of my recent coaching alumni.
This week’s highlight is Heath Davis. Heath is the founding pastor of Pinnacle Church in North Carolina and a former Marine (so don’t mess with him). After meeting in rented facilities up until now, Heath is leading his church through their first building campaign.
Keep working to reach the people of western NC for Christ, Heath!
Heath Davis
Lead Pastor
Pinnacle Church
Canton, NC
http://www.mypinnaclechurch.comWon’t you consider applying for my upcoming Senior Pastor Tele-Coaching Network?
For more information or to apply now, visit:
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What We Give (A Saturday Quote)
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
– Winston Churchill, British prime minister -
Q & A - Pastor’s Newcomer Small Group?
This is Kerrick Thomas - I’m the Executive Pastor at The Journey Church and the co-author of “Activate” with Nelson. Just a while back, Nelson asked me to answer the following question and then to share my answer with you:
Q: Our leadership team has asked me to have a “pastor’s small group” with new people.
We are seeing new people at church every week now and we’re really trying to do a better job of connecting them.
Any suggestions on what to do or how many to have? We think that after this, I may be able to direct them into other small groups.
A: Thanks for your question. Let me first say this: having new people attending your church is a good “problem” to have.
As far as having a “Pastor’s Small Group” for new people, of course you can do that - and you might have some success with early sign-ups. But that has not been our strategy or philosophy at The Journey.
Our goal is to get new people into a small group where they can develop relationships within the church as quickly as possible.
We really believe that a regular small group with regular people from your church has the potential to connect a new person to your church just as effectively if not more effectively than a group led by the lead pastor.We have faith that our Sunday service is the front door of the church and that our small groups close the back door.
If there is a reason why a regular small group wouldn’t be effective in connecting a new person to the church, introducing them to the church culture and assimilating them, that might be an indication that something is not quite right in your current small groups system.
The only advantage I can think of to the lead pastor leading such a group is that it might draw a crowd of people to it. But that purpose is served just as effectively by having a monthly or every two month Newcomers Reception for those new to the church hosted by the lead pastor after a Sunday service. Then you can encourage the newcomers at that event to sign up for a small group.
Another question to consider is this - is that where your energies are best served? As lead pastor are there other groups that you could lead that no one else could lead? Is this really where you want to spend your energies every semester? And is it really a scalable model as your church grows if it’s built on you leading it?
Yes - you could lead the small group for newcomers - and it might work. But we believe that it’s better to get newcomers integrated into our regular small groups immediately with our members and regular attenders so that they can naturally get involved in the life of the church.
Those are just my initial thoughts - I hope they are helpful!
God bless…
Kerrick
P.S. For an all-inclusive look at how to implement an effective Small Groups System at your church, check out The Small Groups Intensive.
Church Leader Insights is a bi-weekly publication sent via email that focuses on effective leadership, church growth, church planting evangelism and much more.
My Books
Ignite: How to Spark Immediate Growth in Your Church
Activate: A Totally New Approach to Small Groups
