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ANNUAL CAMPAIGNS #1
Stewardship with Rev. Susan Ranous
November 23, 2022
It’s that time of year, as we approach Thanksgiving, that most churches have celebrated commitment Sunday. Tying that celebration to Thanksgiving makes a lot of sense. We should be grateful to God for what we’ve received (which, hint, hint, is everything.) Giving back just a portion of what God has blessed us with should be the foundation for our commitment Sundays.
I want to reinforce, again, the foundation for our giving campaigns. I’ve spoken of it before, but I want to share it again. Some of what I’m sharing came from a workshop by Rev. Ken Sloane, of UMC Discipleship, on Making Annual Campaign Your Own.
Three Important Basics for Donors:
1. Believe in mission
2. Faith and respect for the leader
3. Transparency in finances
People give because these three basics are in place. If they’re not, that might explain why your church may be struggling with finances. You should have these in place throughout the year. Be transparent about your finances. And by that, I don’t mean just talk about how you need more money and you can’t pay your bills. I’m talking about where your resources come from and how you spend them. I can guarantee that most people sitting in your pews don’t know and/or don’t understand. Do not share a line item budget; tell the stories of lives changed, or missions served, of compassion, of justice.
Two Most Important Ideas About Money:
1. Never talk about people’s money apart from their discipleship
2. Never talk about church’s money apart from its mission
Part of our intentional discipleship plans must include generosity. Mature disciples show and experience discipleship through their generosity. We’re not asking people to pay our bills; we’re asking them to be disciples that make disciples and transform the world. Because we’re not asking people to pay the church’s bills, we have to stress that we are asking people to be generous and give to God through the church.
What is your church called to BE and DO? What is your WHY? Your budget, your generosity, your money should all be centered on the answers to those questions. And once they are, you will be impressed by what God does!
Next week, I’ll share some additional thoughts on this same topic.
ANNUAL CAMPAIGNS #2
November 29, 2022
Last week, I talked about three important factors for donors and two important ideas about money.
What if we talked about money at a time during the year when we weren’t asking for it? I know, I know, no one wants to talk about money. But have you considered that might be because we are so scared that we only talk about money when the church needs it?
I think we’re doing a grave disservice to the folks in our church (whether they worship inside the building or virtually), by not helping them with their own personal money concerns.
- Are they in debt?
- Do they have too many credit cards?
- Do their expenses exceed their income?
- Did they learn how to budget?
Have you shared information about the importance of planning giving? By this, I mean, considering naming the church in their will, or making the church the beneficiary of an asset?
- If the church was important enough to give you while they’re alive, why not consider the importance after?
- Have you done a wills workshop, talking about powers of attorney and health care proxies?
Let’s talk about generosity, not money! Generosity is part of being a disciple, and if we ignore it, so our folks ignore it, then our disciples aren’t maturing in their discipleship!
Giving and generosity is intertwined into our mission and who we are as Christians!
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Please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or susanranous@unyumc.org if you’d like to talk about mission and money in your local church. I have some great ideas to help you understand where you are and were you’re going!
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