Read the Blog
Looking for something in particular? Search through the blog posts below. N.B. Use “Letter” to search for thank you letters, I’ve used both “thank-you” and “thank you” which confuses the search engine!
Archive
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- November 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- August 2019
- April 2019
- February 2019
- August 2018
- June 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- September 2016
- July 2016
- May 2016
- March 2016
- June 2015
- May 2015
- March 2015
- January 2015
Online gift to the church = Mission opportunity
If Matthew, a twenty-something male, makes an online donation to your church, what happens next? Generosity demonstrates trust. Matthew is telling you that he trusts your church enough to make a financial gift. There’s many, many voices calling for his money. He chose to give the church. That’s a big deal.
Three things a church can be thankful for, even in tough times
Gratitude? With the news as bad as it it, and people being stuck at home for endless months? Or not stuck at home, but working in the midst of a pandemic?
We're reminded to be thankful in all circumstances. But sometimes our circumstances can seem overwhelming! I offer this short reminder of three things a church can always be grateful for:
Fighting about money at church
Churches everywhere are 100% comprised of humans, which gets messy. When I asked a friend if my book about church and money should have conflict, she asked me, “do you want anyone under 40 to read the book?” A shiny, polished view of the church won’t ring true.
Can our church survive on online donations?
A quick primer on ways churches can collect the offering when they can’t pass the plate
Livestreaming the Offering
If you can’t pass the plate, you can still celebrate the offering during a livestream or virtual worship service. Start with gratitude to God, the giver of every good thing.
Online giving for offline churches
How does the church encourage the spiritual discipline of giving without the offering plate?
Every church in Canada which is a registered charity can receive gifts online, either through the CanadaHelps website or through a donate button powered by CanadaHelps on your church’s website.
Stella fell on the ice and broke her knee. Can she still go to church?
Believe it or not, I’ve met churches (note plural!) who need an elevator desperately, have the funds and won’t spend the money. It breaks my heart that these churches are excluding people like Stella.
Objections I’ve heard:
the money should go to missions instead
our church won’t be here in five years, why renovate?
we need to keep that money to support the church as we shrink
Add fear to this mix, a fear that deciding what to do with the reserve funds might cause more conflict than the church can handle.
How can the church support faithful givers like Stella?
While churches hope that donors like Stella carry on indefinitely, like the Queen, she is in fact mortal. Have you asked Stella if she would like her legacy of caring to continue through a gift in her will? She trusts the church. Does the church trust Stella, believe that Stella is brave enough to have this conversation? Remember that lots of charities ask Stella for money. Will Stella know that the church would love to receive a bequest from her? Ask. Tell the story of what her gift will do.
Scraping off old paint: Cultural change in faith-based organizations
Scraping layers of vintage paint offers lots of time to think. Being me, I was thinking about cultural change in faith-based organizations. It's a very similar undertaking. Some patches peel off easily, where the types of paint were totally incompatible and failed to stick. Some paint had been there for decades and had NO intention of leaving. I persisted.
What could be easier than repainting a bathroom, or changing an element of worship, or updating the website? What could be harder?
Offering prayers for digital gifts, noisy gifts and plain old cash
Giving is such an important part of worship that it deserves words. Not just ‘the ushers will now come forward to collect the offering…’ and a cursory prayer, but a moment of genuine gratitude and celebration. Celebrate all the gifts, not just gifts from people sitting in the pews at the moment.