Growing a Generous Church: A Year in the Life of Peach Blossom Church

An accessible and engaging read!

Why did I write this book?

For my Doctor of Ministry research into Christian giving, I met with faithful givers in church basements and heard why they give. So many stories of generosity! I’ve worked with churches from various denominations too and heard their common fears and joys.  

I wrote this book for the people who have shared their stories with me. I hope it inspires churches to talk about the spiritual discipline of giving - not so their church can meet the budget (although that’s a nice side effect!) but as part of following Jesus.

What’s in this book?

The members of Peach Blossom Church have survived the pandemic but are worried about their future. They take a leap of faith and hire Pastor Kim to lead them with a stewardship focus.  

During monthly coffee shop gatherings, the church leaders share stories of generosity and learn that giving is a spiritual discipline like prayer.  Then they act.

Growing a Generous Church is filled with  

• Bible teaching from both the Old and New Testament

• Personal Stories of how people learned to give

• Practical ideas your church can borrow

If you are looking for an accessible way to talk about money at your church, written with gentle humour and full of examples you can use, you will enjoy this book.  Jesus talks about money; your church can too!  

What’s this book about? How could we use it at my church?

Pew & Beyond is a weekly Spiritual Formation discussion, live on Facebook. It’s fun to chat. On June 8, I was the guest and got to talk about my book. It was especially heartening to have comments like - “we’re using this book in my church and we like it!”

Here is an edited version of our discussion. I’m grateful to Rev. Dr. Neil Mancor from the Anglican Diocese of Montreal and the Rev’d. Canon Lisa G. Vaughn from the Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia and PEI for hosting, and for all their work on behalf of the church.

Book discussions on video

The Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC) recently hosted a webinar about how churches could use Growing a Generous Church: A Year in the Life of Peach Blossom Church.  PCC stewardship staff generously opened up the invitation, and that’s how we heard testimony from an Anglican priest talking about how her parish and diocese is using the book. It feels like kingdom work!

Here’s the recording of the webinar, including a reading from the book featuring Keith - “it’s all God’s stuff”

Preview the Book

Here’s the start of my book, a hopeful story for churches who are scared to talk about money. Click on the image below to page through.