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Year’s end is a time to celebrate generosity and invite giving. It’s a chance for churches not only to attend to year-end stewardship but also to build momentum for giving year-round, writes a managing director of the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving.
Tangier Island, in the Chesapeake Bay, is losing coastline every year and its residents may be the first "climate-change refugees" in the United States. Image courtesy of Google Maps
Tangier Island is losing up to 16 feet of coastline every year and will be uninhabitable within 50 years. How many congregations find themselves similarly watching the sea rise, and why aren’t we doing more for them?
We tend to think of gratitude as a personal feeling that we can cultivate. But it’s also communal and social, writes the author of the new book “Grateful.”
The Rev. Emily Hull McGee, pastor of First Baptist Church on Fifth, stands with her son Liam in the breezeway between two of the church buildings. The building on the left is slated for removal; it's part of an ambitious plan to tear down, rebuild and renovate the church's buildings in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Photos by Alex Maness
The 146-year-old Baptist congregation hopes a smaller footprint will allow the church to redefine its mission and identity while saving its historic sanctuary.
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Don’t just give another stewardship sermon. New research into religious giving indicates that Christian leaders should broaden the conversation and talk to people about the meaning of their life and work, says the director of the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving.
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A youth pastor finds that running a social enterprise has influenced everything from his preaching to his role in the community. It has also helped congregants reach across the political divide.
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Don’t begin the conversation with the expenses to cut. Instead, focus on your organization’s assets and how they can be leveraged in service of your missional impact, writes the executive director of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.
The Pres House Apartments provide student housing and generate funds to support Presbyterian campus ministry at UW-Madison. Photos by Kim Isely
A combination church, campus ministry and seven-story apartment building, Pres House is a bustling hub of activity, a “home away from home” for students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The chancel of Richfield UMC, where the remaining members have decided to close after years of faithful ministry. Photos courtesy of Zina Risley
A creative new ministry is underway in various UMC conferences to help declining congregations chart their end and leave behind a lasting gift.
Illustration by Claire Doyle Ragin
A pastor who runs two social enterprises shares his experience on the pros and cons of different models and the tensions inherent in this form of ministry.
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