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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.
At Una Familia, mothers and volunteers work with children in a summer tutoring program on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Leaders of Una Familia took part in the Ministry Accelerator workshops to help them expand the size and impact of their ministry. Photos by David B. Hollingsworth
Virginia United Methodists are helping established ministries expand by teaching them new skills in a two-day “accelerator” program.
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A youth pastor who began a church-based social enterprise shares advice for others interested in this kind of ministry. The three initial phases are discernment, consulting with the community and testing.
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Many congregations dream of being places of radical welcome, but that vision is not sustainable through tithing alone. It’s time to think differently about how to accomplish such work, writes the executive director of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.
The Rev. Dr. Michael Bell looks out the window of the Wilson Renaissance Complex, a downtown building that has been renovated by the nonprofit arm of Bell's congregation, St. John AME Zion Church. Photo by Alex Maness
An enterprising leader of St. John AME Zion Church pushed his congregation to revive its dormant nonprofit and undertake an ambitious plan to buy and improve seven properties in a historically African-American area of Wilson, North Carolina.
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Crowdfunding offers congregations a way to broaden their concept of stewardship, with opportunities to expand the focus, audience and reach of fundraising efforts, says an expert on stewardship and congregational giving.
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What’s your personal mission? That question is the first step in the ministry of fundraising, and helps keep the focus on serving God, not just raising money, writes the director of stewardship development for one of the largest PCUSA churches in the nation.
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