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Melissa Florer-Bixler: What does it mean to forgive our debtors?
Debt is a crushing issue for many in our congregations, but creative churches are offering a path to freedom, a pastor writes.
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Melissa Spas: How do you fundraise and ask for major gifts? Don't pitch. Nurture relationships first.
Fundraising is about forming relationships, sharing the mission of your organization, and inviting others to participate, writes the managing director for the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving.
Illustration by Jessamyn Rubio / Photos: WikimediaCommons / CDC
Will the church financially survive the COVID-19 pandemic?
Twelve Christian leaders share their thoughts on how the coronavirus pandemic might affect the financial health and sustainability of American churches.
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Questions to guide organizational change during tough economic times
Sometimes institutional leaders are focused on survival. These questions can help shift thinking toward thriving, even in a climate of scarcity.
Quiz: How to fill the collection plate
Nurturing cheerful givers is more challenging than ever during an economic downturn. New research provides important insights that could boost the financial and spiritual health of congregations. Take our quiz to test your knowledge of church giving trends.
William G. Enright: Money is like a vital sign
Three and a half years after the beginning of the Great Recession, data are beginning to show the toll it has taken on congregations, says the executive director of the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving.
Quiz: Investing for sustainability
Many congregations have endured staff cutbacks, salary freezes and deferred maintenance in response to the recession. But one budget area that may need to be increased, even in hard economic times, is programming, recent research suggests. Take our quiz to test your knowledge of the relationship between economics and congregational health.
Prince Rivers: Rethinking generosity
Many congregations have less money coming in now than five years ago. But in the wake of a double-dip recession, can churches still create new ways to give the money they do have?
Gannon Sims: Word renovation
Our vocabulary, on matters both institutional and faithful, can become dulled.
Tom Arthur: "Good to Great" not so great
The book hasn’t aged well amidst The Great Recession. What of the church plants built in its image?