Note from Dave: Jim Sheppard joins our writer rotation this month. Jim is always a big hit for our weekly Senior Pastor Forum call with his insights and wisdom about church life. He and I brainstormed a list of topics I knew you would want to hear about. Here’s his first one. If you like it, send him a thank you to jim@generis.com
~1000 words - 4 minutes.
Here at Generis, we help hundreds of churches carry out generosity initiatives every year. We love helping churches as they navigate this journey. Walking alongside them, we see how they lead their people and how their leaders and congregations react.
One thing is clear. Most pastors have some anxiety about leading a generosity initiative–anxiety usually rooted in fear. Our role is to help them identify their underlying fear and equip them to lead through it.
Over the years, four common fears have come to light:
1. My congregation won’t buy into the projects.
This fear tops the list. The leadership of the church has spent a good bit of time evaluating what needs to be funded by the next giving initiative. However, they don’t know if the congregation will buy in.
What are you actually asking them to buy into? It’s probably not a project. That’s just the most visible thing. What you are really asking them to buy into is the vision of ministry God has placed on the heart of the church.
In other words, what does the leadership believe God has called the church to be and do over the next 5, 10 or 25 years? This project is just a step on the path to fulfilling the vision.
And it is much more compelling to buy into a vision than it is to any particular project.
2. I don’t want to preach about money.
This fear is an easy one to address. You don’t have to do that during a giving initiative. In fact, we would recommend you NOT do a four- or five-part series solely on giving during a generosity initiative. That message does not land well in a season where you ask people to consider giving more to the church.
If you want to preach a message series focused on giving, do that well in advance of the giving initiative. Do it at a time when you are not asking your congregation to give more. It allows people more time to process the teaching and let it sink in.
There will be a preaching series during the giving initiative, and it is important that this series has a thread running through it about biblical stewardship. However, it can cover other topics that integrate time, gift, talent, or treasure stewardship and still be effective in a generosity initiative.
(Muybridge, Eadweard, 1830-1904, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons -The photo is of “Chickens scared by a torpedo!”)
3. Our attendance will drop when we are doing the initiative.
We often hear this concern. Pastors say, “The last time we did a giving initiative, our attendance dropped significantly.” Our response is, “Why?”
People don’t stop attending church just because you are in the middle of a generosity initiative. There has to be a deeper reason. Was the focus on giving and the initiative boring? Or not relevant? Or, did you just talk about money, money, money?
Many churches have not handled the conversation around giving and the church well over the years. Too often, the conversation becomes all about giving to the church instead of teaching about the importance of giving as part of their relationship with God.
First and foremost, giving is a spiritual issue. Not financial. Spiritual. Giving back to God for the work He wants to do in this world reflects who He is in our lives. Our giving uncovers the object of worship and reverence in our lives.
That is why we give to God. He is the one to be worshiped and revered. We don’t give to fund the church budget or church projects. Those are just the result of what happens when we give to God’s work in and through the church.
When we treat the spiritual discipline of generosity as an exercise in raising a budget or funding capital needs, we nominalize what God designed as a means to grow and refine our faith.
Give people a reason to be excited about attending church in this season. Have a compelling preaching series and promote it exceptionally well. What about a message series focused on taking our church to the next level of mission and vision? And, at the same time, taking your relationship with God to the next level.
4. We won’t hit our financial goals.
That’s a legitimate concern…if that is all you are trying to accomplish. But what if the spiritual goals were primary, not financial goals? We want every family who calls this church their home to engage in a season of prayerful consideration of how God would have you respond to supporting the vision of our church. What if that were the primary goal of the initiative?
Paul said it so well in Philippians 4:17, “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.” If Paul were here, he might say it this way. ”I was excited that you gave to my ministry, but I was far more excited about what happened to you when you gave to my ministry. Your relationship with God moved to a whole new level as a result of your giving to His work.” That is the main point.
Pointing solely to financial goals is not the real goal of a church generosity initiative. Having people engage in an encounter with God as it relates to their money and possessions is a far superior goal. And, you know what? If enough of the people in your congregation take that goal seriously, your financial goals will take care of themselves.
Leading a giving initiative can be daunting. But it doesn’t have to be. Most of the fears you have are unfounded.
Was this post helpful to you? Is there something that hit a familiar note with you? Or perhaps something I missed? I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a line at jim@generis.com.
Jim Sheppard is the principal owner of Generis, a consulting firm devoted to helping churches, schools, and nonprofits accelerate generosity toward God-inspired vision.