Ideas for YouIdeas for Youhttp://www.umstewardshipresources.org/ideas-for-you/2009-04-24T15:49:33ZSquarespaceLeading in Difficult Timeshttp://www.umstewardshipresources.org/ideas-for-you/2009/4/24/leading-in-difficult-times.htmlStewardship Resources2009-04-24T15:13:21Z2009-04-24T15:13:21ZThe following text is taken from a guide presented at the First 90 Days training for pastors in the North Alabama Conference of The United Methodist Church.

We must adjust to changing times and still hold on to unchanging principles. - Jimmy Carter

Pastors are called to lead at all times in the life and history of churches.  Often that leadership is challenged with a variety of factors.  Our most recent challenge is that of a world facing economic crisis.  The challenges presented to pastors and churches are as varied as the churches themselves.  For this reason, the First 90 Days plan for pastors engaged in transitioning to a different or new church will need to include a plan for leading through the challenges of budget adjustments, stewardship attitudes, and the money fear factor.

The First 90 Days plan that you will develop is designed to accelerate your transition in your new ministry experience.  The following strategies and conversations can be combined to lead your church in difficult times.

The most common approach to ledership is simple and applies to the best and worst situations:

  • Common Sense
  • Creativity
  • Collaboration

Leadership Strategy

A strategy to establish a clear plan for leading in difficult times:

  • Lead with vision and Manage with discipline
  • Create and Sustain high performance culture
  • Enhance your members' church experience through Lay Leadership Engagement
  • Nurture your church's brand relationship
  • Learn and Grow from the experience

Communicating Your Leadership

The Five Conversations for Church Leadership and Their Pastor*

*Adapted from The First 90 Days: Critical Strategies for New Leads and All Levels by Michael Watkins

  1. The Situational Diagnosis Conversation
    Leading with Vision and Manage with Change
  2. The Expectations Conversation
    Creating and Sustaining a High Performance Culture
  3. The Style Conversation
    Nurture your Church's Brand Relationship
  4. The Resources Conversation
    Enhance your members' church experience through Lay Leadership Engagement
  5. The Personal Development Conversation
    Learn and Grow from the Experience

Leading with Vision and Manage with Discipline

"Where there is no vision ... the people perish."  We have heard this prophetic proclamation loud and clear for many years in our churches.  It is also true that where there is too much vision ... the people choke out of confusion.  We can become paralyzed by the drive to be a visionary for the sake of vision alone without action.  Leading in difficult times challenges a leader to focus on the main thing.  Discovering or re-affirming the vision, and then managing that vision with discipline is essential.  Here is a strategy within a strategy to accomplish that purpose:

  1. Vision that Works
    1. Know your Purpose
    2. Cast your Vision
    3. Build your Team
  2. Manage with Discipline - best practices in:
    1. Communication
    2. Finance
    3. Trustees
    4. Personnel

Create and Sustain a High Performance Culture

Churches facing difficult times are infamous for just doing what they have to do to get by.  However, the church cannot only grow in such situations; it can become an incubator for future growth and a beacon of hope for the community.  One important way to create that opportunity is to create a high performance culture.

A performance culture, rather than evolving over time in a spontaneous manner, is consciously planned and developed through deliberate actions to maximize productivity.  In a performance culture, anything that stands as a barrier to meeting or exceeding performance expectations is either eliminated or maximized.

  • Shared Direction
    • Vision
    • Strategcy
  • Leadership Focus
    • Values
    • Goals
    • Change
  • Performance Execution
    • Processes
    • Tools and Technology
    • Accountability
    • Execution
    • Organizational Structure
    • Cost Management
    • Decision Making
  • Human Capital
    • Leadership
    • Collective Knowledge
    • Learning
    • Innovation
    • Incentives/Rewards
    • Relationships
    • Teamwork
    • Talent
    • Performance Management

Finding and Growing Lay Leadership

One of the most important keys to a healthy and growing church is the recruitment and development of called and compentent church leaders.  As local churches prepare ot nominate their churhc leaders annually, the Lay Leadership or Nominations Committee is giving the task of building the team, not just filling positions.  Following are three essential components that can be used to build a strong Leadership Team for your church.

  1. Led to Lead
    1. Leadership Characteristics
    2. Leadership Lifestyles (Requirements for Leading)
  2. Building a Church Leadership Team
    1. Clarity of Purpose
    2. Skills and Competencies needed to achieve the vision
    3. Leadership Covenants
  3. Equipping the Team
    1. Leader Identity and Communication
    2. Team Performance and Evaluation
    3. Leader Multiplication

Nurturing Your Church's Brand Relationship

Churches and pastors often get stuck in their minsitry.  One of the reasons that this can happen is that we forget to nurture our church's brand.  As United Methodist we share not only a rich Christian and Wesleyan heritage, but also a strong theological approach to engaging persons in the ministry of making and growing disciples.  We have become too tentative in our proclamation of our unique Wesleyan theology and doctrine.  Following are some ways to move through a renewed brand progression:

Learn and Grow from the Experience

Leadership is rarely effective if it is reactionary alone.  In the context of leading in difficult times it is essential to take the time to observe the situation and then act.  Too often we are tempted to fire-ready-aim rather than ready-aim-fire.  There is also a danger in observing too long.  A great leader will observe and analyze then act in a timely manner.  The key to sustained, effective leadership is evaluation.  Honest, effective evaluation can lead to sustained success that will allow the leader to not only learn, but grow from their experiences.

]]>Managing Anxiety During Stressful Timeshttp://www.umstewardshipresources.org/ideas-for-you/2009/3/10/managing-anxiety-during-stressful-times.htmlStewardship Resources2009-03-10T15:36:40Z2009-03-10T15:36:40ZIn the brochure, Overcoming the Money Fear Factor, Rev. Rick Owen outlined practical ways that congregations can plan for the future and build support for funding their ministries.

In this [article], my focus is on managing anxiety during times of financial stress. How can we respond to the economic pressures and stresses in our world? How will we manage if our savings have been reduced by one-half? How can we respond when our jobs, our homes, and our futures are at risk? As our nation’s economy moves into recession, how can we stay calm and bring our best thinking to the problems that we face? These are real and important questions that will require us all to adapt to new economic realities. What follows is one man’s attempt to think about some practical steps in dealing with the stresses that face us in uncertain economic times.

While the times are uncertain, one thing I am certain about is:

We are anxious.

Money and anxiety are fist cousins; they are not always bound together, but when holidays are approaching or economic tension is high, they stick together like glue. We are anxious when there is not enough money, when there are disagreements on how to spend it, and even when there is too much. In anxious times it is normal for us to absorb some of this anxiety personally. One bit of grace we can all practice is to realize most of us are doing the best we can. Also, if we know a little about anxiety, it can help us be calmer.

Anxiety is not bad. Anxiety is our natural and automatic response to threat. When we feel physically, mentally, nationally or emotionally threatened, our bodies become anxious. We change physiologically and mentally. This is God’s way of helping us stay alive, because if we couldn’t get anxious, we would never know danger and take precautions.

However, a complicating factor for us is that we not only have real threats, we have imagined threats. Someone said that after he turned 60, every time he had a headache, he just knew he had cancer. Most of us have seen enough TV, read enough novels, and seen enough movies to be able to concoct worst case scenarios. So a first step in dealing with anxiety these days is:

Deal with the Real.

In anxious times, we need facts. We know that when it comes to our medical health, we are calmer once we know the facts of our health; that the lump is benign, the headache is just fatigue, or that the abdominal pain is the flu is important information. Knowledge is power when it comes to dealing with anxiety, and facts are our first line of response.

This is why when it comes to our economic health, most experts urge us to make a budget, take stock, and prioritize our spending. Learning the facts of our economic lives will be a foundation on which we can manage our fears.

It is alos a fact that all of us need help every now and then. Not one of us has all the knowledge to understand all there is to know about the economy. But there are people with expertise who can help us think through our financial options. Churches that sponsor economic seminars and make use of finance professionals in their congregations are doing us all a great ministry.

It is also a fact that accuracy is hard to come by. E-mail stories, television, radio, and newspapers need to be double checked before we react. For instance, if the national news is about rising rates of foreclosures, does that mean the same is true in your neighborhood? Facts need checking. Remember the old story of Chicken Little, Henny Penny, and Foxy Loxy? It is worth looking up if you don’t, but it tells the story of how anxiety is contagious and can block our ability to make wise decisions.

Based on facts, we can take a second step to:

Remember who we are.

When it comes to money and economics, the Biblical witness is we are stewards in the house of God. The earth is the Lord’s. The earth, our money, our time, everything that is, is God’s. When a child is born, we thank God for the gift of this child. When you die, we gather and remember that before you were here, you were with God, and we release you back to God. This puts us in the position of caring for rather than possessing life. This orientation changes our work from getting and competing, to managing and caring for what is in our keep. In other words, we are stewards and our work is one of stewardship.

What is stewardship?

Stewardship is the act of being responsible with something that actually belongs to someone else. Based on this definition, every Sunday is Stewardship Emphasis Sunday; it involves all of life — not just money. It is a discipline that all can practice in our own way. The practice of stewardship can define what we do and who we are.

One way of practicing stewardship is to become a steward of your stuff.

Most of us have more stuff than we can manage, and many have to buy storage units to accommodate it. The gap between the amount of stuff we have and our ability to take care of it all is a source of anxiety. This applies to material things as well as stuff to do. When we have more to do than can be done, this creates anxiety.

One way of reducing anxiety is to take as objective a view of yourself as you can, sometimes asking someone you trust to help you be accountable in this. Your goal is to simplify life and put your energy into people and activities that mean something to you. Working on a budget for yourself and your family is a good way to start. It doesn’t have to be complex, but it does have to go by the golden rule of budgeting — spend less than you earn. If you have been living beyond your income, then you are not alone. But, spending less today will help you spend less tomorrow, and you are on a step-by-step process of balancing your financial life.

Living simply is a spiritual discipline that is embraced across the Christian church. Your church library may have resources on simple living, but the best resource may be among your senior members. Many older church members have tips on saving and simple living that would be a great gift for their grand- and great-grandchildren.

Another way of practicing stewardship is to become a steward of self.

When you are stressed, do you begin to think of what you can do differently to manage your stress, or do you earnestly look for someone or something to blame? Most of us will do the latter. Blame is a never-ending activity that solves nothing. The healthy alternative is to take stock of self and change what you can in the way you are dealing with your life. What can you do? Ask yourself the following questions:

  • What spiritual disciplines have you practiced? Which are calming to you? How can you work them back into your life?
  • What forms of exercise can you do? How and when can you add times of activity to your week?
  • How is your nutrition awareness? Do you have access to healthy foods? Are you making the most of your meals?
  • Are you practicing moderation in all things?
  • How is your social life? Do you have friends you can talk to, play with, enjoy? Do you have hobbies that balance you?
  • How are you doing in balancing work, play and prayer? What adjustments are needed?


I agree with all those who believe our lives are a gift from God and that our job is to care for it as well and as long as we can. It is not selfish to take care of yourself. The stewardship of self is a spiritual discipline.

Finally:

The most common commandment in scripture is “Don’t be afraid.” It is what the angels always say. Everyone is anxious these days, but we have choices in the ways we respond to anxiety. Finding ways to lower our fears and embrace our hopes is a good beginning. Biblical people can live with less fear when we adopt the role of a steward and envision our common work as one of stewardship. During these anxious financial times, stewardship becomes a spiritual discipline with far reaching effects.

Written by Dr. Stewart A. Jackson, Pastoral Marriage and Family Therapist, United Methodist Pastoral Care and Counseling, Inc.
]]>Six Essential Elements of Stewardshiphttp://www.umstewardshipresources.org/ideas-for-you/2009/2/1/six-essential-elements-of-stewardship.htmlStewardship Resources2009-02-01T18:00:47Z2009-02-01T18:00:47ZStewardship is more than an annual event to raise funds for the budget. It is the creation of a culture of generosity where Christians learn to be financial disciples of Jesus Christ. Developing a stewardship campaign should include six key elements. These elements are essential if a church is to create a culture of generosity that will sustain growth and ministry.

Clarity of Vision and Purpose

One of the most important motivators for giving is that those who give believe in the mission and purpose of the organization to which they give. Churches must have clarity of vision and purpose to function in ministry, and to offer this vision and purpose to their congregation as a key motivation for their stewardship.

Recognize God's Gifts

All that we have comes from God. Creating a culture of generosity begins with the recognition of God's giftedness to us. God never calls us to a task for which God does not give us the gifts to accomplish it.

Communication of the Vision

Casting the vision with a strategic plan is essential for the success of any stewardship campaign. A comprehensive and detailed approach to communicating the vision and purpose of the ministry of the church allows congregations to engage themselves in a prayerful journey toward living as generous Christians in a changing world.

Stewardship Education

Stewardship is about spiritual growth. It is more than money and finances. This topic is one of the most neglected aspects of spiritual development in most churches. Creating a culture of generosity begins with an intentional approach to stewardship education for all ages.

A Call to Prayerful Engagement and Giving

Most churches and postors live in fear of hearing the words, "all the church ever does is talk about money." The truth is that we rarely talk about money even though it is mentioned in the Bible more than 2,200 times. We are afraid to ask people to be generous. The number one reason people have for not giving to the church is, "I was not asked." We have to challenge our people to prayerfully consider the gifts they give to God.

Provide Opportunities to be Generous

Christians will live out their giftedness when given a variety of opportunities to be generous.  Not all persons give in the same way, and the church needs to be creative in how we provide ways for people to live our their giftedness.

Written by Dr. Rick Owen
]]>The Money Fear Factorhttp://www.umstewardshipresources.org/ideas-for-you/2009/1/5/the-money-fear-factor.htmlStewardship Resources2009-01-05T19:11:00Z2009-01-05T19:11:00ZStock market’s tumbling…mortgage crisis… foreclosures…credit crunch…hundreds of billions of dollars in federal bailouts…retirement fund scares.

These are familiar phrases heard every morning on the news, read in the newspaper, and discussed over dinner. There is a storm cloud hovering over our economy creating uncertainty across the country. How can the church respond to this uncertainty, and meet directly the challenge of overcoming the money fear factor? Like families facing the difficulty of an economy in crisis, churches must be ready to make sound faithful responses to the concerns of its membership and at the same time continue to live out the vision and ministry to which they have been called. The modern church cannot ignore the crisis, nor can it be consumed by it. The answer to the question of response may be best framed in the context of seeking solutions and alternatives, and not simply diagnosing the problems.

Searching for solutions and alternatives to fund ministry is not a new experience for churches. For many years churches have discovered ways to fund their ministry and vision through annual stewardship campaigns, capital campaigns, and establishing foundations for ministry. In the face of growing economic concerns it is time to take a deep breath and return to the basics of stewardship, and develop a plan to fund ministry now and for the future. A plan for funding ministry should include four key elements.

The first step to establishing a ministry funding plan is to reclaim the church’s identity and vision. What is your purpose?

What has God called your church to uniquely do and be? This is much more profound than a visioning process that produces a vision statement. Before a church can talk faithfully about establishing a funding plan it must know who God has called it to be. “Where there is no vision the people perish.” How often have we heard this phrase? However, the search for vision can also consume your purpose. Where there is too much vision the church can choke on confusion. In a time of uncertainty the church must return to the heart of what God has called them to do and be. Reclaim your church’s identity and purpose, and renew the vision that they Holy Spirit has given your church.

Once the church has reclaimed your purpose and vision, match your ministry and budget to the purpose for which you have been called.

This is not as easy as it sounds. The church has to ask some hard questions of its budget and its ministry. Are the ministries that we fund and carry out in our community meeting the vision and purpose to which we are called? When faced with budget crunches in our family budgets we often have to ask these hard questions. We then have to make the decision to cut back in places where we can. The church has to learn to follow this same pattern. The danger is to be reactive and find a way to cut back in broad swaths and percentages. We must learn to be proactive by assuring our congregations that we will maintain our ministry and vision, and make the difficult decisions necessary to be faithful stewards of our vision and our resources. This commitment means that ministries that do not meet the vision and purpose of the church may not be funded. The funding of the ministry of the church is directed only to those ministries which fulfill the mission and vision that God has given to the church.

A plan for funding ministry should also address the Money Fear Factor.


The money fear factor can exist at any time, not just in times of economic uncertainty. There are five factors that case this fear in the church:

  • Not connecting faith and money. We separate faith and money into two separate worlds assuming that when money is mentioned in the Bible it is not referring to money that we spend every day. Mark Vincent in his book, Design for Ministry, said, “When Jesus talks about money, He is referring 95% of the time to money being spent in the marketplace and by the family.”
  • A lack of Stewardship Education. The church has been timid in it’s teaching of what it means to be a faithful giver. We have taught more about patterns for giving such as percentages and estimate of giving cards, and less about how God has gifted each of us to give.
  • The impression that “Stewardship” is a forbidden topic in the congregation. We are afraid that someone will say, “all we ever do is talk about money at church.” So, we don’t talk about money at church. The reality is that Jesus talked more about money possessions and things than any other topic in the Gospels.
  • A lack of personal budget planning and debt. Churches are only beginning to tiptoe in the ministry of assisting their members with discovering the heart of Christian stewardship and personal finance. There are several alternatives and programs of varying investment on the part of the church and/or the participants.
  • The scarcity syndrome is one of the most crippling factors. Money appears scarce and we act to protect our money from competing needs. That leads to having less money to support the congregation and its ministry, which leads to money appearing even more scarce. The alternative to this syndrome is create a positive cycle of abundance in stewardship. Begin with the recognition of the abundant gifts God has given the church. Find creative ways to share those gifts with others, and the result will be to share larger blessings in the community.

 

The final element to be included in a plan to fund ministry is to turn fear into ministry.

The church has long been the lighthouse of faith and hope for communities around the world. This has been true because churches have not only claimed their vision, but they have lived that vision out in hands on ministry. In the midst of uncertainty, God has given the church a great opportunity for ministry. There are three areas from which churches can begin to make a difference immediately:

  • Begin or renew a commitment to teach Biblical Stewardship stressing stewardship not in terms of finances, but giftedness and spiritual growth.
  • Begin money conversations with your members as a fulfillment of your pastoral role. As people face difficult decisions in their own lives and families, become comfortable with leading our members in how faithful Christians manage the resources that God has given them.
  • Begin new programs and seminars on money management such as Good Sense, Money Matters, and more. There are many of these programs that are inexpensive and can be taught by members of your congregation.


It is time for the church to reclaim its position as the beacon of Christ’s light in the world. That beacon has long represented faith, hope and love. In the difficult days of economic uncertainty, we must once more reclaim our heritage of strength and stability. We must make hard choices as we face these uncertain times, and we must begin to turn the fear into ministry.

Written by Dr. Rick Owen
]]>Year-End Givinghttp://www.umstewardshipresources.org/ideas-for-you/2008/12/12/year-end-giving.htmlStewardship Resources2008-12-12T18:57:01Z2008-12-12T18:57:01ZAt the close of every year churches experience an increase in giving to their ministry budgets. There are several reasons for the increase including persons completing or catching up on their pledges, persons who are led by God to give an extra gift to the ministries of the church, and persons who traditionally wait to year-end to give from the blessings God has shared with them. All of these gifts are faithful responses to God’s extravagant generosity.

This year, as we face uncertain economic times, it is important to remind people of the vital ministries that your church is carrying out in the world and to encourage them to once more share their gifts with the church.
Below are a few ideas for you to include in your Year-End Newsletter or as a note on your website. We want to help you continue to live out the vision that the Holy Spirit has placed before your church by helping create a renewed stewardship culture.

Newsletter/Website Quips

Intentional Giving
Thank you for your love and commitment to (Church Name). Thanks to you, (Church Name) has provided vital ministries to our community and to the world in the name of Jesus Christ. In the past few weeks we have watched the financial landscape of our world change dramatically. As you become more intentional about your spending, we encourage you to be even more intentional about your giving. Join us in sharing the blessings God has given us with our church as the year comes to a close.

Lifestyle Giving
People give to the church in many ways. Some persons pledge and give weekly or monthly; some give graciously to special projects, and others graciously share the gifts that God has given them at the close of each year. All of these are ways of being faithful lifestyle-givers. Thank you for continuing to grow our ministry through your gifts.

Holiday Giving
Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany are special seasons of giving. This year we challenge you to prayerfully consider a special year-end gift to the ministries of (Church Name). These gifts will allow us to continue to provide faithful ministries within our church, to the community and the world.

Fulfilling Our Commitment
Wall Street and Main Street have suffered this year as financial markets have fluctuated. History has proven that Church Street is the one place that people have continued to fulfill their financial commitment. Giving to charitable organizations in general, and churches in particular, has gone up in times of national or global economic crisis. We ask that you join us in fulfilling our commitment to mission and ministry at (Church Name) by sharing your year-end gift.

Written by Dr. Rick Owen
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