I Keep Churches Open By Keeping Their Offerings Full!

“So, what is the essence of what I do? Using my God given gifts, I KEEP CHURCHES OPEN BY KEEPING THEIR OFFERINGS FULL!” I wrote this sentence in a post this past Monday. On Wednesday afternoon I sat down outside with a blank legal pad and my mind began thinking about this all over again. If you haven’t read the Monday post I am referring to here is the link, https://acts17generosity.com/how-the-essence-of-your-message-determines-your-outcome/

Boiled down to the basics, the essence of what I do is help churches raise more money to do more ministry. With the current stress on giving, now more than ever the skills God has equipped me with are needed. My passion is to help your proverbial offering plate, physical or digital to be full. I am as passionate about this week’s offering as I am about helping Joel Osteen raise $100 million. I have worked with top 100 churches and churches running 100. I work with anybody and everybody who is working to extend the Kingdom of God. That is the essence of what I do.

As I continue to think about this I realized that it begs the question, how? The answer is that, I put churches on the path to financial security.

Why is that important? Giving data shows that at the current rate of decline, by 2050 Americans will decrease the percentage of what they give to churches by 50%!

29 years from now your church, unless you prepare now, will probably cease to exist. If you do survive your ability to do ministry or even pay the preacher will be greatly curtailed. COVID19 has I believe sped up the decline. Another factor endangering a full offering plate is your key donor group, Baby Boomers are retiring. The Church is in for challenging days ahead. The church that survives into the future is the church that prepares for tomorrow today!

Back to the question of how? I am going to share with you one of the first important keys I teach my client churches. In fact what I am about to share with you is the first sentence of my first training session. Here is the first key to financial stability,

Forget everything “they” taught you about giving.

I now look at every book, article or post to see if it was written pre-COVID or post-COVID. Why? Because everything changed almost over night and what once worked doesn’t work any longer. Besides some assumptions that we have been operating under are simply wrong. Let me illustrate.

“Before we planted our church we went around the neighborhood and asked people what they didn’t like about church.” Ever hear that story? Many of the super-mega pastors tell that story. The answer that they say they got most was, “All the church ever talks about is money.” So, what did we do? We never talk about money and some even stopped passing a plate or bucket or even mentioning giving. Unknowingly by downplaying the offering or eliminating it, we devalued generosity.

It was a good question interpreted the wrong way! It is not that you talk about money that drives people away but how you talk about money that turns them off. To prove that all you need to do is look at the results of charitable giving. Americans are now giving over $400 billion dollars a year to non-profits. Americans are incredibly generous if you know how to make the “ask.” Go to any non-profits webpage and look at how they ask for money. It’s not that you ask but how.

I teach clients the how. That is a huge key in launching you down the path of financial security. What to know the second key I teach?

You must get over your fear of talking about money and to those that have money.

One negative result of the Contemporary Church is that we have so de-valued the offering that we seldom if ever preach on the topic or talk about it. One goal I have for my clients is,

I’m going to show you how to talk about money without talking about money so you’ll receive more money!

More money in your plate allows you to do more missions and ministry. If you don’t start now you might find yourself looking for a job as you are closing the doors of your church.

Here is the deal. There is no going back to the way things were. Not immediately and perhaps never. There is a path forward and my team is on it! Join us! https://acts17generosity.com/memberships/

Mark Brooks – The Stewardship Coach

@stewardshipman