1. People may be switching to electronic giving and consequently to more regular giving. It is true that there has been a major shift to giving on-line over the last decade or so. However, many have not opted in. These include people with theological objections who simply want to place their money in a physical plate. It can also include older members who are cautious about technology, regularly attend services and see no need to change. With services cancelled and no definite idea of when meeting physically can resume, some of these groups may have decided that on-line giving via technology isn’t so bad after all.
2. Ministers are being very creative in thinking about the on-line Sunday services, and making them crisper and emphasizing relevance. Sermons are getting shorter! There is no longer, the same old same old, but a brand new day. A friend even told me he now wears theatrical make-up on his face for his on-camera appearances. This may seem a small point but it shows how this new Covid world has forced us out of old, perhaps staid patterns into fresh ways of communicating. There is a key statement about raising resources. It is that ‘money follows vision’. In the emergency of this Covid era, churches are being forced to reassess exactly what they are on about and sharpen and clarify their reason for being.
3. People may be feeling more connected. That seems quite counter intuitive. Let me explain. Some years ago when the church at Figtree was attempting to raise significant resources for a new building, we organized a visitation to every member of the parish. The visitors carried a pack explaining the project and an audio message (it was some years ago) from me with a greeting and a further explanation of the project. There was opportunity to share prayer points and give feedback. Almost every attender was involved in some way and it certainly embedded the project in the consciousness of the church community. The whole operation was so well received that we repeated it the next year purely for pastoral purposes.

I suspect something similar to the above reasons, is happening in many good churches at the moment. Pastors understand the danger of disconnection and so have made extraordinary efforts to have pastoral teams ring around the church contact list on a regular basis. People who have never gotten a call for years are now receiving contact and offers of care, all the time. I can’t remember a time when I have felt so loved. As an introvert I almost feel over-loved!!! (I am not really complaining.) There are phone calls, texts, suggested prayer points, zoom prayer meetings, home groups and evangelism on zoom and I am sure much more. As a result I suspect many people are feeling more connected than ever. When you feel connected, giving increases.

There may be many other reasons for an upswing in giving. I would be happy to hear them. However, if you are a minister in a church where the giving is going the wrong way, it could be of course that your congregation is suffering from unemployment or cash flow crises and in need of more pastoral support. But if that is not the case and the giving is flagging, maybe paying more attention to some of the points above,  may get the curve going the right way again. For more information on raising resources in a church setting, see my Book Giving Generously. Buy the Book

Recently I was browsing at the financial section of the newspaper and I came upon a comment from a business writer. He commented that there was a mantra in market circles, ‘Never sell CSL.’

He was referring to the darling of the Australian stock market, listed company CSL. This is a biotechnology company specializing in blood plasma and vaccines among other products. It is responsible for the flu shots we all get in April and is involved in the search for a vaccine to immunize us against Covid-19.This company was founded in 1923 as The Commonwealth Serum Laboratory and over the years has worked treatments for diabetes, diphtheria, polio and HIV.

In 1994 it was floated on the stock market for $2.30 per share. As I write the share price is a whopping $328 having reached $350 just before the pandemic disrupted the world. $10,000 invested in 1994 would be worth $1.3 Million today with dividends of $140,000. I have heard stories of grateful investors who have bought houses for their children from the profits. There are a number of reasons for CSL’s success. They do business in a segment of the health space that is growing and profitable. They have made some judicious acquisitions that has positioned them well in overseas markets such as the USA. They do not pay big dividends, constantly recycling profits back into the business.  A significant proportion of those profits are spent in Research and Development, constantly ensuring a pipeline of profitable new products.

However what caught my eye was the following statement about the CEO Paul Perreault, who was speaking at a Health Care conference in San Francisco (The Australian 18/1/2019).

 CSL’s success comes down to a single sentence Mr (Paul) Perreault uttered at the conference:

‘We continue to deliver.’

Investors, whether they are intuitional investors or just mums and dads, will continue to buy shares in a company that year in and year out delivers consistent returns and just keeps on getting better. This article is not about the stock market. I certainly don’t have any desire to imply that I have any expertise in investment. I am not recommending buying or selling CSL. However I do believe the words, ‘We continue to deliver’ are an appropriate aspiration for any church leaders.

Church leaders desire people to support, or ‘invest’ both time and money in the ministry. Parishioners have many different calls on their time and are being wooed by many worthy causes for their dollars. So if you, as a church leader, want your parishioners to support your local ministry, you have to make it worth supporting.

Now I completely agree that all true spiritual fruit come from God. St Paul wrote:

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 1 Cor 3:6

But that does not deny ministers’ responsibility to persevere, to labour effectively and productively to ‘continue to deliver’ as much as it relies on them.

Thus I always believed that if I wanted people to support the ministry at Figtree, I needed to project a tangible life changing, God glorifying vision of the future and demonstrate year in and year out that we were making demonstrable progress toward that goal. If you do this, people absolutely love it and will give their resources to support it. My desire was that every year we would make a specific advance in our ministry so that more people in different demographics were being blessed and hearing the life changing message of Jesus and growing in their faith. In addition there was always some form of building improvement to support the ministry advancement. People could both see and experience progress.

So how about you? If you haven’t done anything like this, start small, pray hard, make sure you deliver, celebrate success and thank supporters. Thus you will build trust to make further advances the next year and the next. If you do this consistently it is unlikely that lack of money will be a problem in resourcing your ministry.

The gospel of Jesus is far more powerful than a vaccine. So perhaps, ‘We continue to deliver in God’s strength could be a good slogan for you too.

For more on this topic see my book Giving Generously. Buy the Book.

Mr Brown simply read the church roll. That’s it! There was no more. That was the message in its entirety: all one hundred and thirty names. What is more it was not rushed in delivery but a slow, steady movement through the list. Further the names were read in full: John Malcolm Hughes, Benjamin Robert Ingram and so on. I can remember being astonished beyond all measure and sharing my bewilderment with some other young adults after the service who evinced similar sentiments.

As I reflect on this strange episode there are a couple of issues that stand out. First, at least Mr Brown addressed the topic. Some might feel that the way he chose to do so could have been counterproductive but at least he had a go. Many ministers shy away from any mention of money issues for fear of offending the congregation. So I give Mr Brown good marks for courage.

Secondly, I can excuse his effort somewhat because ministers are generally not taught how to preach on money, then or now. Thus they embark on ministry where finances will be a concern week in and week out, with almost no teaching on how to raise resources or to preach on a topic that is admittedly sensitive. I was certainly in that category despite having attended a first rate theological college for whose training I am constantly grateful.

So here are a few pointers about  how you might attempt to preach on raising resources:

1. Acknowledge that it is a sensitive subject, but speak confidently into it. Ministers get into trouble when they dither around or get angry and defensive. I preached my last money message about six weeks before I left my parish of Figtree. I commenced with a big smile saying something like, ‘this will be the very last time you will hear me preach on money so I have determined to it my very best shot. So buckle up and here goes!’
2. Remind people of the goodness, grace, glory, and generosity of God. God is our Maker, our owner and everything we have is due his extraordinary blessing.

I love the way King David puts it as he celebrates the money raised for the temple.

Wealth and honour come from you; you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.
 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. 1Chron 29:12-13

3. Remind people that the most extraordinary instance of God’s grace is in the giving of his Son, the Lord Jesus. God is a Giver. He gave his only son.
4. Remind people that even though they might work hard, ultimately their wealth all comes from God. King David continued,

Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand and all of it belongs to you. 1Chron 29:16

5. Remind people that giving is an opportunity for immense spiritual growth because ‘where your treasure is there will your hearts be also’. (Matt 6:21)
6. Connect your request to the ministry future of the church, not the debts or financial shortfall. Remember that ‘Money follows Vision’.
7. Don’t beat about the bush. Make a clear request for financial commitment. Moses did (Exodus 35). David did (1Chronicles 29). The apostle Paul did (2 Corinthians 8 & 9). Why shouldn’t you?

I wish I could have discussed these points with Mr Brown but I think we were both clueless.

For more on this topic see my book, Giving Generously Buy the Book

Related Articles

 Preaching a Generosity Message

 Constructing a Commitment Preaching Series

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How do you make an appeal for raising money? Here I am talking about the tone and manner of the appeal. I have heard of ministers who have an accusing, belligerent, almost hectoring tone, accusing people of neglecting to support the minister’s pet project. That is rarely going to be fruitful. Alternatively, others can adopt an almost apologetic manner of speech, forgetting that here is a wonderful opportunity to challenge people about their Christian priorities.

I was moved to ponder this issue on Easter Sunday as I listened to the singing at online church. My mind was taken back to the Easter services at the Methodist church of my youth where we would sing the famous hymn, Christ Arose. I was always thrilled by the triumphant chorus that began.

Up from the grave he arose with a mighty triumph o’er his foes.

I decided to research its author and I found it had been written by an American Baptist minister Robert Lowry (1826-1899). Lowry was gifted musically and not only wrote hymns but was very active in producing and editing hymnals. Among his compositions are the famous hymns  Nothing But the Blood of Jesus and Shall We Gather at the River.

Curiously the writing of Shall We Gather has a distinct resonance with our Covid-19 worries of today. In the summer of  1864 Lowry was ministering in Brooklyn. It was frightfully hot and the city was being struck by a typhus/typhoid plague. New York is suffering terribly during this current crisis but it is salutary to remember that it was regularly afflicted by plagues in the C19th and early C20th. The plague of 1864, while dwarfed by the Spanish Flu of 1918 on the city, was still quite severe. As he was severely stricken by the heat, Lowry thought of the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God in Revelation 22 and penned his famous hymn.

Despite his musical talents, Lowry far more saw his ministry as preaching and he was very highly regarded for powerful sermons.  In 1869, at the invitation of Dr Loomis, President of the University at Lewisburg, Robert moved with his family to take up the position of Professor of Rhetoric and Pastor of the Baptist Church.  Writing in the Union County Historical Society, Dan McDavitt records the following.

The chapel of the new church was dedicated in February 1869, the entire church in June 1870. The financial report indicated the new construction had a debt of $20,000. The Centennial History of Bucknell University indicates the “Rev. Dr. Robert Lowry, then Professor of Literature in the University (and beyond doubt one of the world’s great orators as well as being its leading hymn writer) …”in his sweetly persuasive way…..asked the congregation to subscribe, then and there, half of the remaining $20,000.” The congregation was “small and not too prosperous,” but “so moving were Dr. Lowry’s remarks that before the meeting was closed the entire $10,000 he asked for was subscribed”.

What caught my attention was the’ sweetly persuasive’ way in which Lowry addressed the congregation. Yes, he was a wonderfully moving preacher, but it would be incorrect to think that he had somehow manipulated the people. Rather he was a genuine Christian of great integrity and the wonderful devotional words of his hymns were merely an outward expression of his inner character.

So how did Lowry raise resources? He was obviously direct. $10,000 was needed and he brought that need before the congregation. But he did it in a ‘sweet and persuasive’ way.

For more on this topic of raising resources for a church building see my book Giving Generously where I discuss having a gracious way to ask.

I was driving through Brisbane recently and I saw a sign on a church notice board that I must confess filled me with gloom. It said, ‘Hall for Hire’. Sounds innocuous! So what is the problem? First, it was a very prominent sign close to a very busy intersection in a location that made it hard to miss. A church’s main business is proclaiming Jesus so surely something about Jesus would be infinitely better than advertising hall hire.

By contrast a friend sent me a church sign sighted on the notice board of an Anglican church in the southern Sydney region.

The sign is eye catching, humorous and contemporary (in the era of the Corona virus). It proclaims Jesus in a way that makes everyone sit up and take notice. I can imagine there will be some who won’t agree but I take my hat off to that kind of creativity. It indicates to me that there probably is a smart leader and a positive ministry going on at that church. Someone is certainly minding the store.

‘Hall for Hire’ says something quite different to me anyway. It says we are struggling and we are out of ideas and short on money. That really is not the sort of image I want to be proclaiming to the community.

I see another problem. Often churches do hire out their halls and then use the money to prop up the ministry. This is a very slippery slope from which there is often no return. I heard of one church that had permanently rented both their halls to a parachurch organization. This meant that it was almost impossible to start a youth or children’s ministry or run any sort of midweek activity.

What is the answer? Most churches don’t have a money problem; they have a vision problem. The answer is to start ministries that will utilize the halls. You won’t be able to fill it up seven days a week if you are starting from scratch but that should be the aim. There is absolutely no reason why a vision team can’t be formed to examine what God-glorifying gospel ministry could be run for men, women, children or youth in the space. At the very least, I would be considering running some form of midweek large group bible teaching or course on evangelism, leadership, church history or Christian ethical issues where I would import top quality speakers. A playgroup to engage local families or easy English to make contact refugees could be other options. In other words, anything positive to show we meant business for the kingdom of God. The longer aim would be to commence a range of other ministry groups.

This of course will take the pressure off the finances because more ministry means more people and more people whose hearts are touched by God mean more pockets and purses open for generous giving. The cycle then continues.

I have hesitated to write this article because I know there will be all sorts of situations and there may be very good reasons why your church is a glorious exception to what I have been saying. So please don’t see me as an unfeeling, uncaring person, unsympathic to the reality of church life in difficult ministry settings. What I am hoping for is that if you are in the position of having a Hall for Hire this post will stimulate you to pray, plan for, and activate ministries to fill the hall so it won’t need to be for hire any more.

In a previous post, Constructing a Commitment Preaching Series, I discussed the creation of a commitment preaching series based on Ephesians 4 and 5. In this post I discuss a way of preaching for a financial commitment within that series. I must stress that I say ‘a’ way. I don’t mean ‘the’ way as I am sure there are many ways someone could preach faithfully on the text. These are just some ideas from how I might attempt it.

This sermon is third in the series and I provisionally called it a Transformed Thief, perhaps not the best title but it fitted with the rest of the series. John Stott in his commentary God’s New Society spoke of this text as From Burglar to Benefactor.

The key verse is:  

Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Eph 4:28

First, while I generally believe in the importance of context, I wouldn’t spend too much time on context in this message. The reason is that this message is nested within a series of six messages on living out the Christian life in the light of our standing in Christ. This context should form part of the series and referred to visually by putting off and putting on a set of clothes each week to emphasize the new standards of the kingdom. I do not feel an extended discussion of the context is necessary here.

Second, it is a good discipline to preach on a text. I love preaching on passages but I can bog down in too many details when I have a lengthy passage with extended content.

Third, this verse is an old time preacher’s delight. It breaks up very neatly into three points; Stop stealing, Do useful work, Share your earnings. The text does not have to be massaged, distorted or manipulated to divide into three heads. However, as this is a commitment series, the point to keep in mind is that aim of the entire series is to ask the congregation to make a financial commitment to the ministry and the vision of the church. Thus while it may be quite correct in another context to spend equal time on each of the three sections , here I would use the first two headings as stepping stones to the third point which would be the major point of this message.

Fourth, I was particularly struck, when I read this passage for the first time by how much my mind was conditioned by my secular environment. I mused that if I had been writing the text I might easily have written the first two parts,

Don’t steal and work usefully, but I probably would have concluded with something like; ‘so you will be able to provide for your own family.’

But St Paul doesn’t do that. He concludes, ‘that they may have something to share with those in need’. He is putting sharing or generosity front and centre as an integral part of the new life required as a committed follower of Jesus.

Fifth, I love visual aids as so many of our congregation process information visually. So I would try to put a set of three stairs on the platform where the lowest stair is labelled STOP STEALING and the second , WORK USEFULLY both leading to the third stair which is GIVE GENEROUSLY.

Sixth, the message would continue by giving the vision of the church and highlighting the gospel

projects and ministry advances that the church was hoping to step into in the coming year. As the particular recipients of generosity in the text are the needy, it is always proper to include a Mercy project in the church’s ministry goals.

Seventh, I would then reiterate that I am asking the congregation to sign the commitment cards and contribute to one of a number of special projects and ask them to return their cards on Commitment Day on week 6

Finally, points 6 and 7 above need to be explored and applied and so I would spend at least half my time here.

For an illustration of a great and fruitful message on this verse listen to the audio preached my friend Ron Irving, senior Minister of St Matthews West Pennant Hills, Imagine a church of Radical Generosity . For more on preaching on Commitment Series see my book, Giving Generously.

Buy the Book

Related Post: The Use of Money

 At about 9pm after supper, we would reassemble in the lounge. There I would say something like, ‘I would like to share with you where I see the church going over the next few years. Nothing is set in concrete at this stage. It has not been signed off in any detail by the parish council. But these are the sorts of things that on my heart. I would just like to talk about them and get your feedback.’

Then I would give an overview of the ministries we would like to start, the staff members we would need to support them, the buildings we might need to house them. I would encourage the room to ask questions, seek clarification and challenge the assumptions. Sometimes people would want to know why certain past decisions had been made. Other times a group member might make a really good suggestion which I endeavoured to act on later and acknowledge when it came to pass.But overall I wanted to let people know that the church was not on autopilot and that the leadership were actively thinking planning and praying about our future.

At 10 pm promptly I would thank them, pray for them and conclude the evening as I did not want them to feel they were stuck till the wee hours.

Could these evenings have been for dinner? Helen and I certainly had people over for meals on many occasions but for these particular evenings we preferred dessert and coffee. Over dessert and coffee you can invite more people and they are far easier to host and maintain. Remember the purpose of the evenings is to have a friendly relational way to speak into the lives of as many people as possible and to keep doing so over many years. It is often the persistence with a ministry like this that ultimately makes it effective.
All it needs is a bit of Sense and Sensitivity and the evening is a wonderful form of low key Persuasion. I am sure Jane would agree.

Buy the Book

See also the article The Importance of Vision

The key to a commitment preaching series is that you don’t preach multiple sermons on money. (There may be exceptions to this if a series on money management is helpful or there has been a stock market crash of the order of the GFC.) I generally embedded one or two sermons on money in a series related to either personal spiritual growth or the vision of the church. It is relatively easy to do this because money, its uses and its pitfalls, appears in numerous books of the bible.

The following is an example of a series from the book of Ephesians.

After the wonderful doctrinal section Ephesians 1-3 laying out God’s purposes, the apostle Paul turns to the implications for Christian living. He speaks of putting off the old self and putting on the new in the way you might discard a shabby old set of clothes and dress in a brand new wardrobe.  

For the commitment series I propose that a 6 week series could be constructed on the implications of being a fully committed Christian. The object of the series would not simply be to educate but to inspire and to give opportunity for some kind of response that would include a financial challenge.

I would give it a series title such as: Living a Transformed Life

 I suggest preaching six messages around the specific practical issues raised in Eph 4:32 -5:4. These are simply and helpfully broken up with his customary clarity by John Stott in his commentary, God’s New Society. Each verse, or set of verses, is relational and indicates clearly the change in standards. They also give wonderful theological reasons for the commands that would save the preaching series from a descent into moralism.

I would probably pluck out Eph 5:1-2 and use it as an overall verse for the entire series.

 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

The put off, put on theme could be visualized by some form of clothing change at each message of the series. Creative people in the congregation will probably have a field day producing some memorable visual images that would reinforce the thrust of the series.

The detail of the series could be as follows.

1 Transformed Truthfulness Eph 4:25

2 Transformed Temper Eph 4:26-27

3 Transformed Thief Eph 4:28

4 Transformed Tongue Eph 4:29-30

5 Transformed Temperament Eph 4:31-32

6 Transformed in Thanksgiving Eph 5:3-4

Sermon 6 would be preached on Commitment Day. Normally I would preach the sermon relating to money, generosity or finances, the week before Commitment Day, ie week five. Here the ‘money sermon’, which would highlight the virtue of generosity, would fall naturally on week three. However since a properly communicated series will be highlighted in notices, videos and dramas throughout the six weeks, the generosity message will not be diluted too much.

I recognize that any attempt to produce alliterative titles may be a little artificial but I proffer these as an example of what may be attempted. If you can improve on these, well and good. I also recognize that these six are very short passages, sometimes even a verse. Some preachers may like more verses to play with. However, while I understand the old saying that a text without a context is a pretext for a proof text, I don’t believe that this stricture applies here as each text is part of the whole series, which would supply the context each week. This series would allow the preacher to preach both topically, thus focussing the application, and as exposition, drawing out the specific insight of one or two texts. Further, if there is an objection that you need to preach on the whole book, simply preach on preceding sections of Ephesians earlier in the year and later sections on a subsequent occasion.

I commend the above series to you. There is another sample commitment series on Philippians in my book Giving Generously. Buy the book.

I have heard a preacher lament that most of his congregation were tippers rather than tithers. He meant of course that when it came to giving, he felt the people were giving the ‘loose change’ of their income rather than proactively and conscientiously planning to give a tithe, ten percent of their income,to God’s work. Certainly statistics of church giving seem to bear that out with somewhere about three percent being the average figure that is given. That minister obviously felt the ministry would financially flourish if the congregation had a tithing mentality rather than a tipping frame of mind.

I pondered this thought recently as I contemplated a trip to North America. Australia does not have a tipping culture and on my first trip some years earlier, I remember thinking it was outrageous that people, like waiters and porters, should get extra money just for doing their job. Since then,  with a little more wisdom and experience, I have modified my opinions. First it was explained to me that people in service industries are not well paid and the tipping culture of North America is the way that their remuneration can reach respectable levels. Second, the prospect of an excellent tip is a driver of above average service. I remember a waitress in Los Angeles fairly dancing attendance on our every need and explaining that she was in line for employee of the month with a big bonus and invited us to rate her highly, which we duly did. I generally receive reasonably good service in Australian restaurants but nothing like that provided by that lady.

Now I understand the system I don’t resent paying a tip anymore. The issue now is what is appropriate. Cafes and restaurants were not a problem as I gather that ten to 15 percent is an acceptable figure sometimes just automatically added to the bill. But it is porters, tour guides and cabbies that provide a puzzle. On one bus tour no one seemed to tip the guide, but on the next tour everyone seemed to be tipping.

As we were going on a cruise we booked a mini cab for six people to the cruise terminal. Thinking I had nearly mastered the system, I had the appropriate number of dollars ready for the driver. But I had forgotten the hotel porter who was hovering like a predatory eagle ready to move my bags two metres from the hotel entrance to the curb edge.

Then at the cruise terminal the driver unloaded our bags, received his tip, and I turned around expecting to pull my bag to find yet another porter and consequently another tip. Later in restaurants I found the EFTPOS machines required a number of stages before I could actually pay the bill. That included OK-ing the amount  Then I was directed to another screen where the tip percentage was nominated, and then finally I could pay. As I have said, I don’t resent tipping anymore but it takes a little time for a boy from down under to get used to it.

But what about being a tither or a tipper in church? I realised after giving my first restaurant tip, it was probably better to be a tipper than a tither. That was because a tithe is ten percent but that is a stingy tip. A generous tip is 15 percent or more. As someone who has written a book entitled Giving Generously I figured I ought to be a generous tipper.

So now if it is between tipping and tithing I am recommending, be a tipper, a generous tipper which will certainly exceed the tithe.