Getting your Board on Board
Getting your Board on Board I was blessed to have a succession of very positive parish councils (church boards). In 1995 they paid for my wife Helen and me to visit some large churches in America and attend a church seminar. Their investment was repaid many times as I brought back a plethora of ministry […]
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Getting the most from your Church Board
Getting the most from your Church Board You have possibly heard stories of a minister who has some dynamic ideas to promote and expand the ministry of the church, only to have it all shot down in flames by a cautious board or a reluctant treasurer. The minister can get depressed, feel like giving up […]
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Live the Vision To Fund the Ministry
Live the Vision or Pay the Bills Some years ago, Christian Smith and Micheal Emerson with Paricia Snell wrote a wonderful book, Passing the Plate about giving to churches in the United States. One concept has stayed with me. They wrote that there are two types of churches where money is concerned. One is a […]
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Should a Christian still tithe to day?
Should a Christian still tithe today? To tithe or not to tithe is still a question that can stir passions among Christians. A central figure in the church history of tithing is the towering figure of probably the greatest monarch of the early Middle Ages, Charlemagne, (Charles the Great) who lived from about 740 to […]
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Marriage, The Christian Way
Marriage, The Christian Way: Building a Christian Marriage In December 2025 I will have been married to my wife Helen for fifty-four years. But marriage is not a set and forget deal. So, I am always keen to keep learning and growing. Thus, I was delighted to receive a new marriage book entitled Marriage, The […]
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Would Anyone want to visit your church?
Would anyone want to go to visit church? I recently received an enquiry for copies of my book Giving Generously from St James Anglican Church, Gerards Cross in Buckinghamshire UK, just outside the London sprawl and on the road to Oxford. I was somewhat chuffed to receive an international request for a purchase and decided […]
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Approaching Generous Donors for a large Gift
Approaching a Generous Donor for a large Gift While it is important that all members of the church support the ministry and not rely on one or two very large donors, it is also certain that there will be some projects whose costs are substantial. Such projects may well require the support of successful business […]
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AI Sermon Enhancement
AI Sermon Enhancement Some years ago, I did a church crawl in the United States and heard the celebrated Baptist pastor Rick Warren speak. One thing I learned among many, was that Rick had a volunteer preaching research team. He would email this team the passage he was going to preach on and the general […]
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Be Strong and Courageous
Be Strong and Courageous Raising money for ministry can be a daunting procedure. It can be particularly daunting if it involves visioning, preparing and planning for a major building project and then raising the money and seeing the project to completion. Ministers are generally not prepared for this, and by and large, neither are church […]
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The Importance of Trust
The Importance of Trust Some years ago, when I led a giving campaign to raise funds for a new building at Figtree Anglican, the congregation gave magnificently. There was one gift that quite amazed me. A person in their early to mid-twenties, who was part of our young adult cohort, pledged a sum that took […]
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