UPCOMING STEWARDSHIP ACADEMY #1

            The Stewardship Academy has been announced, both on my blog last week and on the Upper New York Conference website, and in this week’s Conference Digest. It will be held on Saturdays, April 23^rd, May 21^st, June 18^th and July 16^th. At least the first three will be held via Zoom.

            There are a few books that I am suggesting to participants, which I wanted to talk about here, to encourage folks who are considering participating in the Academy, to consider reading.

 Ministry and Money by Janet T. Jamieson and Philip D. Jamieson. This book is, for me, a great read. The co-authors are husband and wife, with the wife being a Certified Public Accountant and the husband being an ordained elder. The book combines, in a wonderful way, money and faith. It is written to help pastors, in particular, better understand church finances, reports and budgets. All the stuff we don’t learn in seminary

Generosity Rising: Lead a Stewardship Revolution in Your Church by Scott McKenzie. This book is founded on the concept that what we have as a church right now isn’t working, and we have to change everything, essentially a generosity boot camp, forming a team, throwing out old money habits and creating new ones. For this to work, we need: (a) to start with a clear and compelling vision (not a vision statement, but a vision); (b) identify and embrace stories of changed lives; (c) make it easy to give; (d) say thank you; and ( e) embrace and enable leadership.

3.    Don’t Shoot the Horse Until You Know How to Drive the Tractor by Herb Mather. This is the very first stewardship book I ever read (and owned). It holds a special place in my heart. It was the first time, after reading this book, that I sat in a Finance committee meeting and talked about something that might be different from what we’d been doing all along!!

4.    Happy Surprises: Help Others Discover the Joy of Giving by David Heetland. The shares how he experienced the joy of fundraising, encouraging and inspiring others to see fundraising not as a necessary evil, but a joyful opportunity. I learned to always pray and say thank you. It became obvious that every church or organization must have three components in its fundraising: annual, capital and planned giving.

5.    Propel by Clayton L. Smith. This book offers a comprehensive course in church stewardship, giving clear instructions for the organization and implementation of annual campaigns, planned giving programs, memorial gifts, and much more. I have met Rev. Smith and heard him speak on a few occasions and this information comes from a heart for stewardship as well as realistic church work.

            I did book reviews for the books listed at 2 and 4 above. They are available on the Facebook page for Stewardship with Susan Ranous.

            I know not many of us read stewardship books for fun (unlike me), but these books are all excellent sources of information that will help anyone interested in stewardship or involved in church finances, including pastors, to better understand and implement good financial work in the local church.

            Some of what I will be sharing will come from these resources (and many others).

            If you are interested in more information or in participating in the Academy, please contact me at susanranous@unyumc.org or (315) 427-3668.