PUT A SPRING IN YOUR STEP

            As I’m writing this, I can look out my window and see the sun shining. I can even see bare ground (in between piles of plowed up snow), but I also know that starting tonight, a winter storm is going to come through, so it’s not spring…yet!

            Too often, once we’ve gotten past our fall financial campaigns, and Advent and Easter, and breathe a sigh of relief in the new year. We’ve come through it all; everything is fresh and new, and we can ignore talking about money and stewardship for several more months…right?   Wrong!

            We should be talking about stewardship year-round. I’m not saying that we spend every message, every sermon, every prayer and every meeting talking about money or the budget or the needs of the church.

            We know the church has needs, and I’m not saying keep it a secret, but if every time we talk about stewardship, we’re complaining that we don’t have enough to pay our bills, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and people will stop giving less (why try to bail water out of a ship that is full of holes?), and we really won’t have enough to pay our bills. 

            I am aware that people give when there is a need, but is the need REALLY to pay the heating bill, or is the heating bill something that needs to be paid because children are nurtured through Sunday School and learning about Jesus; because disciples of Jesus Christ are made during worship and prayer; because lives are changed because your WHY isn’t to keep a building heated, but to change lives in a b building that has the Holy Spirit alive and well?

            Look at every item on your line-item budget, every bill paid, are they there because of ministry, or are they there to keep a brick-and-mortar building open?

            This is the type to spend this time doing some analysis of:

• ·         Your church’s why - Why do you exist? How are lives changed? How are disciples made? How are leaders cultivated?
• ·         Your church’s assets – People? Building? Money? Land? Gifts and Graces?
• ·         Your church’s employees – Their gifts and graces? Their jobs? The needs of the church’s ministry?
• ·         Your church’s generosity – How often is money talked about? How is generosity encouraged? How do leaders communicate their own generosity?

            I have worked on financial analyses for some churches. It is a fascinating process and so much can be learned by going through some of these topic and questions? If you are interested in more information on this, please contact me at susanranous@unyumc.org. I’d be happy to work with your church on this and send you some questionnaires and information to pull together to make this a fruitful experience.

            This is the opportunity to put some spring in your Spring!

            REMINDER: The Stewardship Academy is being held April 23^rd, May 21^st, June 18^th and July 16^th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you are interested in a registration form or information on the academy itself, please let me know (susanranous@unyumc.org)