BE CREATIVE YEAR-ROUND #4

 

            For the past two weeks, I have been looking at Vanco’s creative list as a year-round stewardship idea. This list is part of the last of eight rules for effective church leadership laid out in the booklet put out by VANCO, titled The Complete Guide to Church Stewardship. It was to BE CREATIVE. In being creative,

            My breakdown of their list is below. For the fourth quarter of the year (October, November and December), I am providing some additional ideas below.

 

January                            First Fruits

February                          The Gift of Love        - Our Brothers and Sisters Keeper

March                               Ministry Team Spirit

April                                  Miracles and Wonders

May                                   It’s our Anniversary (heritage Sunday)

June                                 Planting Good Seeds

July                                   Virtual Messages/Social Media Sunday/The Conversion

August                              College Alumni Day

September                       The Unexpected/ Brick Layers

October                            Financial Testimonies

November                        A Praise of Thanksgiving

December                        The Christmas Gift

The fourth quarter of the year would include Financial Testimonies, A Praise of Thanksgiving and The Christmas Gift.

Financial Testimonies – Most of us do our stewardship work and plans in the fall, so I thought hearing other peoples’ generosity stories during October made good sense. I find it much more motivational to hear someone who has traveled what I have traveled or that I know speak about their generosity and talk about financial miracles and giving, than I do hearing someone talk about it in generalities. After all, it’s the faithful givers who have allowed our churches to continue his mission work and help others.

A Praise of Thanksgiving – Thanksgiving occurs as a holiday in November, so we could use this time of the year to be thankful and to reflect on the blessings received during the year. Hearing sermonettes from different people in the church or outside the church based a theme and scripture would be interesting to hear. Are there ways to share with others during a time when you’re thankful for what you’ve received?

The Christmas Gift – During this season, many people are in a giving mood. Remind your folks that the church should have a place on their Christmas giving lists. Do this reminder at the beginning of December and again the Sunday before Christmas. Use skits, have youth help. Christmas giving shouldn’t just be the latest joy or gadget, but sharing with others what has been given to us at Christmas!

We’ve traveled through the entire year with various creative ideas. Consider using a couple during this upcoming year!

            If you wish more information on anything you’ve been reading about, please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or sranousacctg@twcny.rr.com or susanranous@unyumc.org.  I’d be happy to help or answer any questions.