when we give away a gift such as a pledge card or a check for a mission or ministry; what is lighting up in our brain when we “give” is, surprisingly, the area which is usually reserved for “receiving.”
Our house is on fire. It is on fire with memories and old hurts and scars that still tingle and missing limbs that still move, ghost-like in the night.
What we look at matters. We can so easily become it.
For most clergy and lay leaders, a broad smile, an outstretched hand and the willingness to discuss difficult issues like money and mission-funding will connect you. And with connection you can discuss the pledge directly but with a smile. But you must be direct.
There are no easy answers here, but that does not mean that there is nothing we can do.
It’s October and Albuquerque’s big sky is filled with balloons and I am like a puppy beneath a ball. The playful, joyful atmosphere of these floating billboards of delight and color take even the grouchiest by storm and inspire a smile.
So God broods — in the form of breath — over the face of the formless, deep void of what would become our planet and our humanity in the creation story
The middle of a campaign is always uncomfortable. Will we reach the goal or will we not? Will those last pledges come in on time or will they not? Do people want to fund this budget, mission, project or not?
Good advice abounds in this new book by J. Dana Trent, as does good humor
“Case for support” is a fancy fundraising term for “why we deserve the money we are asking you do give.” It is the job of a church to “make the case” humbly aware that they are doing so in the very real context of many other non-profits making their case to the same donors.