“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

A Change Will Do You Good

“A change,” Sheryl Crow sings on her self-titled 1996 album, “will do you good.” It’s a catchy song that has stuck in my brain ever since my 16-year-old ears heard it, and the jingle is a refrain when I’m met with transition moments in my life. Change is not inherently bad. It can do me good.

It can do us all good.

September and October are seasons of change. In my pastorate, I have noticed that more births, more deaths, more job transitions and more life transitions happen in the span of these months. I looked at the record of funeral services I’ve presided at and, despite what chance might say, on balance I have done more fall funerals than in any other season.

My ancestors, the ancient Celtic Christians, knew this. Autumn (September was the middle month of the autumn season) was meant for harvesting and prepping for the change that was to come.

September was a season of change. Is a season of change.

And here’s a question: Has what you’ve been doing when it comes to stewardship, to generosity, both at a personal level and at a congregational level, been satisfying? Has it been encouraging? Has it brought you closer to God and enriched a feeling of thanksgiving for the good work that God is doing through you?

If the answer is “no,” or even “meh” as my kids would say, then it might be time for a change.

Have you explored a narrative mission plan or narrative budget? Have you explored using the offering moment as a time to highlight the lives changed by your work as a congregation? Are there ways you can better tell the story of the good work God does through you utilizing social media, newsletters and email communication?

If for years you’ve done a fall annual appeal, perhaps switch it up and do one in the spring. See if it has a different impact on personal and corporate perspectives of generosity.

Have you tried facilitating something like The Generosity Project? Or perhaps you’re looking for a new resource to encourage generosity, in which case “Because of God’s Great Mercy” might be new to you.

Try it.

While hope is a good thing to have, Beloved, hope is not a strategy when it comes to fueling the mission that God has given you.

How can you fuel the mission? How can you better live into what God is calling you to do and be in your corner of creation?

If you’ve been doing the same old thing, well, September is a time of change in the world. And as we know…

A change will do you good, by God.

Pax,

The Rev. Tim Brown
Director of Congregational Stewardship Support

P.S. Congregational Stewardship has a Vimeo Page! If you ever miss a webinar (though we encourage you to show up for these in person if you can) or miss a presentation, we are doing our best to capture them all on our ELCA Congregational Stewardship Vimeo page. Perfect for stewardship teams wanting to do some continuing education or for councils curious about what’s happening in the realm of stewardship.

UPCOMING EVENTS

World Food Day: Celebrating 50 Years of ELCA World Hunger

Join ELCA World Hunger for a celebration of World Food Day and the 50th anniversary of ELCA World Hunger!

This special online event will be hosted by the Rev. Amy Current, bishop of the Southeastern Iowa Synod, and Imran Siddiqui, vice president of the ELCA.

Tune in Oct. 15 to hear firsthand stories from ELCA World Hunger partners — including Educación Popular en Salud (EPES), a community health organization in Chile founded over 40 years ago, and more recent starts such as Tapestry Farms, a Midwestern urban farm system in the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois. You’ll hear about their work with ELCA World Hunger and their impact on these communities — all as we celebrate 50 years of ministry and get excited for our shared work toward a just world where all are fed.

Register here to receive reminders, event information, World Food Day resources and the event recording.

Mark your calendar:
World Food Day
Celebrating 50 Years of ELCA World Hunger
When: Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. Central time
Where: Zoom webinar

Register at the link here.

Cultivating Generous Congregations: Fall Cohort!

How do we, as communities of faith, change our thinking on stewardship and generosity to meet the challenges of the moment? In partnership with the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving, the ELCA is offering congregations the opportunity to reexamine their stewardship thinking and imagine ways to act on their findings in their communities. The six-week webinar “Cultivating Generous Congregations” will offer virtual cohort sessions where congregational leaders can discuss, dissect and collaborate on how generosity might work in their contexts. The cohort now costs just $350 per congregation, plus workbooks ($40 each). Sign up soon!

Register at the link here.

For a deeper look at what the webinar entails, watch this brief Cultivating Generous Congregations video.

Please contact the Rev. Larry Strenge (Larry.Strenge@elca.org) and the Rev. Tim Brown (Tim.Brown@elca.org) if you’re interested in participating! They will work with your synod to get you registered for the fall cohort.

Mark your calendar:
Cultivating Generous Congregations
Fall 2024
Tuesdays Oct. 22-Nov. 19
5-6:30 p.m. Central time

Webinar: Theology and Practicality of Space Usage

How can we better use our space to be a blessing for our community, our neighborhood and our world? How is God calling us to expand our footprint beyond our normal activities to invite and encourage other engagement?

This webinar will explore both the theology and the practicality of utilizing space differently. Using the best practices out there and innovative examples, you’ll see some of the ways space is being used for mission as well as hear an invitation to follow that lead.

Mark your calendar:
Theology and Practicality of Space Usage
Monday, Nov. 18
6-7 p.m. Central time
Join the webinar here.
Meeting ID: 846 6781 8504
Passcode: 057442

One tap mobile
+13017158592,,84667818504# US (Washington DC)
+13052241968,,84667818504# US

Cultivating the Craft of Asking

Coordinated by fundraiser and friend Bonnie Marden, the fall courses of “Cultivating the Craft of Asking” lead participants through honing the skills and confidence it takes to ask community members for direct support. Over five sessions these cohorts will not only practice the principles learned but will also make an ask!

Three staggered cohorts throughout fall 2024 are offered for $250 per participant.

For dates and registration go directly to the website here.

STEWARDSHIP RESOURCES

Are you looking for stewardship resources to fuel your ministries and your imagination? This newsletter’s offerings are all about stories. Here are a few places to find guidance and support:

Sometimes all a social media post, a sermon or a bulletin needs is a nicely worded poem to get the message across. A scarcity mentality easily invades our mind when we think that all is lost in both the world and the church. But poet and theologian David Whyte thinks differently. His poem “Loaves and Fishes” is primed for being used in all of these ways and more as we seek to think honestly about what God is calling us toward rather than what we lack.

If you’re curious about how to best utilize not only your space but also your mission as a congregation, RootedGood has some ways to help. Providing a number of generative and inspirational resources, RootedGood is on a mission to help congregations and communities rethink how they’re being called to be stewards of their space. Take a look around their offerings and see if perhaps God is calling you to investigate how you can think imaginatively about your physical space.

In a season of transitions it’s important to remember that some of what we have, where we live and how we move is built on the land, sweat and tears of those who have been displaced against their will — namely our Indigenous neighbors. The ELCA’s Truth and Healing Movement works to educate, illumine and encourage the church to understand our history of bad stewardship of land and relationships so that we might head toward a more just and equitable future. As Indigenous People’s Day (Oct. 14) approaches, check out their offerings and see how they

might be opportunities for your faith community to learn more about how God speaks through our shared past to articulate a more hopeful future where land, resources and learning are justly shared.

Have a great stewardship resource to share? Please send articles, books, movies and other media to tim.brown@elca.org.

The best gifts are those that are shared!

STEWARDSHIP IN THE TEXT

Finding organic ways to speak about stewardship can be difficult, especially in relation to the lectionary texts. Not every sermon should be a “stewardship sermon,” but on any given Sunday stewardship themes arise from the biblical witness and can be highlighted! Remember that stewardship is about how we live our life, not just about how we use our finances. Stewardship is a life trajectory.

Below are just a few readings for the autumn lectionary that might inspire thoughts on stewardship:

Mark 10:35-45 | Oct. 20

James and John ask for a special favor from Jesus, but they don’t understand the implications of their request. Specifically, they are glib toward how their special status affects others in their community, especially those whom they are trying to serve. How do we steward our status and egos in this world? How is God calling us to serve one another rather than seek special privilege?

Psalm 46 | Oct. 27/Oct. 31 — Reformation Sunday

Because this date is traditionally kept for Reformation Sunday, using the texts for the feast is certainly appropriate! Reformation Sunday is a day when we are encouraged to focus on how God is calling us to continually move toward a more equitable, faithful and honest future. Psalm 46 reminds us that God is our “refuge and strength,” and because of this we have no need to fear. If we had no fear, what would we do, by God? If we had no fear, how would we see the ministry field before us and our resources — and how these two can be merged for greater impact? What would it mean for the church to live without fear?

Mark 12:38-44 | Nov. 10

Today the church remembers the observed widow who comes to give her offering at the temple. Jesus lifts her up as an example of faithfulness, not just because she gives her all. We also must remember that the ancient faithful were called to care for her. She trusted the community, by God! Jesus reminds them of their responsibility to care for her even as she “gave out of her poverty,” because she knew abundance was there for her in the community that surrounded her.