Best Practices to Strengthen Financial Stewardship in Your Local Church

On August 10, 2023, The Foundation hosted Rev. Dr. Ken Sloane, Director of Stewardship & Generosity at Discipleship Ministries. Stewardship and finance have been going through many changes and evolution in the past two decades. The pandemic accelerated and highlighted some of those changes. Rev. Dr. Sloane shares some ideas and best practices he sees in churches who have successfully navigated a changing landscape and are growing generosity and thriving!

View the recorded webinar here. 

Download Ken's slides here.

Resources

Discipleship Ministries:

• web:  umcdiscipleship.org/stewardship
• Facebook: UMC Stewardship (https://www.facebook.com/UMCStewardship)
• Ken's email:  ksloane@umcdiscipleship.org

Discipleship Ministry Articles

• Five Tips for Writing Letters that inspire generosity (Thistle Farms story)
• Money Autobiography
• A Twelve Month plan to Increase Stewardship in the Local Church
• Example of a Narrative Budget

Webinars (Discipleship Ministries)

• Narrative Budgets (BUDGET23 - discount code for $5 off)
• Other stewardship webinars to browse

Personal Finance

• Saving Grace

Books

• Twelve Keys to an Effective Church by Kennon Callahan (Cokesbury)
• Bounty: Ten Ways to Increase Giving at your Church by Scott MdKenzie and Kristine Miller (Cokebury)
• Generosity, Stewardship, and Abundance: A Transformational Guide to Church Finance by Lovett Weems and Ann Michel (Cokesbury)
• Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity by Adam Hamilton (also study guide and DVD) (Cokesbury)
• Generosity Rising: Lead a Stewardship Revolution in Your Church by Scott McKenzie (Cokesbury)

Foundation Resources

• Foundation website: umfwv.org
• Contact Jeff (jefftaylor@umfwv.org) or Kim (kimmatthews@umfwv.org)
• Stewardship Resources webpage on umfwv.org
• Learn more about our Academy and register
• Explore the Foundation webinar recordings
• Register for our upcoming October 24 webinar (Spirituality of Fundraising by Nouwen)
• Generosity Rising Study Guide

Other Resources

• Narrative Budgets: Building a Narrative Budget from the Center for Faith and Giving
• Lake Institute on Faith and Giving: Faithful Generosity Story Shelf - Use these real stories to inspire discussion with your leadership.  Includes a study guide.