Creating Generous Congregations: A Step-by-Step Guide

By David L. Heetland

A problem facing many churches today is the lack of strong leadership in the area of stewardship, particularly the stewardship of financial resources. Church leaders--clergy and laity--have had little or no training in this area, and they feel uncomfortable and embarrassed in encouraging financial support for the church's ministries.
Failure to provide decisive leadership in this area has had negative consequences for the church, including a decreasing percentage of charitable dollars directed toward churches and a growing lack of understanding among church members of the relationship between giving and spiritual growth.
Creating Generous Congregations is written to assist church leaders in gaining necessary expertise in the stewardship of financial resources, so that persons will be invited to grow spiritually and the various ministries of the church will flourish.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Release date: Jul 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781725259881

David L. Heetland

David Heetland is senior vice president for planned giving at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. Prior to assuming this position, he served as the seminary's vice president for development. Under his leadership the seminary completed three major capital campaigns, including the most successful capital campaign in the seminary's history, which raised more than $100 million. Dr. Heetland holds a BA from the University of South Dakota, an MDiv and ThD from Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, and a Diploma in Theology from Cambridge University in Cambridge, England. He is an ordained United Methodist minister and a Certified Financial Planner. Dr. Heetland is a frequent preacher, speaker, and consultant to various nonprofit organizations.

Book preview

A Problem Facing Churches Today

Come with me as we visit three pastors. While the names of the pastors and churches have been changed, the situations described are factual. First we will visit Bob Allen. Bob is lead pastor at Christ Church, a large suburban church in an affluent area. Christ Church is one of the largest churches in the denomination. When we arrive, Bob meets us at the door and graciously escorts us through the building. We are immediately struck by the beauty of the modern architecture and the religious artwork that graces the building. When we come to the sanctuary, Bob points out where recently it has been expanded to accommodate the overflowing crowds that attend each of the three Sunday morning services. Bob is highly regarded as a preacher, and people come from some distance each Sunday to hear him.

We conclude the tour, and Bob invites us to his office. He has been at Christ Church a good many years and he hopes to remain until he retires in a few more years. Obviously, he loves the people of this congregation deeply, and he in turn is deeply loved by them. Bob says that he encounters only one major frustration in his ministry here. When we inquire what that is, he reveals that it is finances. Last year we had a shortfall in our budget of over $100,000, and I’m predicting a similar shortfall again this year.

I express surprise that the congregation would have such a shortfall in its operating budget. There is absolutely no reason for it, Bob admits. The congregation is capable of doing much more financially than it is currently doing. The fact of the matter is that I am very uncomfortable talking with people about money. I wasn’t trained to do it, I don’t know how to do it, and I’m not working with the key leadership in this area. In fact, I don’t really know who the key financial leaders are.

The second pastor we visit is George Bidwell. George has been at Friendship Church for several years and has helped it grow from a small congregation into one of the most active and dynamic churches in the area. Many new homes are being built nearby, and young professional families are moving in. The church provides a ministry to them by offering day-care services in the educational wing. A number of these families have become active in the life of the church, attending worship and Bible study on a regular basis.

Our greatest need, George says as he walks us through the church, is for more space. We have simply outgrown our facilities. We don’t have enough classrooms, our sanctuary is too small, and we cannot do the programming we want to do to continue to attract and involve the growing number of families in this area.

George goes on to say that Friendship Church recently concluded a major capital campaign to address this situation. We drew up some plans, shared them with the congregation, and invited their pledges. Because the need is so obvious, we were confident we would have no problem raising the necessary dollars. We were sorely disappointed when less than half the needed amount was pledged. We’ve had to postpone some of our plans indefinitely.

In reflecting on the campaign, George notes that it was a new experience for the congregation and for him personally. None of us had conducted a major campaign before. We thought that if we made the need known, people would respond accordingly. However, the largest commitments were not anywhere near what we had hoped for. Perhaps we did something wrong.

Our third visit is with Sarah Carson. Sarah is pastor of Community Church, a small congregation in a predominantly blue-collar community. Ten years ago the congregation built a new church, and she proudly shows us the facilities. As she does, she explains how it has become a focal point for the community, with many community activities taking place in the building each week. In addition, the church sponsors a full range of activities and programs for its diverse membership of young and old.

An older member recently surprised the church. She died and left the church with half a million dollars, Sarah explains. We had no idea she had this kind of money or that she was planning to leave anything to the church. We were totally shocked and unprepared for this kind of gift.

Sarah says that the gift has been a mixed blessing. We haven’t even received it yet, and already it’s causing division within our church. A number of people think we should use it to pay off the debt on our mortgage. Others want to invest it and use only the earnings. I personally would like to see it used to expand our outreach ministries, but I’m afraid many will want to use it to supplement our annual budget. Our current giving has already fallen off since the announcement of this gift was made.

Sarah wishes that a policy statement had been in place before this gift was received, outlining how bequests would be handled. I think it will be very difficult now for us to agree amicably on the appropriate use of this money. I don’t feel well prepared to offer leadership in this situation.

Bob Allen, George Bidwell, and Sarah Carson are highly competent pastors performing important ministries in their respective settings. They are deeply loved and respected by their congregations. Another common thread running through their distinctive ministries, however, is the feeling of being ill prepared to provide leadership in matters dealing with money. For Bob this lack of preparation has meant a deficit in the annual budget; for George it has led to postponing needed expansion plans; and for Sarah it has resulted in conflict within the church over how to best use a planned gift.

Are their situations unique? Not at all! In visits with church leaders across the nation, I hear similar stories regularly. A common concern of clergy and laity alike is that many in church leadership positions are uncomfortable in providing financial leadership. Indeed, it often seems as though church leaders are less prepared to deal with money matters than almost any other aspect of their work.

Why is this so? Many pastors point out that they have not been trained in this area. Few seminaries offer courses in stewardship and fundraising, and few students feel the need for such courses—until faced with their first financial campaign. Most ministerial students naively assume that someone else will take care of financial matters in the church. Fortunately, some seminaries are beginning to address this problem by offering courses in financial stewardship. Such courses focus on introducing students to a dynamic theology of stewardship and helping them develop practical fundraising methods based on this understanding. The fact remains, however, that whole generations of church leaders have had little or no training in this area.

Another reason for avoiding leadership in this area is based on the fear that talk of money will offend people. It is true that many people are offended by the number of fundraising appeals today. However, people want and need guidance in the area of stewardship and welcome talk about money that is open, honest, and based on ethical principles. Furthermore, if fundraising requests are handled appropriately, most people are not offended by being asked to support a worthy cause. Rather, they are flattered to be invited, even if they cannot support the cause at the suggested level.

A third reason for avoiding leadership in fundraising is the low esteem in which such activity is held. Pastors recognize that many fundraising strategies rely on high-pressure tactics and guilt-inducing pleas, and they rightly do not want to participate in an activity that often seems neither ethical nor honest.

Perhaps the reluctance of church leaders to provide decisive leadership in this area can best be summarized in one word: embarrassment. Many are embarrassed by their lack of knowledge and experience in fundraising. They are embarrassed at the prospect of discussing such a sensitive subject with influential people. And not insignificantly, they are embarrassed by the fundraising tactics of many organizations, including some religious organizations.

Is it any wonder that church leaders would prefer to focus their attention elsewhere? Many do just that, hoping that the faithful will somehow enable the work of the church to continue. Sometimes this happens. More often than not, however, the refusal to deal decisively with stewardship issues has negative consequences.

One such consequence is that churches have not kept pace with the growing fundraising sophistication of other charitable organizations. The competition for philanthropic dollars has become very intense, and many charitable organizations have developed numerous ways, including online giving, social media, and crowdfunding, to tell their story and appeal for funds. In addition, many groups have hired professional fundraisers on a full-time or part-time basis and have relied on outside professional development counsel as well. Most churches, meanwhile, still tend to rely on the weekly offering and an annual pledge drive to meet their budgetary needs.

The result, not surprisingly, has been a gradual but steady decline in giving to religion. The old ways of doing things are no longer as effective as they once were, and so church stewardship programs today must incorporate new fundraising insights.

The lack of financial leadership in our churches has produced an even more devastating consequence. Church members have not been helped to develop an appropriate theology of giving. As a result, many church people do not see their pattern of giving related in any meaningful way to their own spiritual growth. An essential part of the Christian message, however, proclaims that the two are intricately related. When this message is not taught boldly and with conviction, members often are not motivated to grow in their giving and an important part of their spiritual growth is stunted.

In today’s society it is especially critical that Christians have a well-grounded understanding of the role giving plays in their own spiritual development. The competition for dollars comes not just from other charitable institutions, many of which perform important ministries and deserve to be supported; the intense competition for dollars comes also from our consumer-oriented society. Billions of dollars are spent annually seeking to persuade us that the key to happiness is found in having the right car, the right home, and the right clothes. The church must be equally bold in pointing out the flaws of such a trivial, self-centered philosophy and pointing toward a more excellent way to fulfillment.

At first glance the church seems to be doing all right in this endeavor. After all, religion remains the category that receives the biggest piece of the pie when it comes to charitable giving.