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Blog Post
Beryl Jantzi is the director of stewardship education for Everence. This is the second in a series of posts based on the book Contagious Generosity by Chris Willard and Jim Sheppard. The role of leadership in a congregation is to move people from good intentions to actual strategies. This is according to Chris Willard and Jim Sheppard in their book Contagious Generosity. Churches that are able to move beyond good intentions have plans in place to guide their process. Below are some steps to help your church develop a culture of contagious generosity. Create (or update) a vision statement...
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Blog Post
Beryl Jantzi is the director of stewardship education for Everence. “Money is the most measurable aspect of faith,” according to Chris Willard and Jim Sheppard in their new book, “Contagious Generosity.” You may have a negative response to this assertion but Willard and Sheppard go on to make a strong case for this and other correlations between how we manage money and how we give evidence of our faith in God. Here are additional challenging comments from the first chapter entitled, Culture is key. •How the church uses its resources is a reflection of what the church values. •The great...
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Blog Post
Beryl Jantzi is Stewardship Education Director for Everence. Over the last few months, Beryl has been exploring our historic roots and current commitment to mutual aid as Christians using “Meditations on Christian Mutual Aid” by J.Winfield Fretz. This is the last post in this series. Mutual aid is religiously motivated. At the core of this common concern for others is the concept that all of life and every person is sacred. There is not a separation between the sacred and the secular. In explaining the importance of Christian education for children, a Mennonite spokesperson said to a government official, “We have a duty laid on...
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Blog Post
Beryl Jantzi is Stewardship Education Director for Everence. Over the next few months, Beryl will be exploring our historic roots and current commitment to mutual aid as Christians using “Meditations on Christian Mutual Aid” by J.Winfield Fretz. Mutual aid is an essential quality of community. A chief aim of the early Anabaptists was to establish a community of the spirit where the love of God was the chief factor in motivating all action and determining all conduct. Cooperation was not only an honorable virtue but a necessity in the early 16th century. Farmers and craftsmen of this era lived in village communities....
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Blog Post
Beryl Jantzi is Stewardship Education Director for Everence. Over the next few months, Beryl will be exploring our historic roots and current commitment to mutual aid as Christians using “Meditations on Christian Mutual Aid” by J.Winfield Fretz. Mutual aid is an essential truth of the Christian faith. Throughout scripture we see the language of family being used – whether it identifies God as father or members of the church as sisters and brothers. Jesus begins to establish a new community that is as close if not closer than our blood relations. Jesus, in his most famous sermon (Matthew 5-7), catalogues a list...
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Blog Post
Beryl Jantzi is Stewardship Education Director for Everence. Over the next few months on the Stewardship blog, Beryl will be exploring our historic roots and current commitment to mutual aid as Christians using "Meditations on Christian Mutual Aid" by J.Winfield Fretz. Stewardship is a biblical concept rooted in the idea that everything belongs to God and humanity is charged with managing these gifts and resources on God’s behalf. God in essence is the land lord or the Lord of the land. It’s not just caring for the material world but it’s also caring for each other that is wrapped up in...
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Blog Post
Beryl Jantzi is Everence Stewardship Education Director With the beginning of a new year comes a natural time to think through educational goals we want to establish for our congregations. Whether you serve as a lay leader, teacher, Everence advocate or pastor these are tools that you can use enhance your body life. For your convenience I am providing links that will take you direct to resources especially designed for small groups, Sunday School classes and Sunday morning worship planning. Holistic stewardship principles are not the most important themes in the life of the church but they are too...
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Blog Post
Guest post from Beryl Jantzi, Everence Stewardship Education Director Giving patterns and practices evolve from one generation to another. Clif Christopher, in his book, Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate, discusses relevant information for those involved in congregational leadership who are looking to keep the vision for giving alive. Some of his ideas may seem edgy. But as he describes early on in his book, society, the church and the 21st century church offering plate have seen dramatic changes. As a result of these changes, the ways the church addressed generosity and stewardship issues 50 years ago may not work today....
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Blog Post
By Glen Guyton I came across this quote recently, “Nothing tests the mettle of a Christ follower more than how he or she manages God’s resources.”—Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church; South Barrington, Illinois Often when the church talks about stewardship it is just a code for “we need more money.” But as we think about stewardship we should broaden our thoughts beyond the weekly offering. Stewardship doesn’t mean fundraising, it is more than Creation Care, and it is not...
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Blog Post
Guest post from Beryl Jantzi, Everence Stewardship Education Director. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. I wasn’t only surprised, but positively taken aback, to learn about the giving patterns in Christian congregations across the United States. The Lake Institute on Faith and Giving shows that 65% of the money given to the average congregation in a year comes from the top 10% of the regular attenders. And 10% of the attenders give nothing at all. Zilch. Zero. Zip. The statistics are taken from people who describe themselves as “strong” or “very strong” Christians. I’ve invited Beryl Jantzi to...
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Blog Post
By Beryl Jantzi The average wedding in 2010 cost $20,000. This can be a burden to both the parents as well as the newly married couples. But there are steps couples can take to save money by being strategic in the planning and discussions that take place in advance. Consider a few of the following suggestions that can help keep costs down without diminishing from the meaning of this special event. Set a budget and stick to it There are websites that can help with wedding planning such as costofwedding.com...
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Blog Post
By Beryl Jantzi Establishing healthy practices can help clergy and lay leaders avoid burnout. David Gray who works in collaboration with Alban institute has developed practices that can help clergy and lay leaders maintain a healthy work-life balance. Below are 5 of his recommendations you may want to review and set in place as a way of establishing accountability in your leadership teams Pray daily. When you are frustrated with balance issues, pray. When you are upset at your work situation or boss, pray. When you are frustrated with your kids,...
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Blog Post
By Beryl Jantzi “For many churches and non-profit organizations that rely on generosity this is not just a tough year, but this is going to be a tough era."So counsels Patrick Rooney, Director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. To address these issues Everence has entered into a new partnership with the Lake Institute from Indiana University to help us train church leaders in creating congregational cultures that are not shy to talking about money. While giving to religion remains the largest recipient of charitable dollars, giving to...
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