Do you serve on your church's stewardship committee or need to raise money for a mission trip or some other faith-based cause? Perhaps the thought of asking people for money intimidates you. It's time to change the way you think about fundraising. "Fundraising is, first and foremost, a ministry," best-selling author and renowned spiritual teacher Henri Nouwen writes. "It's a way of announcing our vision and inviting other people into our mission." Nouwen encourages us to see fundraising as sp...

Warning: This book could change the way you live. "Although I've experienced what it's like to get overextended, I've never been poor without options or help," writes Hagmann. "My faith tells me that being a Christian must affect who I am and how I behave with my wealth. Christ has something to say about the way I live my daily life, from how I treat others to how I spend my money." Do you make everyday economic decisions that reflect your Christian faith and values? Or are you "living large"...

Stewardship is a dirty word in most churches. Pastors preach about it knowing they must, while members sit uncomfortably through the "it's-that-time-again" sermons and other appeals. Church members need to be encouraged to go beyond thinking in terms of dollars contributed in order to see stewardship as becoming living examples of the gospel. Included in the basic text Afire with God are examples for faithful stewardship of the earth, ways to reinvigorate stewardship in worship, long-range pl...

This PDF leader’s guide is a required resource for a Lay Servant Ministries (LSM) advanced course. It supplements the book Earn. Save. Give.: Wesley’s Simple Rules for Money (Abingdon Press; 2015) by James A. Harnish, as well as the free resource The United Methodist Church Handbook (2017–20), Therefore Go: Making Disciples for the Transformation of the World (available from UM Communications). This LSM advanced course focuses on the following: an understanding of John Wesley’s admonitions—...