Growing churches live in the tension between where they are today and where God is leading them. That can be a chaotic place to lead from. It can also be a place full of paradoxes such as doubt and certainty; confusion and clarity; and tension and resolution.
If this is where you are, then you’re in good company. Every leader of any growing organization has endured the same feelings you may be having right now. So rest easy—your experience is normal! The good news is that if funding your vision has been the bane of your ministry, we’re here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be.
Research About Giving Habits
Here is a sampling of landscape we have uncovered based on research conducted in partnership with The Barna Group on the perception and habits of stewardship in America:
- The average church attender gives only three percent of his or her income
- Less than 10 percent of church attenders tithe
- Less than 5 percent of church attenders define stewardship to include time, resources, ideas, or skills
- Most believers can’t connect their giving to significant life change
Yet at the same time…
- 63 percent of churches rate helping people to become better stewards of time, money, and skills as extremely important
Money should never be a reason to choose not to do something that God has called you to do. If God calls us to accomplish something, He will equip us to be successful in the pursuit. That’s always true—in every area of life and ministry—even during times when it seems like everything is changing at a breakneck pace. Churches with aggressive dreams are looking for creative and sustainable ways to fund their vision. If that’s you, then we think you’re really going to enjoy the shifts we outline in Emerging Trends for Funding Your Church’s Vision.
Important Shifts Grounded In Emerging Trends
In spite of a difficult economy, 80 percent of churches that have worked with RSI indicate they would do so again. We didn’t become who we are today by doing what we’ve always done; we study churches and people. We’ve worked with hundreds of churches in a variety of settings to raise millions of dollars for growing the Kingdom. Along the way, we’ve discovered some emerging trends for funding your church’s vision.
These aren’t trends we’ve observed in one or two churches. On the contrary, these are trends that we have found—on some level—in nearly every church we’ve worked with. We believe these trends offer valuable insight so we made them available for you to download for free.
What shifts do you see taking place regarding money and ministry in your church?
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This is a sponsored post from rsi stewardship, one of my ministry partners on TonyMorganLive.com
