It’s been a tough year. If you are in business for yourself it has been especially tough. It seems that every time we get some good news on the economy it gets revised later to tell us that we are not out of the woods yet. We all keep hoping for this to end and it seems to drag on. As I talk to my friends that are in business for themselves the thing we keep talking about is how long can we hold on? It is the kind of thing that makes it hard to be thankful but thankful we must be.

So, putting aside my yearly financial review and the dim forecast of the next quarter let me share with you some things that I think we should be thankful for.

God loves me and sent His Son to die for my sins. At the end of the day if that is all that I have that is enough. I have through Christ eternal life and eternal purpose. If God’s purpose is for me to lose my business, something I do not believe will happen, then I will look for what purpose He has for me next. Whatever this life may bring me I know I have a home in heaven and a Savior that intercedes for me. I am thankful.

My family remains my number one earthly point of joy and thanksgiving. Starting with my wonderful wife Valerie who has stuck by me for thirty three years I have been blessed. I have two kids, Jon and Amy, who are my hero’s in life. They have two wonderful spouses. I have one grandson and one granddaughter days away from being born and the promise of more on the way. My parents are still alive and they raised me in a loving Christian home. We were not rich but we were blessed. For all of this I am thankful.

I live in the greatest country in the world. God bless America! While I get frustrated at Washington I would never let anyone from outside our American family criticize it. It’s my national family and at our worst we are better than the rest. We give aide to countless millions and have defended the world from oppression and tyranny. We are a model to the world in how to govern. I am especially thankful for the freedom of religion that we have here. People from all over the world still want to come live here. I was blessed to have been born here. For that I am thankful.

My health. I just ran my 20th marathon. I have the blessing of living in the country with the best health care in the world. Too many miss that point in all the rhetoric from the press and Washington. Yes, it can and should be improved. Yet at the end of the day we have the opportunity to live healthier than any other nation on the globe. For that I am thankful.

My friends. I have great friends who support me and challenge me to be better. I am thankful for their continued support.

My job. I love what I do! I love helping churches and pastors. I love knowing that what we do makes a difference. I love the people that work with me to make this company the best that it can be. Their passion to excellence inspires me. Their patience and understanding during this downturn has truly been humbling to me. I am thankful for our past and excited about our future.

Just writing this has caused me to have a better attitude! What are you thankful for? Take a minute or two to write your own blog or reflection about what you are thankful for. The old hymn said it best, “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

Sunday I finished my 20th marathon in Tulsa, Ok in 4:44:44. My goal beyond simply finishing was to break five hours. I was obviously pleased with my time and had a great marathon experience. To me the marathon carries great life lessons. How you train, prepare and run a marathon is similar to how you meet the challenges of ministry and life. So here are some lessons I learned this 20th time around that helped me have a great marathon experience. You can apply these lessons not only to running but to your ministry.

I set a realistic goal. This is the first year that I have set a goal of not attempting to break four hours. Seventeen of my twenty marathons have been under four hours. I concluded after last year’s disappointing 4:23 that it simply was not an achievable goal for me. I am older now and frankly carrying a few more pounds than I was in my running prime of 3:28. To set a goal that was too difficult would only set me up for disappointment. The goal is to enjoy running not make it a labor of dread.

In ministry I find too many are driven not to please God but to hit some arbitrary goal of accomplishment. Pastors are often robbed of the joy of their calling as they try to get bigger in every numerical category. This is true in the stewardship realm as well. They want to raise an amount that frankly this economy can not sustain. Then when they fail to meet those standards they begin to question not only those around them but themselves. Be sure that whatever goals or standards you strive for are realistic and achievable.

I developed a plan and worked my plan. The key for me was setting a pace that did not take me out too fast and allowed me to have some strength at the end. My goal was to walk one minute every mile. Dale Galloway has used this method for years in training marathon runners. It actually works. Yet it is difficult at mile one to stop and walk when you feel so strong. Not only did I employ a method of walking but I ate and drank throughout the race keeping my body fueled and hydrated. I stay with the plan throughout the race and as a result smashed the goal I had for myself.

In ministry 90% of the pastors I talk with do not have a stewardship plan. They have growth plans, mission plans but few have a plan of stewardship. Without a plan for running a marathon you will most certainly fail. Without a plan of stewardship for your ministry you too will almost certainly fail. The marathon is a race for a cheap piece of medal and a fleeting memory. Your ministry is about real eternity struggles. How can you risk that to chance?

I made a commitment to run the race. This might seem like a silly point. Yet after last year’s failure I vowed never to run another marathon. That was right after crossing the finish line. An hour later I was devising a new strategy of slowing down and enjoying marathons. I made a commitment to run. I showed up for the race. I put one foot in front of the other when the gun went off and did not stop until I crossed the finish line. I finished in part because I showed up. I finished because even though in parts the course had hills in other parts it was windy and the final few miles were hot, I kept running.

I have talked to a lot of pastors that are simply tiring of the race. They are losing the joy of their calling. Sometimes when the winds of ministry blow against you you simply have to put your head down and keep moving. Make a commitment to stay in the race. You might need a rest. You might need to walk awhile but whatever you do keep moving. Again, you are in the race for something far more valuable than a finishers medal or a T-shirt. You are about eternal things.

Paul said this in I Corinthians 9:25, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” Then the writer of Hebrews says, “…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…”

My eyes were fixed upon the finish line. Today fix your eyes upon Jesus!

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

Sunday I will run my 20th marathon. Don’t ask me why. I would be hard pressed to give you a reasonable answer. Because its there and I can is about all I could say. I suppose I am fighting back the inevitable slide into mid life. Life is winning the battle. It is getting harder to run those 26.2 miles. This year for the first time ever my goal is to break five hours not four hours. I am telling myself that my time doesn’t matter. I am not sure the lie is working but its my mantra that I will repeat to myself at mile 22.

While non runners might scoff at the notion that you could learn anything from running a marathon I think you can. It has taught me some great life lessons. A few years ago I wrote to my team I led the following note after finishing a marathon. I have changed it a bit to fit you the reader. I think it contains some valuable truths. Here is what I wrote…

“Last Sunday I ran the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.  All through the race I kept thinking about my last marathon in Dallas in December.  That marathon was the first time ever I had been over four hours.  Afterwards I wrote the following, “As I neared the end of my last marathon I looked down on the pavement and saw scores of discarded pacing bands.  Pacing bands are used to help runners hit a personal best.  All those pacing bands discarded meant scores of runners who had failed to meet their goals.
 
At that point I had one on my wrist for time splits that would get me home in four hours.  All my previous marathons had been under four hours.  As I looked down upon the pavement with just over a mile to go and the clock already reading past four hours I realized that I too could discard with the pacing band upon my wrist.  It laid with all the other dreams that had vanished with the warm Dallas sun.  The bitterness of that failure is still with me despite all the encouragement from friends and relatives that try to tell me that any time in a marathon is good.  I intellectually understand that but emotionally I still am disappointed.”
 
Last Sunday I kept thinking about that disappointment and how I wanted this marathon to be different.  I am grateful to report that unlike last December I was able to continue to push through the wall and record a time of 3:57:47.  One race left me feeling disappointed and bitter the other left me encouraged and hopeful.  Here are some lessons that I have learned and hopefully some practical advice on how we can apply this to ourselves and the churches we serve.
 
The difference between winners and losers is how they respond to losing.  Winners look for lessons to learn on the road to rebounding.  Losers look for excuses and scapegoats on the road to losing again and again.  Winners look first at themselves whereas losers look for someone or something else to blame.
 
I knew from my experience in Dallas that something about my approach had to change.   Here are some things that I did over the course of the last few months.
 
Analyze what went wrong - In December I really trained better than in April.  However something caused me to run out of steam three miles from the finish line.  As I thought it through one big thing was the lack of electrolytes in my system.  In Dallas I did not ingest anything other than an occasional gulp of water.  I did not eat any of the gel packets that I had for fear of upsetting my stomach.  As a result I hit the wall and could not push on.  You can’t break four hours doing a sixteen minute mile at mile twenty four!
 
Church application:  All of us will at times have a bad sermon, a bad committee meeting, a bad phone call, a bad experience or a disconnect.  We can’t afford to just blow it off.  We need to analyze what went wrong and why?  In every loss there are lessons that can be applied so that the next opportunity is a win.
 
Adjust to what went wrong - I realized that I needed to do a better job of keeping my body fueled.  So, in my training I ran with gel and practiced eating it on the run and getting use to its taste and after taste.  I knew during the marathon that I had to drink not only water but Exceed Sports drink.  That is exactly what I did last Sunday.  I ate four gel packets throughout the race and drank not only plenty of water but also Exceed at every other aid station.  I think that helped give me the needed last ounces of energy to make my goal possible. 
 
Church application:  We talk about the ministry changing, have we?  If you are still doing what you were doing last year you are not adjusting.  Don’t be surprised if losses pile up.  After you analyze what did not work do something new and different.  In the past Exceed had made me sick yet without its vital elements I knew I would crash.  It was worth the risk.  For us we must continually adjust what we do, what we say and how we think. 
 
Winners are willing to push through the pain.  Drinking Exceed and eating gel was not in and of itself a magic potion that allowed me to break four hours.  That strategy just gave me the opportunity to have the strength to consider pushing to the end.  I still had to push through the pain and tell my body that it would soon be over.  The key is being in the position to be able to do that.  Good pacing and good replenishment of the body gave me the opportunity.  I still had to simply grit my teeth and pound out the last three miles.  My body wanted to stop but I knew if I started walking that a sixteen minute mile loomed in my future and I would have months of regret over my failure.  The last few miles were literally mind over matter!
 
For us the pain might be the embarrassment of losing.  It might be the sting of a someone leaving our church to join another.  It might be that difficult staff member or lay leader that we struggle working with.  It could be a host of painful things.  The key question is how do you deal with whatever pains this job brings?  Are you pushing through them or letting them set you back?  We can allow them to derail us or we can continue on in the growth path we know God wants us to take. 
 
For me I am thankful for my time last Sunday.  Sub four hour marathons are never easy and at my age they are getting harder!  This could have been my last.  I just know that how I feel today is a whole lot better than how I felt last December.  Fulfillment is better than failure. 
 
On the wall of my office is a collection of running memorabilia.  There hangs a plaque that my running buddies in Arkansas gave me on the last run before I moved to Atlanta.  The verse on that plague is I Cor. 9:25 which says, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into training.  They do it to get a crown that will not last: but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”  I realize that running is my recreation but ministry is my calling.  One gives me temporary satisfaction.  The other holds eternal consequences.  
 
Paul in his concluding letter to Timothy said, “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”  As we continue in this ministry that God has given us we must always be mindful that we are about helping churches fulfill the dreams and visions that God has given them.  As a result we can not faint before the finish line.  Be a winner not a loser!”
 
Now a few years later my running goals are a bit different. I have given up on breaking four hours. What matters is simply keeping my running going. Still the lessons from running have I think made me a better person and ultimately a better minister. How about you?

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

My friend Ben Stroup known as domoreministry on Twitter got into a twitter rumble with Anne Jackson known as FlowerDust about celebrating big givers. They would not use the word rumble but rather a conversation. At any point there was a lot of back and forth. If you use Twitter you know that you can’t say much when you only have 140 characters per post.

To get the full impact of what started the back and forth you would need to read Anne’s blog post entitled “Celebrating Big Givers.” The upshot of her post was a reaction to churches that hold special events for large donors. In short her post objected to this practice. Ben weighed in with his experience and then the back and forth began. So, never one to be shy about my opinion here are some things to consider…

The church has always depended upon a few to give the majority of the dollars given. This will not change in the future. While there is a lot of hype about amassing smaller donations the truth is that small donations have always been with us and always will. They represent only a fraction of what any church or ministry receive. It is not to be taken for granted or discounted. However, without large donors the work of ministry would be seriously curtailed. In most churches 15% of those that attend give 90% of the dollars. In non-profit ministries it is not unusual for the percentage to be even smaller. We can cry about this all day long but as the old saying goes, “It is what it is!”

Segmenting your donors is not the same as segregating your donors. We are admonished in Scripture not to show favoritism to those with wealth. We don’t give them special seats or upfront parking. Extrapolating out the instances given in Anne Jackson’s blog as showing favoritism strains that application. I don’t get asked to sing in the choir of my church due to my inability to carry a tune. I am not offended by that.

Let me say that we always counsel our churches that any event where high end donors might be asked to attend be called a Leadership Event. We invite all who are in leadership despite what they give. We simply want those that can make a difference with their gift to be there. Our premise is that leaders should lead. Look at I Chronicles 29 for instance.

Those who do have high donor capacity feel, sense and respond differently to vision than others do. They have different sets of questions and concerns that need to be addressed. Barna has found that churches that segment their donors will raise significantly more dollars than those that do not. Paying attention to who gives and how best to maximize their potential is not a violation of Scripture but a wise stewardship strategy for achieving Kingdom results.

Most discussions like this are driven not by facts but by emotions. What was more interesting to me than even Anne’s blog post were the comments that followed. I must admit to some jealousy at seeing that many comments to a post. Yet some of those that commented did so not from any sense of truly understanding the issues but from emotion.

Stewardship is not just my job it is my calling and passion. While I disagreed with a lot of the blog’s premise and nearly all of the comments that were given I do love the fact that the conversation was being held. Too many never think about these issues. Ben and I have often commented to one another how few pay attention to this vital area. Ministries ignore stewardship to their own demise!

All gifts are to be celebrated! Let me say that I understand the passion of this blog and the comments that followed it. We counsel that you have to know how to value the widow’s mite more so than the large gift. However, we spend a great deal of time helping pastors know how to identify, approach and talk to high end donors in an appropriate manner. To succeed in meeting your budget needs this key group is crucial. In the times that we live in we need every gift. What all of us can do together is greater than what a few of us can do!

So, should you celebrate the big giver? Yes! However do so in a way that is appropriate. Should you not celebrate the small gift? No! Find ways to celebrate every gift. While it might take some of your time in the end a wise focus on all your donor segments will pay off in more dollars being raised. At the end of the day it is the fuel that keeps your ministry going. It is more than worth the time and effort.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

If you would like to read Anne’s blog you can find it below

FlowerDust

Today is Veteran’s Day. Several years ago when I worked at ISS I first met Tom Holloway who is now The Charis Group’s Director of Marketing. Right before the 4th of July one year I wrote the following tribute to him and to my son who at that time was a Captain in the Army. I thought it worth posting for you to read what I had written then about our veterans. They truly deserve our respect and gratitude.

Here is what I wrote…

“Our country is great because of men like Tom Holloway.  Tom will probably be surprised at this statement.  He might even want to argue with me about it.  Yet I believe its true.  Tom works in marketing for us.  He is always upbeat.  Always cheerful.  He is one of our Marketing Department’s first in, last out soldiers that helps set the stage for our ability to engage churches.  He works in a cube but never lets that affect his attitude. 
 
Something you might not know about Tom is that he is a veteran.  Tom served when serving wasn’t cool.  He could sport that yellow license plate or bumper sticker with green and red lines you might have seen on some trucks.  Its the Vietnam Service Medal.  Tom served while others sat home.  There are a lot of guys just like Tom.  That is why Tom will think this note does not apply to him.  I think it does.  Oh, he may not have done some heroic feat or made some save the ship kind of statement.  Yet guys like Tom are what have made this country great.  You see there are a long line of Toms that stretch all the way back to that Lexington green.  From that green to the brown dusty streets of Baghdad to the snow capped peaks of Afghanistan we have countless other men like Tom and now women too who are putting their all on the line to help keep us free. 
 
This weekend we will celebrate the founding of our country.  We would not have this country were it not for men like Tom and all the countless others who have served to make it great.  Our country is so great we even allow those that don’t appreciate the Tom’s of the world the freedom to live here.  There are times that some far left liberals anger me so terribly.  Then I am reminded what they probably would never recognize, that guys like Tom have sustained their right to be stupidly wrong.  In other countries they would be executed.  Here they get their own television show or they make a movie!  It’s called freedom. 
 
Freedom isn’t free.  For us as a nation the price was paid beginning at that Lexington green so many years ago.  Payments were continually made throughout our two hundred plus years.  In places with names like, Valley Forge, Yorktown, Manassas, Appomattox, San Juan Hill, Belleau Wood, Pearl Harbor, Tarawa, Normandy, Okinawa, Chosen Reservoir, Khe Sanh, Kuwait and Baghdad our men and women have fought.  Lives have been lost and are being lost.   Over 1,700 men and women to date have died in Iraq, 1,333 in combat.  Over 200 have died in Afghanistan.  All have died trying to preserve our freedom and to gain freedom for people who have never known freedom.  They are guys and gals just like Tom and my son Jon and now my son in law Nick.  They serve and as a result we continue to be free.  What a country!  For all our faults and short comings, what a country!
 
Jesus taught that to whom much is given much is expected.  We have freedom in America but there is a much greater freedom in Jesus.  That freedom was not free either.  It cost God His only Son on a cross.  That cross is God’s attempt to redeem a lost and sinful world to Himself.  As those who have accepted God’s gift we have the duty to tell others the way to safety.  It is why guys like Tom sit in cubicles.  We have been given much, much is expected in return.
 
So, today I want to say thanks to Tom and all the others like him that have served and are serving.  This weekend as you celebrate the Fourth take some time to reflect upon our freedoms.  Find a Vet and thank them.  Most of all take some time to thank our heavenly Father who has given us such freedom.  Then think about how you might do your part to extend that freedom to others.” 

That was what I wrote several years ago. You will note that the casualty numbers for Iraq and Afghanistan are lower than they are now. To date we have lost 4,362 lives in Iraq and 918 in Afghanistan. Now more than ever I stand in awe of those that have served and are serving. From the bottom of my heart, thank you Veterans!

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

The other day I read a blog post by a former pastor. He is now out of full time pastoral ministry and in business for himself. He listed some of the lessons he had learned in the short few months that he has been in the secular world. Among some of his observations was the following:

I had NO clue the kind of financial, job, and family pressure most of our people were living with.

Criticism makes me better. I had shielded myself from criticism to the point that I couldn’t see my flaws. In the “real world” I don’t have that luxury.

He summed up his observations with this comment, “Overall, it is just amazing how out of touch I was with what was going on around me. God had to knock me down, humble me, and let me hit rock bottom where I can be more effective for Him in the future.” Could the same be said of you?

In the over eleven years since I left pastoring to be in the stewardship ministry I have had the honor to work with scores of pastors. I have literally been in every kind of context you can imagine. From traditional to ultra contemporary to super mega churches to emerging churches. I would have to say that what amazes me is how little pastors understand real life. If we are not careful we will be lumped with politicians as those totally devoid of understanding what our constituents are feeling.

How does this impact stewardship? As my old boss John Maxwell says, “You first must win their hearts before you ask for their hand.” With unemployment now over 10% our country is nervous about the future. Do you understand those fears? Can you relate? As a small business owner I can tell you my perspective is much different than when I was a Senior Pastor. Can you relate to the business owners of your congregation?

At a time when finances are tight you will have to work even harder to gain the confidence of those in your ministry. However when you do show you care, that you truly understand, they will rise up and support the work of ministry God has called you to.

Do you truly get what you people are feeling? If not it could be a long hard year for you and your ministry!

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

With the recent third quarter spurt of growth many are proclaiming that the recession is over. While that might be true from a “technical” point, emotionally the mood across America is little changed. The recession continues to depress growth in nearly every quarter of our economy including churches.

A friend asked me the other day what I thought of the mood of the country was with regards to the recession. My answer was one word, fear. While few might admit it in that strong of a word it none the less is the overall mood from Wall Street to Main Street. That fear is finding its way into the board rooms of countless churches across America. If left unchecked it will set the church back for years. In what is our greatest opportunity in years to share hope we in the church are missing the moment.

Peggy Noonan in a column this past weekend in the Wall Street Journal summed it up well. She said, “The biggest threat to America right now is not government spending, huge deficits, foreign ownership of our debt, world terrorism, two wars, potential epidemics or nuts with nukes. The biggest long term threat is that people are becoming and have become disheartened…” She then went on to explain that this mood exists because first, people do not think they can make it better and secondly because the problems seem too big.

Never one to be shy about my opinions let me weigh in on the failures that have put us in this position.

Our political leaders in both parties have failed us. Politics has always been divisive in American life. However if there is one unifying thing, a result of the current political crisis, it is that Americans are becoming one in their distrust of anything from Washington D.C. None of the above is fast becoming the party of choice. A president that was elected with such high hopes now sees his ratings at an all time low, near fifty percent.

Frankly the Democrats who now control all three branches of government can not even agree amongst themselves on how to govern. They can blame the past administration all they want but the truth is they have controlled Congress for nearly four years and the White House for nearly a year. They have showed nothing new to the American public and that public is growing restless. Republicans have fared none better and are simply seen as the party against whatever the Democrats are suggesting. You have to be for something not just against something.

Most Americans, including myself, feel that our politicians are too removed from real life issues. How many of them have actually run a small business? How many of them have had to worry from pay check to pay check about whether they can make ends meet? They seem to have lost any sense of reality of what Americans truly experience in day to day living. We desperately need leadership and it is not coming from Washington D.C.

Our greed was and continues to be our down fall. Let’s stop pointing fingers at the very few on Wall Street that received large bonuses. The rich are not the reason for our down fall. We need to look no further than our own sense of greed to find the culprit. We have chased a lifestyle that was unsustainable and are now surprised that the house of cards collapsed. Rather than take responsibility for our own stupidity in buying too large of a car, too big of a house and too many luxuries we seek to blame someone else. No bank forced you to sign that loan. Americans did it to themselves.

It’s time to stop blaming everyone else and start finding ways to live responsively. Here is the Churches big opportunity and we better not blow it. Teach those in your sphere of influence how to live responsible biblical lives and hope will return. Of all institutions ours should be the leader in this time of discouragement.

From Wall Street to the board rooms of business on Main Street the mood is caution. The result of this mood is that many projects are put on hold as business waits to see what will happen or when a return to normal will occur. Those same men and women then go into their churches board meetings and spread their fear and caution to the leadership of their church. As a result as never before the church is responding not with faith but with fear. We have let the mood of the country set our agenda rather than leading America with Godly vision. All our teaching on living a life of faith has gone out the door as we too often walk by sight rather than faith.

I am certainly not saying we should not consider the times we live in. Nor am I saying we should not listen to the voices of our lay leaders. I am saying it is more important have the mind of God through this time than the mind of man. My belief is that too many are frozen by fear in a time when we desperately need faith.

That faith can be found in a few places. Two years ago I began working with a church in Michigan that had already been feeling the impact of the recession. As they were preparing to build a new sanctuary many in the church questioned the timing of such a bold project. I had the pleasure of interviewing one businessman in the church about this. Here is what he said, “This has been the worst three years of business for me in the last thirty. Yet I think that as people are hurting they will be looking for some place for an answer. We must build this building to be ready to meet that need!”

Wouldn’t you like that kind of guy in your church? Who wouldn’t? I believe he was that kind of guy because his pastor was that kind of leader. What kind of leader are you? Are you the kind that inspires faith and action? Or are you the kind that causes others to shrink back in fear? A lot is riding on your answer to that question. Some see the glass as half empty and others see it as half full. How do you see the glass of this recession? What is your plan of action?

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

Yesterday the Stock Market drop a hundred points. It’s now off its brief climb above 10,000 points. One of the main causes of the decline was the surprising fact that consumer confidence dipped after rising for several months. Just when we thought the end was here many are now expressing doubts about a recovery. As I have written before, when there are doubts on Main Street in consumer confidence you can be guaranteed it will effect your offering plate.

We in the Christian church appear to be little different from the world in that we seem to long for the return of the “good old” days. We are waiting for the return to normal before we move forward. Each day as we hear more depressing and negative economic news we wonder what our next step should be? This recession will recover slowly and continue to impact us for many more months. So the question must be what will you do?

Here are some thoughts…

Have the right perspective. Our hope as believers is not in the economy or in Washington D.C. Our hope is in the risen Lord! This is not the first recession the church has gone through. We made it through those just fine and we will make it through this one. If a recession is the worst hardship we have to bear we are blessed indeed. Around the world other churches are faced with much greater difficulty. Your perspective impacts your attitude and that spreads down line through your leaders and to your people. Now is the greatest time to embrace the hope that we have as believers.

Adapt a plan of action. Too few churches have any plan of action when it comes to stewardship. You can not simply roll with the punches during times like these. It takes smart decisive action. What are you doing to meet this challenge? What plans do you have? How much time are you personally spending on this plan? Too many have no plan at all and are simply hoping things get better. Hope is not a strategy!

Work your plan. Casey Graham in his blog post the other day talked about his time with New Life Church in Little Rock, AR. That church has been listed as one of the fastest growing churches in the country. Casey listed several things they were doing right. The first one was, You never quit talking about money. That might surprise you. My new book on Stewardship Myths has a chapter that deals with the myth that the church talks too much about money. The truth is we do not talk about it enough. What is essential is how you talk about it.

My point here is that you not only have to have a plan you have to work your plan. It can not be a one time thing. It has to be a year round thing. You as the pastor must be in the plan and you have to work the plan. It is just as important to work your plan as it is to have a plan. A hammer in the tool box does you no good if you do not use it.

Frankly no one knows how these next few months will shake out. There is a lot of conjecture about what the donor world will look like after the recession is over. At this point you and I can not wait to find out the answers. Growing churches grow despite the circumstances. Yours can too. Stop putting off acting now to avoid problems tomorrow. Hoping things will get better will not solve your problems that are fast coming your way. Prepare now for the future. The future is now!

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group

What is the best way to develop stewards?

In the early 1980’s my home state of Oklahoma held an election on pari-mutuel betting on horse racing. The proponents of the measure used a campaign slogan that said, “Let’s Race!” The truth was the measure had nothing to do with legalizing horse racing. You could legally race any time you wanted in Oklahoma. You could not wager money and that was the issue. As you might expect local churches rose up to fight this measure. Baptists and Methodist denominations led the fight pouring thousands of dollars into their own campaign. Preachers stood in pulpits and admonished their members to vote the measure down. What happened? The measure passed by a wide margin leaving Christian leaders stunned at their inability to impact the election. Clearly the church failed to rally its people to oppose the measure.

The columnist David Brooks wrote an article awhile back entitled, “Illusions of Power Over the GOP.” The premise of the article was that Conservative talk radio and television talk jocks influence are highly over rated. As evidence he points out that in the early stages of the last primary election for president the most popular talk jocks favored anyone but McCain. Yet McCain ultimately won the Republican nomination. Brooks states, “Over the years, I have asked dozens of politicians what happens when Limbaugh and his colleagues attack. The story is always the same. Hundreds of calls come in. The receptionists are miserable. But the numbers back home do not move. In the media world, he is a giant. In the real world, he is not.” This again illustrates the sad truth that those with a pulpit, either in the media or in the church are many times failing to impact the audience they most think they have an inroad with.

Could it be that your words are falling upon deaf ears? Could this be one reason why we preach and teach stewardship only to see little to no results? Your offerings might improve the week after your stewardship message but they ultimately go back to where they were to begin with. There are a multitude of reasons why most Christians give very little to their church. Many of those reasons are out of your control. There are some things however that you can do to help. In this Stewardship Coach I want to address things that are in your control.

Stick or Carrot approaches

Sadly some Christian leaders never even address the issue of stewardship. Those that fail to do so do a disservice not only to their ministry but to the people they shepherd. They are guilty of preaching half the Gospel. In the end you can not ignore the topic of stewardship simply hoping your adherents catch the message for themselves. Those that use that type of non-strategy have suffered the worst during this current recession.

On the other end of the spectrum are the other two approaches that I term the Stick Approach and the Carrot Approach. The Stick Approach focuses on the obligation of a believer to give. Adherents to this approach tend to stress tithing. They focus on passages like Malachi 3:10 which in part states that we “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse.” The Carrot Approach focuses more on the opportunities a believer has in giving. They would be more apt to quote Jesus when he said in Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Both approaches at their core are true. What works best when it comes to motivating people to give, a stick or a carrot? In my experience while both are true and need to be stressed the carrot approach is a better starting point than the stick.

A friend recently told me his pastor told the congregation that if they were not financially supporting the church they should consider attending somewhere else. That would qualify as a stick approach to me. My friend, a regular donor to his church, did not think it was a good approach. In my experience statements like the above will ultimately not be as effective as using a carrot to motivate donors.

Carrot Approaches

Give a compelling reason why donors should support your ministry. Hands down this is the number one reason why people support your ministry. Obligation might make me a regular donor but if I don’t believe in what you are doing I will attend somewhere else or give far less than I could. I contend that the best way to get people to give or commit to give is to focus on what you do. Instead of telling people that they ought to give tell they what their giving accomplishes. When they go into the hospital will the state representative come visit them? No, it will be you or one of your staff. Help your members see how your ministry makes the world a better place including their world! Do that and you will find them much more willing to give than by eliciting commands from the pulpit.

Consistently teach stewardship year round. A huge mistake many churches is that they focus on stewardship only one time a year. Too often it becomes routine. No one likes the process even the ministers tasked with the duty. Try teaching it in a positive way year round. It should be the focus not only of your sermons but in every area of your ministry. Every offering is a positive moment to stress stewardship. Every small group or Sunday School class should study some aspect of stewardship from the cradle to the grave. Start early and keep at it. Stay positive and you will find it will make a difference. After all the Scriptures do teach that God will pour out a blessing upon those that obediently give. If that is not a carrot I don’t know what one is.

Provide practical help. Whether it is Dave Ramsey’s stuff or someone else’s or something you write it is imperative that we help people manage their finances. If we have learned one thing from this recession it is that our spending habits can get out of control. The sad reality is that many of your congregation can not give as they are over extended. You can preach tithing all you want but they are so deeply in bondage that they will never get out without help. If you truly want to develop stewards then start by helping them get a handle on their financial lives. When they get out of that hole I can promise you that they will remember who help get them out.

Hopefully by now you get the idea and can think of other carrots that you could use. While we might claim that doing so is disingenuous in reality all of us respond better to the carrot than we do the stick. If we have learned this in every day life why should it be so difficult to translate this into our stewardship approach in our churches? I can promise you that the results will be far better using the carrot than the stick.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President of The Charis Group

P.S. My new book is about to come out. It is entitled, “Stewardship Myths: How to Avoid Losing Momentum, Time and Money.” You can email me to reserve your copy today at Mark@TheCharisGroup.org.

I love Mondays! I know that may sound weird but I really do. One reason why I have always loved Mondays is that I have always loved my job. My Director of Marketing, Tom Holloway, told me this morning at the gym a guy told him that he was counting on this being the best Monday of his life. Now that is optimism! At any rate while we might not have that enthusiasm we can see the week as a fresh start. With that in mind I wanted to share some insights for your consideration not just for this week but at the start of this quarter.

Unemployment while slowing continues to be the drag on recovery. The U.S. has shed 7.2 million jobs since the recession began in December of 2007. While historically job recovery always lags behind recession recovery this recession is setting new standards. Everyone agrees that it will take longer to turn around the high rate of joblessness. IHS Global Insight predicts the total number of jobs in the U.S. won’t return to prerecession levels until 2013. This perhaps more than any other factor contributes to the overall unease that grips Americans.

Credit continues to be difficult if not impossible to find. Jobs will recover when business expands. One thing hindering business expansion is that small businesses, which make up most of our economic engine, is having difficulty getting loans for expansion. This same lack of credit is affecting churches who are considering projects. While many are sensing that the time to start that new building is right they none the less can not acquire the financing necessary to move forward. One banker I talked with recently told me he felt that credit would not loosen up until the second quarter of 2010.

Consumer confidence remains wary. Experts are predicting that sales will show a decline in September. The fear is that this will mean a weak holiday sales season coming up. Retailers depend on a strong fourth quarter to show a profit. After last year’s flat sales it was hoped that things would turn around this year. Unless the news improves drastically you can expect people to spend far less than before.

While technically the recession may be over the economy is still fragile. We want a return to normal whatever that is. However what we have seen in this last month is that we have a long way to go. It will take awhile to get out of the hole that was dug. We should not be surprised that there is an ebb and flow to the recovery. Some Mondays are going to bring good news and some are going to bring bad news. The Stock Market will continue to be volatile and confidence will remain weak for some time.

Giving will be impacted by all of the above. Most were surprised that giving to religious causes showed a 1% increase in 2008. We might be in for a slight decline this year. While it is still too early to tell how things will turn out there are some indicators. The Southern Baptist are the best at counting things. One indication of the impact of this recession is seen in their giving reports to the denomination from their 38,000 churches. Baptist Press filed the following last Friday, “The Southern Baptist Convention finished its Oct. 1 - Sept. 30 fiscal year 2.87 percent below budget, while Cooperative Program receipts for the year were down 2.23 percent and combined CP and designated giving for the year was down 3.65 percent, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Morris H. Chapman.”

While you might not be a Southern Baptist it does give us insight into what is happening across the country. When a major denomination like the SBC is struggling you can be sure that many others are too. Twice since 1970 giving to religious causes declined the year AFTER the recession ended. I think we might see that same scenario this year. I would not be surprised if giving dipped slightly for 2009 between 2% to 5%. While some ministries will see a greater decline others will remain steady.

Ok, that is all well and good but what does this mean for you as a Christian leader? What should you be doing to meet this challenge? Here are some thoughts.

Develop a comprehensive stewardship plan. Like a broken record I keep preaching this same verse. Pastors can wax eloquent about their growth plans, their discipleship plan but draw a blank when you ask them about their stewardship plan. As the saying goes if you fail to plan you are planning on failure.

Make wise budgeting decisions. Many churches are in the final stages of budget preparation for the next year. Now more than ever your donors want to know that you “get it” about the recession. Great care needs to be taken to have a budget that is realistic and obtainable.

End the year well. Much like your overall stewardship plan you need a plan of action to end the year well. Banks are looking much more closely at the financial status of churches. Showing continual increases in giving is imperative. It is important that you close out the year well. This not only helps meet current budget needs but also sets you up for a positive start to 2010. It gives you greater ability to acquire financing or to re-finance your existing note.

These are challenging times. That does not mean that you can not continue to do well. We have many clients who had banner years in terms of giving last year and continue to show strong results this year. It does not happen by accident however. With good planning and hard work you can weather the storms of this recession.

If all of this seems too much for you then please consider allowing us to help you. Our strategic planning can make a world of difference towards successfully navigating through these times.

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group