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