Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Generosity, Stewardship, and Abundance: A Transformational Guide to Church Finance

God's purpose in calling us to lives of faithful stewardship and generosity isn't merely to sustain the church. Rather, the continued existence of the church is essential to sustain the powerful, transformative message of our faith. Lovett H. Weems Jr. and Ann A. Michel present the Bible's redeeming and transforming message of generosity, stewardship, and abundance in this comprehensive guide to Christian financial responsibility. The book provides practical advice to pastors and church leaders tasked with funding ministry and inspiring others toward responsible stewardship and greater generosity. It addresses church fundraising, stewardship campaigns, budgets, financing capital needs, endowments, and innovative approaches to economic sustainability. The book integrates the theological and practical dimensions of finance to empower congregational leaders to think critically about stewardship from a Christian perspective, help them use their personal and congregational possessions in the light of faith. Review If you are seeking a single, comprehensive guide to church finance, look no further. This is it. Weems and Michel have written a practical guide that is both theologically rigorous and spiritually edifying. A masterful primer on a church and its money.--Susan Beaumont, author of How to Lead When You Don't Know Where You're Going This is the best available all-in-one book on church finances, from big picture to nuts-and-bolts. It covers a wide range of topics, and yet offers practical, specific, hopeful, sound, research-based insight at each point. You'll find four ways to develop a culture of generosity, six reasons why people give money to a church, ten steps to an effective pledge or commitment campaign, and how to build a budget--and what to do if it doesn't balance. What are the best practices in renting your church facility or parking lot? How and why should your church create a cash reserve and a capital-improvement budget? What integrity measures should be built into your church's oversight of its finances? It's all here. Too many church leaders, without realizing it, live by a scarcity model that says there is never enough. Could it be instead that God has already given them everything they really need? This book takes the perspective of never talking about people's money apart from their discipleship and never talking about a church's money apart from its mission. Then in a highly readable style, it shows you a healthy, workable, and positive pathway forward.--Dr. Warren Bird, VP of Research and Equipping, Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability The future of the faith and the church has been recently tried and tested. The necessity of a book that gives some strategic direction is necessary and imperative. Lovett Weems and Ann Michel in this book have successfully seized the opportunity to provide strategic suggestions that will assure and solidify the future of the church.--Jo Ann Browning, Co-Pastor, Ebenezer A.M.E. Church, Fort Washington, MD About the Author Lovett Weems is Wesley Seminary distinguished professor of church leadership and founding director/senior consultant of Wesley's G. Douglass Lewis Center for Church Leadership. He has published over 15 books on church leadership, sustainability, and stewardship.Ann A. Michel is associate director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary and teaches in the areas of stewardship and leadership. She is the author of Synergy: A Leadership Guide for Church Staff and Volunteers.