 | Help Habitat
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Growing your stewardship can take as little as 90 seconds - take a water conservation quiz now, and Kohler will donate $1 to Habitat for Humanity. At last glance quiz donations totaled $1,532,422!
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| Things to Do |
Greetings!
What are you doing
with all that God has given you?
Where can you go to learn about starting a community garden, developing a family fire safety plan, doing a spiritual gifts assessment, getting tax credits on energy efficient appliances, or tracking one of God's greatest mysteries - the round trip migration of the Monarch  butterfly?
You can find these and much more on the Diocesan Year-round Stewardship Calendar.
Jump to the Online
Year Round Calendar now!
Keeping stewardship front and center in our lives and with our family, church and communities can be a challenge. The Stewardship Calendar offers great ideas to focus your time, talent and treasure each and every month. Moving through each church season, the calendar offers opportunities for you, your family and your congregation to explore and grow stewardship through five monthly themes: Spiritual Growth, Ministry Spotlight, Financial Health, Outside Ourselves, and God's Creation.
Stewardship is what we do with all that God has given us, all the time. Take time to explore and grow the gifts that God has given you. August is the season of Ordinary Time with the focus on Family. Need help establishing Ground Rules for Living Safely Online? Download a family technology covenant.
FULL INFORMATION is on the diocesan website, click here.
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| Results are in |
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New Consecration Sunday (NCS) Stewardship Program works!
The results are in the chart below. For a complete explanation follow this link.
Bottom line: Among our churches that had increases in pledging units and/or pledged dollars, the New Consecration Sunday Stewardship Program by Herb Miller produced the best overall performance with 62% of the 16 participating churches showing growth.
- NCS is a spiritually-focused approach rather than a fund-raising method
- NCS models the idea that stewardship is part of our worship
- NCS focuses on proportional giving and tithing
- NCS works well when you have parishioners new to pledging
- NCS is structured and user-friendly
For more information click here.
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| Food for Thought
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Generational Communication
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Tools to Inspire Generations in Generosity
Everybody knows that sinking feeling when the person you are talking to gets that glazed-over look in their eyes -- when you are convinced that you really sound like Charlie Brown's teacher, "wah wah woh wah wah." For the savvy communicator, recognizing the look, adjusting the message, and (hopefully) snapping the audience out of their stupor, is key. The Rev. Kar l Travis, Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth, was one of the keynote speakers at this year's Episcopal Network for Stewardship Conference at Camp Allen this past June. Travis' presentation focused on generational specific communication and the importance of tailoring your message to each generation. You must know who they are, what shaped them, what they are like, and what their lives have been like. Travis points to Strauss-Howe's Generation Theory as a tool for understanding the characteristics of specific generations including: The GI Generation - born between 1901 and 1924; The Silent Generation - born between 1925 and 1942; The Baby Boom Generation - born between 1943 and 1960; The "13er" Generation - born between 1961 and 1981; The Millennial Generation - born between 1982 and 2002. Travis has taken this model and applied it to church growth, and specifically in this presentation to stewardship - emphasizing the need for multiple campaigns directed at multiple audiences. Click here to learn more about generational theory, explore each generation, and identify ways to inspire and motivate those in your pews. Test your knowledge Match each generation to one of the statements below. - The GI Generation,
- The Silent Generation,
- The Baby Boom Generation,
- The "13er" Generation and
- The Millennial Generation.
- This generation is more service oriented than either of the two preceding generations and is more racially and ethnically diverse than any other generation.
- This generation is known as rebellious, non-conformists, and are better preachers than builders, philosophers than scientists. Its men are known as mother's boys.
- This generation is known as the lost generation, reactive, violent, poor and suicidal.
- This generation stresses the group over the individual, tradition over innovation, loyalty and commitment over values and self expression.
- This generation is interested in the system rather than individual enterprise. They are facilitators, mediators and moderators.
Read more and discover the answers to these questions and how best to communicate to different generations. (Link to full version) |
| Things to Read |
For July, Vestry Papers Online
Topic this month: Connection Generations relating to the younger members of our congregations - In this issue you'll find:
"Letting Our Light Shine," by Stephen Trever, demonstrates how a small group of parishioners from Grace Episcopal Church Medford, Massachusetts applied the principles of the Leadership Development Initiative to bring about "Let's Move! Medford," a community-based program directed at building awareness around children's health. Virginia Citrono's "Youth comes Knocking" shares the story of the faith and determination of two high school age students who, as part of a conscious effort by the Diocese of Newark to more fully involve young people in every part of the life of our church, will represent the diocese at the Episcopal Church's 2012 General Convention as delegates. In "The Diaconate of Young Adulthood," Jason Sierra reflects on the gifts that young adults searching for their place in the world can bring to the Church, and invites us to reexamine our expectations of their role in our church and the world. Ed Ziegler's "The Wander Years" offers an approach for helping students navigate their spiritual journey as they prepare to leave the safety of their home congregation in pursuit of educational or vocational opportunities. Free to everyone, Vestry Papers at www.ecfvp.org offers us opportunities to create community among Episcopal leaders and foster learning about congregational issues among not only vestries and rectors, but also all lay people and clergy who lead congregations.
Sign up now to receive ECF Vital Practices. |
MORE FROM . . .Lessons from an Annual Giving Campaign
 In today's economic climate, annual stewardship campaigns need to go beyond a written appeal and sermon on Stewardship Sunday. David Posterero shares the successful, congregation-led model that Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio, developed in response to the economic downturn. Read the article here .
Model Intentional Giving
 Laurel Johnston, Officer for Stewardship for the Episcopal Church, shares six best stewardship practices of vibrant Latino congregations. "We discovered that the most effective stewardship formation occurs in the context of worship, in open and frank discussions about money, faith and giving, and in helping people understand how their giving funds the ministries of the church, including social outreach," she said. Read the article here .
Pass the Plate. Or not.
 Can members of your congregation pay their pledges online? Learn best practices for online giving here .
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