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Generous Thinking
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"Stewardship is everything we do after we say we believe."
~Dave Stotts
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This e-resource
is a ministry of
American Baptist Churches USA
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Greetings!
A Fresh Perspective on Gratitude The season of Thanksgiving is now upon us. It's taken some of us by surprise, but it is November. I was recently thumbing through a home design catalogue that boasted to help you "Give thanks with style." Images of the perfect Thanksgiving flash through the mind...glorious apple pies, warm cider, turkey with all the trimmings, and fond words of thankfulness spilled across a stylish table from the very ones we love best. Right. More likely, it's the madness of running around to get it all done, forgetting something on the list and yelling all the way to the supermarket, dropping the turkey on the floor and hoping no one will notice, and doing your best to keep it together. Maybe you're a little on edge this Thanksgiving, or not, or maybe you know someone else who is, and for us all, I have been thinking about a fresh perspective on gratitude. Here it goes: Try turning all the insanity, all the shortcomings, all the frustration, all the fear, all the mess, around like a prism in the palm of your hand, until a flash of light settles on something, and you can see what there is in it all to be grateful for. It might take a while, depending on what's got you going-it may take hours or days to see it, really. Consult with a friend, if you need to. Pray about it, certainly. You might just be surprised at what there is to be grateful for. Every November, I bring out this prayer-I can't remember where I found some of the phrases, but every year it reminds me to try to take a fresh perspective on gratitude... Bountiful God, this Thanksgiving, we offer our gratitude for this life and all its blessings, for joys great and simple, and for gifts and powers more than we deserve. For sunshine and rain, family and friends, we pour out our thanksgiving. For the little things and the big things, we give thanks. We give thanks for the messy house after guests have visited because it means we have friends. We give thanks for the clothes that fit too snug because it means that we have enough to eat. We give thanks for lawns that need raking, windows that need cleaning, and shelves that need dusting because it means we have a home. We give you thanks, O God, and though the word seems small, may the feeling it creates be big enough to inspire us to share what we have and to work hard for a more equal world where all your people have enough to eat and reasons for joy. Amen. May God bless you in your Thanksgiving, ~Rev. Stacy Emerson Stewardship Facilitator, Mission Resource Development American Baptist Churches USA |
| Webinar: Generosity and Stewardship Trends |
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Click below to view the October 20th Generosity and Stewardship Trends webinar with Marcia Shetler, Executive Director/CEO of the Ecumenical Stewardship Center:
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| ESC Leadership Seminar |
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Consider attending the ESC Leadership Seminar, held at an ABCUSA church this year: St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans!
Leadership Seminar 2015
Where Your Treasure Is: Christians and Wealth in North America
December 2-4, 2015
St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church
7100 St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans, Louisiana
- By 2020, the richest 1% of the world's population will control 54% of the world's wealth.
- Persons in Canada and the US have more than a third of the world's wealth, but their giving to charity is about 2% of their income or less.
- And, there is no major difference in giving percentages by North American Christians.
As God's servants in this world, how do we share our abundance wisely?
Find out at the 2015 Leadership Seminar: Where Your Treasure Is: Christians and Wealth in North America.
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Stewardship Sunday Bulletin Insert Available
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Check out our recently published Stewardship Sunday bulletin insert, "The Joy of Generosity," here!
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| Charles Lane Resource |
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BECAUSE OF GOD's GREAT MERCY
~a stewardship program for our congregation
COMPLETE. Everything you need for your congregation's stewardship program is included. Instructions and a timeline will guide your program. Emails and letters, a newsletter article, bulletin inserts and talks in worship, a commitment card, and follow-up materials are all included.
BIBLICAL. God's word is at the heart of "Because of God's Great Mercy." Congregants are invited to reflect on God's word and respond to God's incredible generosity with generous gifts to the congregation.
MISSIONAL. The congregation is encouraged to use the program as an occasion to tell how giving is making a difference in Jesus' name in the congregation, the community and around the world. People are encouraged to give to do God's work in the world through the congregation.
FAITHFUL. Faithful to proportionate giving - the program invites people to grow their giving by half of 1 percent of household income, and gives them a very simple way to calculate that amount. In two simple steps, anyone at any income level can determine what increasing by this amount would be per week.
CUSTOMIZABLE. "Because of God's Great Mercy" comes in two formats. A WordTM format is completely customizable, allowing the congregation to easily insert its name, its mission story, and its ways people can give. A .pdf format is ready to go.
"Because of God's Great Mercy" is written by
Pastor Charles Lane, author of "Ask, Thank, Tell: Improving Stewardship Ministry in Your Congregation."
BECAUSE OF GOD'S GREAT MERCY COSTS $20
AND IS AVAILABLE ONLINE:
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