Beyond General Conference: Creating A Culture of Generosity

If you are a part of a Methodist church, how will the decisions made at General Conference 2024 impact giving in your church this year and next? Notice I did not start the question with "Will"?

It doesn't matter if your church has already made the decision to stay UMC or not. General Conference will impact giving in your church over thae next 6-18 months. 

Here are 3 areas of focus to not only suppress the noise of General Conference but to put the focus on bigger and more important things; who we are called to be as a church, what is the impact we are making as a church, and a refocus on what we believe as Christians? Here are three specific areas to address in order for your church to achieve these goals.

1. Communications - Post General Conference communications may have to include summaries and reviews of the decisions made at General Conference. However, I would recommend you spend more of the time in emails, videos, worship announcements, social media and one on one conversations discussing who you are called to be as a church and the impact your church is having on the people inside your church AND more importantly the people outside the walls of your church.

2. Offering Moments - If you know me at all, you know how important I feel the offering moment is to having a healthy culture of generosity. This should be an ongoing practice but maybe General Conference is a good reason for your church to get started with intentional offering moments or to improve on them. The offering moment is where you connect the dots between the impact and giving. Explain how your church is having impact on people/the community and how the financial giving of the people in the congregation is facilitating that impact. 

3. Fall 2024 Budget Campaign - By the fall of 2024 I am confident that most pastors and churches (if not all) will be ready to move on from the noise and begin to look forward on being the hands and feet of Jesus again. Everyone (staff and laity) will need a time of reflection on and renewal in what we believe as Christians; not what we believe as members of a certain denomination. The denomination must take a back seat to what it means for each of us to be a Christian. Generis and I have created a fall budget campaign called Believe. It is a 4-week sermon series centered on the biblical beliefs that shape the Apostle's Creed and how those Biblical beliefs impact our giving. Click here to learn more about the Believe campaign. If you do not use the Believe campaign, be intentional in creating your own budget campaign to focus much more on what we believe as Christians and what the implications of those beliefs are on our actions. 

I'd love to have a conversation with you about the culture of generosity at your church and what the communications and conversations look like over the rest of 2024. No pressure; just a conversation. Let's schedule a free 30 minute zoom call to explore. Shoot me an email and we will get something on the calendar.

Alan