Yesterday my wife Chris wrapped up her participation in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure. From early Friday morning until yesterday afternoon she and about 1,000 others walked 60 miles around western Cuyahoga County. Many of you are…
Read MoreLast week I heard a business guru give his tool to assess the success of small businesses given the difficult economy the last few years. “If you’re still open, you’re a success.” But then he admonished them to get out…
Read MoreMastercard’s “Priceless” ad campaign is world-famous and fairly well satirized at this point. In those ads you might expect to see Friendship identified as “Priceless.” But a survey by the Gallup folks in 1998 puts a definite value on friendship, $118. …
Read MoreI was blessed to be able to preach yesterday at Orchard Path UMC, one of our new church starts. Reverend David Rittgers is leading a great group in suburban Cleveland and asked if I would talk stewardship with his people….
Read MoreIf you started the year with a new financial secretary he or she is probably pretty depressed seven Sundays into the new year. He or she may have taken the total amount pledged, divided it by 52 and figured that…
Read MoreWhen I was growing up you didn’t get braces until your teeth had all come in. But today the approach is to do braces much younger, often at age 8 or so. That way they come in straight rather than…
Read MoreThere is no doubt that church committee work is cyclical and this is absolutely true for Stewardship Committees. After Labor Day they start to get organized, are busy in October and November, are done by Thanksgiving or so and are…
Read MoreAdvent, of course, is the time before Christmas. It is the process of building toward Christmas Eve and, of course, Christmas morning. The problem is that once December 26 has come, it’s over. Adam Hamilton, who regular readers to this…
Read MoreBy now I’m fairly sure that everyone who is doing a fall stewardship campaign has completed it. So give us all some feedback on what you did and how you did. If you scroll down a bit, just above the…
Read MoreWow, what a great response to last week’s post about electronic giving! It was the most-read entry we’ve had in 12 weeks! One church member told me that his church does nearly all of its “transactions” with members electronically. These are…
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