Allen Walworth, co-owner of Generis with Jim Sheppard, is transitioning his share of Generis to Brad Leeper, who becomes President and Principal. Brad joined Generis in 2001 and quickly became adept at working with churches in their generosity and stewardship matters. In his 10 years with the firm, he has established himself as one of the top stewardship and generosity consultants in America. Allen will remain as a consultant working with church and ministry clients and will continue as part of the management team of Generis.

Jim Sheppard, CEO and Principal, said, “I am grateful for Allen’s contribution to Generis. As a result of our three years of partnership, Generis is strongly positioned to continue its momentum and influence in this important Kingdom work. I am delighted Allen will continue to be part of our team. Generis is very fortunate to have someone of Brad’s ability to assume Allen’s position and responsibilities. We have a strong belief in collaborative strength — the power of ‘we.’ The reality is it expands our leadership team and makes us stronger. I look forward to many years of successful partnership with Brad and to working with our expanded leadership team in serving churches and ministry organizations.”

For video message, click here: GENERIS Expands Leadership Team

The World Series started this week and there is a lot of talk about who has home field advantage. There is a distinct advantage to playing at home. In fact, the benefit of winning the annual major league baseball All Star game is that your league gets home field advantage. There are 7 games, so one team gets 4 at home and the other team gets 3.

In the world of non-profits, the church has a home field advantage of sorts. The church is the only entity in the not for profit world that has the opportunity to look its people in the eye 52 times a year. Yeah, I know people are more mobile than ever and the definition of a regular attender is now 2 times per month, which is a lot lower than it was 8-10 years ago. But the fact remains, the church sees its people face-to-face more than any other entity in the non-profit world. This is what I call the “home field advantage.”

This advantage has always been important, but it is more critical then ever to developing and growing generosity in the post 2008 era. The effect of the economic meltdown of late 2008 has been to reframe the rules for raising ministry support. Donors are still willing to give, but they are vetting the choices they have for their charitable giving more than ever. Because of the home field advantage, the church has a distinct opportunity to stand out.

The question for church leaders is, what do I do with that advantage? Six things come to mind as important.

• Build trust: All charitable funding is given in an atmosphere of trust. Leverage the weekend worship experience by building trust in all you do.
• Cast (and re-cast) vision: People have to be constantly reminded of the vision of ministry of the church. There are three types of reminders — blast (fire hose), soak (garden hose), drip (soaker hose). There is an appropriate time for each. Use the blast sparingly and follow with soak and drip to make sure your people absorb it.
• Shape culture: You can have great vision, but bad culture will cause problems in implementing it. Culture is never neutral — it is either for you or against you. Make sure you are always shaping culture so it is working for you.
• Demonstrate impact: More than ever before, in the post 2008 money environment, givers are vetting the choices for their charitable dollars. Impact is like “ROI” — where givers see it, they direct their charitable giving. You have the stories of impact, but they are probably hidden in the numbers. Make sure you pull back the numbers and tell the stories of impact.
• Enhance relationships: After trust, relationship is one of the most important factors in a giving decision. Build relationships while people are on site at your church. Make sure there are ample “met and greet” type spaces throughout your facility or campus.
• Highlight good stewardship: Churches that practice good stewardship with the money that is given them earn the respect of givers. Let your people know about key decisions you make to be more effieient in the use of the funds entrusted to your church.

Check yourself against this list. Which of these things are you doing? And not doing?

Don’t ignore the home field advantage. Let it work for you in the post 2008 era of developing and growing support for your church.

We spend a lot of time worrying about stuff we have no control over. The economy is a GREAT example. Too many waste too much time in worry and fear about the future and the future of their money. For those of us who are Christ-followers, there is no precedent for this way of living.

Jesus knew about worry. He speaks about it very specifically, “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes?”

From our time in English 101, we know when we read “therefore,” we need to look back to see what it is “there for.” In the previous verse, Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters. You will either hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon.”

When Jesus says “Mammon,” he is talking about money in the strongest possible terms–the false god of riches. When riches become an object of worship and greedy pursuit, mammon becomes a deity, meaning it has the power to be a god. In other words, it has the power to become another altar where we might worship. Nowhere else in Scripture does Jesus describe anything on earth using deistic terminology.

He knew money would be a serious problem for us, so he prescribes the solution: “Stop worrying, I will take care of you.” In reality, it works in reverse. I have to get to the teaching behind the “therefore” before I find the source of the strength to stop worrying. I have to stop trying to worship at two altars. I need to get myself up from that other altar and worship at the one true altar.

It’s easy to understand but very hard to do.

As church leaders, we must remember that the people in the pew are very perceptive. We can’t fool them. They will follow what we do closer than what we say. We can’t expect our people to live beyond the example the church leadership is setting for them.

Is our leadership posture about money perpetuating fear and worry or is it projecting bold confidence in the providence of God?

Money does not change us. Not really. It only makes us more of what we already are. We think having more money will change us, but it is a rare occurrence.

The greedy person only becomes more greedy.

The generous person becomes more generous.

Money makes us more…

Think about that.

What if you could punch the “increase giving” button in your church and watch generosity happen. That would be nice, wouldn’t it, but it doesn’t work that way.

The reality is that generosity is systemic. Everything affects it. Generosity to a church is the result of a number of factors.

In a previous post, I indicated that the economy might be a factor in giving, but generally it is not the key factor. The economy does tend to expose those churches that are not healthy. Good times and increased giving obscured underlying issues for a lot of churches.

Internal factors are a lot more important to the long term giving health of a church than are external factors like the economy. In other words, there is greater risk from factors inside your church. Churches with that are unhealthy on the inside are vulnerable. Healthy churches generally are not as exposed. In other words, they do well in good times and bad. They have learned that there are ways to “recession proof” your church.

What does that look like? I do not pretend to be an expert on church health. The folks at TAG Consulting are very good at assessing that. Their “Transforming Church Index” is excellent — like an MRI on the church. But a few things are critical.

Many would say vision is at the top of the list. I agree it is hard to attract generous givers without vision of ministry. However, there are a couple of things that are important and have to be considered.

The first one is clarity. It would be difficult to overemphasize the importance of clarity. You can have a vision of ministry for the church, but is it clear enough for people to understand it and own it? In other words, can you state the mission and vision of your church in an “elevator pitch” (not an elevator in an eighty story building!)? If, as a church leader, you want your people to truly own the vision of ministry you believe God has placed before you, it must be clear and concise. It is fine to have a longer version for strategy and execution purposes, but keep that in your office. The main version your people see has to be easy to remember.

In laying out the vision of ministry for you church, you also have to make sure it is original and authentic. I see a lot of church leaders who go to a great conference and see a presentation on that church’s vision, then try to make it theirs. In other words, they change a few words and proclaim “this is our new vision.” Wrong. That is merely photocopying what someone else has done. What may work well for Andy Stanley or Bill Hybels or Rick Warren (or any other church leader) in their church will probably not work in yours. There are too many differences. If you have not read “Church Unique” by Will Mancini, get it. He spends a lot of time talking about this topic.

The second thing is this — culture. As important as vision is, culture is even more important. Why do I say this? You can have the greatest vision on earth, but, quoting Sam Chand, “it will die in a toxic culture.” Bad culture trumps good vision every time.

Culture, according to dictionary.com is defined as “the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular group.” The culture in a church does not happen overnight. It is an accumulation over the years. Some pastors inherit it when they go a to new pastorate.  Other pastors see it get shaped around them. Others, like church planters, get to create it from day one. That’s why it is so important if you are a church planter to pay close attention to the culture of your church in the early years.

No matter which category you fall into, culture will play a significant role in what you can accomplish.

What kind of culture do you have? Clearly vision is important. If vision is king, culture is the ace that beats it! You will never advance your vision beyond what the culture will permit and the result will be that the potential for generosity will be restricted.

Remember – generosity is systemic. Everything matters.