3 Ways To Become A Generous Church
Last week, we posted an article on Facebook about how one reason church’s are struggling with engaging their communities, is that they’re too “inward focused” rather than being “outward focused.”
So, how can your church become outward focused? By being a generous church. Notice we didn’t say by getting your congregation to be generous, but by your church being generous in the community.
Generous church leadership produces generous church membership. How much money does your church give away to entities outside your own ministry? We ask church members to give and sacrifice greatly, but many leaders struggle to do the same with the church budget.
Why should your church become a generous church?
1. Jesus became poor so that we might become rich (and we’re not referencing money here but the fact that Christ gave everything.) Nothing more needs to be said on that one.
2. We can build the Kingdom faster. For instance, investing $50,000 in a church plant might produce more Kingdom fruit than investing the same amount in another staff position.
3. Our people trust us more when we give.
If you consistently share stories of how your church is generously giving back to the community during your offering times and messages, don’t you think people will trust your heart more than if you keep everything hush hush? People love to give to projects, ministries, churches and missions where they can see life change happening.
Here are 3 ways to be a generous church:
1. Start from the beginning.
If you haven’t started your church yet, allocate a percentage of your budget that you will give away from the very start. You will never miss it, and you will embed generosity into your church’s DNA.
2. Start somewhere.
Crosspoint Church in Nashville, TN has given away 10 percent of their budget from the very start. Their goal is to give away percent, so they are giving away an additional 1% every year for the next 10 years to achieve it.
3. Start a tradition.
Give away the weekly offering once each year on a specific Sunday. When churches do this, people respond with radical generosity that benefits the Kingdom. Balance faith and wisdom in this area.
If the church will go bankrupt because you give your offering away this week, be sure it was God telling you to do it. It’s much easier to do this when you have financial confidence because you’ve established financial margin!