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Whose Offering Plate Is It?: New Strategies For Financial Stewardship

In Not Your Parents' Offering Plate, Clif Christopher challenged churches and pastors to take a lesson from the leaders of not-for-profit organizations: if you want people to give to your church, first offer them a compelling vision of the good that their giving will accomplish. The book encouraged an entire culture change for many in the Christian community in how they viewed the offering plate. It also unleashed a barrage of questions on specifically how to create this new culture while maintaining the foundations of one's faith tradition and  mission. In this sequel, Christopher responds to these questions in the same forthright manner that he originally laid forth his propositions. He offers simple, strategic advice on such difficult questions as: “Exactly how do I go about gaining access to the donor records when my church has prohibited it for a hundred years?” “How do I explain a meeting with just those who are strong givers without alienating those who are not?” “How can we advocate online giving without encouraging some to abuse their credit cards?” “What should letters to different giving constituencies look like?”

Paperback: 144 pages

Publisher: Abingdon Press (October 1, 2010)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1426710135

ISBN-13: 978-1426710131

Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches

Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #119,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #52 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Christian Living > Stewardship #85 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Churches & Church Leadership > Church Administration #107 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Christian Living > Leadership

This book should be read by every Pastor or church administrator. It will realign your perspective on why people give and how to generate more giving from the congregation. It also offers 10 practical things you can do right now to get started. I really appreciated it.

Cliff Christopher does an excellent job of reminding us what we have been doing wrong for many years in the church. His work in the not for profit sector also reminds us of how competitive the giving business has become, and what the church must do to be current.

This book opened my eyes to many of the things we have allowed to be neglected in churches as they talk about and practice stewardship which have led to dismal giving numbers. It was a wake up call to changes I needed to make as pastor and gave good direction on leading the Finance Team towards those changes. One member who read this book told me was the first book about church giving that made sense to him! Thanks!

WOW! This book has turned my perspective on church stewardship upside down. It is well written and gives a totally different approach to how we approach Stewardship and fundraising for all churches. And the author is right. We need to learn how to approach our church members like donors are approached by non-profit groups. I strongly recommend this book!

There are some good ideas in this book but the overall sense of it belies another era - when highly authoritarian, patriarchal church leaders could take a "father knows best" approach to their infantilized congregations. The overall approach is one that would dramatically undermine trust and cross boundaries of confidentiality - robbing the parish of credibility. This is an anxious book written in a time of dramatic change. What is needed is a far more thoughtful and reflective approach that truly engages the change that has come to all US religious institutions.

Mr. Christopher makes a compelling case for a new approach to church fund raising, with concrete suggestions and a new vision for the role of the pastor in this process. As a lay person and current co-chair of my church's finance committee, I found this book to be inspiring about what the modern church can do to stay relevant in today's world. This approach is not primarily about money, but rather about how we can convince people that being a part of a faith community is integral to being a mature Christian. I hear a lot about having a personal relationship with Jesus from various sources, but I believe we cannot fully be in communion with God unless we accept that we are a part of the body of Christ. In other words, we need to be connected to other believers - working, serving, loving, worshiping, studying, etc. with them. I think this book promotes that view, too, and I was very glad to receive its message. I look forward to trying to implement this program in our church!

As new Finance Chair of my chair, this book was recommended to me. This book opened my eyes to why as a church we are struggling. Stewardship is not just about money! We bought a copy for everyone on the Finance Committee. Thank you Rev. Christopher for sharing your wisdom with all of us.

Outstanding information for those of us who volunteer as leaders for our church. We learned so much from someone who has been there-done that! Every group of volunteer leaders should take time to sit together and review what this church team has been doing.

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