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Stewardship Program Options – Encouraging Word – July 2018

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Stewardship Program Options

WELS Congregational Services is producing a new stewardship program for 2019. Meanwhile, congregations can find stewardship resources and quality programs at wels.net/stewardship. If you haven’t already tried them, here are a couple of recent programs with good reviews.

Joyful Generosity guides followers of Christ through the Bible’s clear teachings on the management of our possessions. The program includes six weeks of worship and Bible study materials as well as 21 personal devotions. Dave Fleischmann, pastor at Trinity, Kaukauna, Wis., was happy with the gospel approach of the series, saying, “I pray that it affects the hearts of my members as much as it affected my heart.”

364 Days of Thanksgiving focuses on how we can be thankful every day for the blessings God gives us. The emphasis includes three weeks of worship and Bible study resources. Churches can bulk order a devotional journal at a discount for members to use to record their blessings. Ray Schumacher is a member at St. Peter’s, Helenville. His congregation decided to hand out the book to encourage members to count God’s blessings. Members liked the idea so much that each time an announcement was made about the program, a member would step forward to cover the cost of books. In the end many people could take a book for free. “The other thing that caught my attention,” Ray shared, “was that people were following through. They would talk about how the process helped them see how many blessings they had received.”

Positive Response to Stewardship Program – Encouraging Word – November 2017

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Positive Response to Stewardship Program

WELS Ministry of Christian Giving published the new stewardship program, Joyful Generosity, earlier this year for congregations to use in 2017 and 2018 (due to the expected heavy focus on the Reformation’s 500th anniversary this year). The program includes six weeks of worship and Bible study materials as well as 21 personal devotions.

Pastor Dave Fleischmann, who serves God’s people at Trinity Lutheran Church in Kaukauna, Wis., says he hesitated at first to undertake a six-week program. “That is a fairly long stewardship program. I was worried about ‘stewardship burnout’ by the end. However, that did not occur. In fact, the average attendance during the series was actually up a little bit from our normal attendance.”

Overall, he was very happy with how gospel-based the series was, saying the series is even visitor-friendly. “I pray that it affects the hearts of my members as much as it affected my heart.” He says, “Next year I certainly plan on doing another stewardship series, though probably not one as long as this one. I pray that many pastors will use this series to help lead their people to ‘Joyful Generosity.’”

Congregations can find Joyful Generosity, the three-week 364 Days of Thanksgiving program, and other stewardship programs and resources online at wels.net/stewardship.

Weeks to Emphasize Stewardship – Encouraging Word – July 2015

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Weeks to Emphasize Stewardship

While our “Stewardship by the Lectionary” resource offers stewardship-themed devotions for all weekly lectionary readings, some weeks are particularly strong for a stewardship-themed Sunday. Following are some ideas for a stewardship Sunday or emphasis in the latter half of 2015. Refer to future editions of “Stewardship by the Lectionary” for further development of these themes.

Pentecost 15 (September 6) – Manage Well the Gift of God’s Word! (Deuteronomy 4:1, 2, 6-8; Ephesians 6:10-20; Mark 77:1-8, 14, 15, 21-23)

Pentecost 17 (September 20) – Whole-life Stewardship Flows from Faith in Jesus (James 2:1-5, 8-10, 14-18; Mark 8:27-35)

Pentecost 21 (October 18) – The Danger of Living “the Good Life” (Amos 5:6, 7, 10-15; Mark 10:17-27)

Christ the King (November 22) – “One in Christ” debt elimination offering