Tag: discipleship of generosity

2_05: Todd McMichen – Get ready to receive an alpaca: a generational look at generosity

2_05: Todd McMichen – Get ready to receive an alpaca: a generational look at generosity

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Breakthrough ideas with Todd: 

  • 74% of churches have online giving, but they only receive about 15% of their income through digital avenues.
  • 90% of our personal wealth is contained in our assets not in liquid cash – what if your church had a way to enable generosity in this way?
  • What happens if you’ve got one alpaca too many?
  • What does a generous human being look like?
  • What would it be like to have a church filled with generous people?
  • Lifeway Generosity is turning every smartphone into an offering plate.
  • Your members are giving above and beyond dollars every single week to somebody… why not the church.
  • The outside the church around generosity has completely changed from 20 years ago.
  • So 20 years ago as leaders in the church we have been afraid to talk about money because that’s a personal private matter, that’s changed.
  • Millennials are very generous, and they are socially generous.
  • if the church is going to catch up, we have got to be more confident in socializing generosity.
  • If a millennial is in worship on Sunday morning and you’re welcoming them, and you go through the entire worship service, and you’ve not told them the power of a dollar given to your local church, the difference it’s making, you’re turning them off.
  • Any time we’re about to pass the plate, anchor the moment in what your people can become by giving and tell a story of what the giving is doing.
  • The millennial generation doesn’t see different types of generosity differently. So serving generosity is equal to financial generosity.
  • 84% of millennials, on average, are giving to nonprofits. And when they give, they give almost $500 annually, and they give to three different nonprofits.
  • The millennial generation is generous. They’re just not giving in ways the church has readily acknowledged and accepted easily.
  • Every generous church we find is led by a generous pastor
  • We didn’t learn how to raise money and disciple people in their generosity in seminary. Here’s what to do.
  • Sometimes exegeting somebody’s life situation and helping them understand how generosity affects their relationship with Christ is as important.
  • What would you do if you had to cut 25% out of your budget next year?
  • Every first time givers was at some time a first time guest. Hospitality impacts generosity.
  • You can’t turn on joy across the congregation 30 seconds before the offering plate passes, joy starts in the parking lot.
  • Those churches that really welcome people well, seem to be some of those churches that are overflowing with generosity
  • When a church raises this budget 5% in advance, they start the fiscal year out, it’s behind, but everybody’s spending.
  • Instead of creating a 105% budget, what if you did 98%? It changes the game for you. So you’re not actually spending less, it’s just a completely different way of thinking and feeling about it.
  • There is a massive problem that pastors are unaware of. Total giving has flat-lined or a little bit up, but the number of givers is on dramatic decline.
  • Attendance is going down, but giving is staying the same.
  • We are going to lose 10 million givers in the Boomer generation. You can’t stop that from happening. You don’t know it’s happening.
  • Should a pastor know how much someone gives or doesn’t give? And how do we disciple the key donor?
  • The number one missing ingredient in the budget process is a yearly goal.

Breakthrough resources in this episode: 

Generospitality eBook

LifeWay Generosity

The Genius of Generosity by Chip Ingram

Webinar: Your Most Welcoming, Generous Christmas Yet!

Todd McMichen has served local churches for over 30 years in a variety of roles from small rural congregations to church plants to mega-churches. His generosity roots rise from leading multiple capital campaigns for two churches where he served as a staff member, raising over $35,000,000 for their visionary projects. Since 2000, Todd has been a well-established stewardship coach, generosity leader, author, and conference speaker. He now serves as the Director of LifeWay Generosity & Digital Giving. Todd is a graduate of Palm Beach Atlantic College in West Palm Beach, Florida and Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife, Theresa. Visit Todd’s blog at toddmcmichen.com or follow him on twitter @toddmcmichen.

 

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18: Greg Gibbs – Auxano Resourcing

18: Greg Gibbs – Auxano Resourcing

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Breakthrough ideas with Greg:

  • Opening your home, giving people access to you, can be a spiritual commitment.
  • The second someone walks through the door into your home; people can sniff out love, acceptance, and grace.
  • Could your home be a better place to invite someone than the church if you genuinely want to share the love of Jesus?
  • The future of Jesus people in America may just be delivering the gospel life on life and kitchen to kitchen?
  • Generosity is a family heritage that can be passed along from generation to generation.
  • Fundraising is not just a Pastor’s necessary evil like taking your vitamins… it is a vital leadership discipline.
  • Your congregation can grow spiritually when you call them to sacrifice financially.
  • Generosity is a spiritual muscle that must be warmed and used regularly.
  • Taking risks of faith reminds us that God is the great provider.
  • Jesus is on to something here… Money matters.
  • Jesus doesn’t need our money, but he does want our hearts.
  • Money captures the heart of people; that’s why Jesus talked about it so much.
  • Generosity and fundraising are categories of discipleship that create explosive spiritual growth.
  • There’s something being a church that has enough critical mass and resources to serve the community but lives small enough to feel like a family.
  • Most pastors are not trained to disciple people with whole life generosity.
  • Every pastoral leader deals with the fear of talking about money; it’s not just you.
  • Jesus doesn’t give us any right to not talk about one of the most significant sources of anxiety in the life of people: money.
  • It is malpractice for a pastor to not address the topic of money and possessions in the lives and hearts of the people in their congregation.
  • Jesus likes the topic of money… you are in good hands when you talk about money.
  • Bring up money in a gracious, confident way and normalize the conversation about generosity. We cannot-not talk about money if we are going to lead people to dependence on Christ.
  • Generosity and how we deal with our stuff is a daily topic, not an annual topic. Talk about it regularly.
  • If you only talk about money in crisis or budgetary terms, what you are saying is that giving is a financial transaction. Jesus doesn’t allow us to see generosity as a transactional practice.
  • Understanding the true nature of generosity is at the core of discipleship.
  • How can you grow someone in their dependence on God and following of Him if you do not talk about their money?
  • Breakthrough happens when generosity is normalized, as a part of people discipling – not church budgeting.
  • Does the topic of generosity need to come up in sermons on marriage and work? If you are normalizing generosity, it does.
  • Pastors need to share their generosity journey, their fears and struggles to normalize generosity.
  • When church leaders are nitpicking about theology around the tithe and giving, they’re typically NOT seeking ways to be MORE generous.
  • What if every member of your congregation acted as you do in the category of generosity? What kind of church would it be?
  • Pastor, is your life, and your generosity, worth emulating by your congregation?
  • Generosity affects every part of your ability to lead well in the church.
  • God doesn’t need your money to do His work, but He sure seems to use it.
  • Put money in its place and then continue to pursue what it means to live with generosity.
  • What if there was a how-to guide for churches that are trying to run discipleship based capital campaigns?
  • How do you lead a capital campaign? Here’s a step-by-step playbook.
  • Every pastor can execute a capital campaign; it’s not that complex. Having clarity as to WHY you are running a capital campaign and HOW this connects to God’s better future is what makes a campaign successful.
  • You can move from being intimidated about a capital campaign to being encouraged to fund a bigger dream for your church.
  • Don’t be so insecure as a young leader; your identity is not found in being the hero… Jesus is the hero.
  • You do not have to have every answer. Jesus is ok with the real you.
  • Authentic relationships with people who know and love you serve to bring out the real, imperfect version of who you are.

Breakthrough resources:

Capital Campaign Playbook by Greg Gibbs

The Great Emergence by Phyllis Tickle

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero

Greg Gibbs was raised in the Philadelphia area but set down roots in the suburbs of Detroit. As the son of an IBM executive, his instincts for leadership were shaped early. He studied Organizational Communication as an undergrad and holds a master’s degree in Theology.  After years of pastoral leadership in churches, Greg turned his attention to consulting and has spent time traveling the country working with church leaders.

Greg is both a practitioner and consultant. He holds an adjunct position as Director of Organizational Advancement for Kensington Church – serving his home church by leading Church Planting and Leadership Development initiatives. Kensington is a multi-site church and has helped fund and coach over 70 church plants around the country.

After 15 years of consulting and having helped raise over $150M for various churches, Greg joined Auxano in late 2016 as a Lead Navigator. He helps senior leadership with Vision Clarity, Long-Range Planning, and Resourcing through Capital Campaigns and Generosity Development. He is the author of Capital Campaign Playbook: An Insider Look at a Church Consultant’s Game Plan.

Greg has been married to Andrea for 28 years and they have four children, one daughter-in-law, two dogs named Walter and Gustavo, and like to roast their own coffee with beans they purchase at the Eastern Market in downtown Detroit.

 

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