On New Year’s Day people often write annual resolutions and promise to make positive changes in their lives. Obviously it is impossible to be productive as individuals or a church in the months ahead without careful planning.
During most of my pastoral ministry — since 1973, in fact — I have consistently used one outstanding resource to prepare worship bulletins, calls to worship and prayers and liturgies to be used for weekly services, funerals, weddings. It has also been of great help in my own spiritual growth.
In her recent book “Spiritual Leadership for Church Officers, A Handbook” (Louisville: Geneva Press, 2009), Joan Gray, former moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), urges leaders to ask if they are a part of a rowboat or a sailboat church:
I have been rereading a book by Clarence Jordan (author of the Cotton Patch translations of the New Testament) entitled The Sermon On the Mount ( Judson Press, Revised, 1952).
If you have been struggling with your own giving to the church or your congregation is having a difficult time raising its annual budget or meeting capital expenses, J. Clif Christopher’s book, Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate, A New Vision for Financial Stewardship (Abingdon Press, 2008) is for you.
