Congregational Stewardship
Growing Up Generous: A Book Review
In continuing in our effort to address engaging young adults in generosity, I have read and reviewed Growing Up Generous: Engaging Youth in Giving and Serving, written by Eugene C. Roehlkepartain, Elanah Dalyah Naftali, and Laura Musegades. This text, published in 2000, provides timeless tips for nurturing generosity in youth.
Chapter 1: Nurturing Generosity as a Way of Life
There is a particular focus in this chapter on faith traditions and their specific connections and experience with stewardship throughout history. There is also a discussion on how to create a culture of generosity in your congregation; there are eight key concepts that the authors list as essential to forming a generous culture.
Chapter 2: The Unexplored World of Youth, Money and Giving
There is a discussion here about youth of today and their particular patterns as consumers as well as information on advertising focused on youth. This chapter also focuses on financial literacy and youth, and the importance of financial education from an early age.
Chapter 3: Obstacles to Addressing Money and Giving with Youth
There is a deep discussion in this chapter on some of the largest obstacles that we face when addressing stewardship issues with youth. There is recognition by the authors that some adults feel uncomfortable talking about money and that many people may experience financial anxiety. This chapter also addresses some of the stereotypes that individuals often have when concerning youth and money; that they shouldn’t be expected to give, that they don’t have money, or that if they are asked to give they might decide to leave the church. This chapter provides invaluable information about these and many other obstacles that might come up when engaging youth in stewardship but also analyzes these obstacles and explains why they are harmful.
Chapter 4: Serving Others: An Emerging Emphasis
This chapter analyzes all-things-service learning, and explains how there has been a movement in recent years of youth being heavily involved in service learning. The authors also explore service learning in and through congregations. Lastly, obstacles that come up for youth engaging in service work are also addressed.
Chapter 5: Rethinking Youth Giving and Serving
There is a focus on how to face the obstacles presented in earlier chapters and logically respond in the most receptive, respectful, and engaging way. The authors discuss developmental assets in youth, and how these assets contribute to healthy youth development, which in turn leads to higher levels of generosity. Additionally, the authors tackle eight cultural shifts that need to occur in congregations in order to effectively nurture generous youth.
The final two chapters, Chapter 6: Creating a Culture of Generosity, and Chapter 7: Cultivating the Practices of Generosity focus on eight keys to giving and serving in congregations. The first four keys emphasize creating a generous culture in a congregation, while the last focus on practices of generosity.
We hope that this review may assist your congregation with effective strategies to create, or build on, youth stewardship practices.
Jesse
Annual Budget Drive, Appreciative Inquiry, Art of Thriving, Capital Campaigns, FORTH: A Stewardship Development Program, Fundraising, Generosity, Giving and Receiving, Long-Range Stewardship Planning, Money, Myths, Operational/Organizational Aspects, Resources, Sermon, Spiritual Giving, Stewardship Education, Volunteer Management, Youth
supports parents who want to raise wonderful children who are “independent, balanced, and able to exercise good judgment, practice responsible habits, and live independent lives as contributing members of both family and community.”
planned giving program encourages congregants to give financial support for the long-term fiscal stability of a congregation. The gifts given to a planned giving program establish and maintain an endowment fund, the part of a congregation’s income derived from donations. By providing investment income, the endowment fund becomes the vehicle through which long-term fiscal stability is assured.
ears old, that is a historical account of how the concept of money came into existence. The book begins by recounting what individuals did before money was used and how, gradually over time, money became the preferred method over trading or bartering goods. The book illustrations are fantastic, and provide children with a visual representation of what money actually looked like when it was first produced and how it changed over thousands of years. While this book doesn’t address the practical concepts behind money, learning about the history of it can be valuable for a child to understand as it creates a framework and a working knowledge of how money came to be.
consultants. There are three outcomes of an assessment visit:
Thank you to Congregational Stewardship Consultant Aggie Sweeney for sharing this article about generosity and the holiday season with our office.
th a direct pitch to donate money. The church’s foundation pledged to match up to $10,000. The total amount raised would then be invested in microfinance organizations that would pay returns to the church on the money.
ey describe it as a natural law in which it is easy for donors to become enrolled in current conversations about scarcity and what we do not have or cannot do. They believe that fundraisers must be present to the enrollment ‘dance’ and enroll prospective donors in how they can make a positive difference in your organization/congregation.
stripped down to their birthday suits to pose for photos in a 2012 calendar created to show the beauty of aging.