Product Description

Asking parishioners for money is very different from creating congregations of generous people. In this provocative book, stewardship consultant Michael Durall argues convincingly that annual pledge drives inadvertently perpetuate low-level and same-level giving in congregations. Written with the voice of experience, this book will help clergy and lay leaders initiate and sustain effective stewardship programs. Durall believes that asking for money eventually becomes routine, even tedious-but creating a congregation of generous people becomes ever more meaningful with passing time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70593 in Books
• Published on: 1999-12-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 104 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781566992206
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"'Stewardship Is Not for Sissies' could be this book's subtitle." -- Mary L. Miles, Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, Boston, Massachusetts

"A practical voice in a conversation that is desperately needed." -- Paul G. Schervish, Boston College

"Creating Congregations of Generous People is one of the best books on stewardship I have ever read." -- Kenneth B. Smith, The Chicago Community Trust

About the Author
Michael Durall is principal of the Common Wealth Consulting Group in Belmont, Massachusetts. He is also publisher of the quarterly newsletter Charitable Giving, on the subject of religious philanthropy. His consulting firm assists secular and religious organizations in establishing and sustaining effective stewardship programs.

Customer Reviews

ITS THE PEOPLE AS MUCH AS THE MONEY
Mike Durall's slim but succulent guide to increasing and stimulating congregational giving is a welcome tonic when fundraising bibles seem to focus more on technique and need than motivation and virtue. Durall encourages us to aim to create congregations of generous people not as a ruse to open wallets but because - as he illustrates and explains well - only generous people in spirit and ethos will ever fill the plate. And it is more than his homespun wisdom as supported by his distilation of current reasearch and thinking from leaders in the field. Durall's emphasis on giving as the sharing of gifts with which we have been blessed is inspirational as well as practical. Give a copy to your minister as well as to every fundraiser you know!

Creating Congregations of Generous People
I ordered a copy of Michael Durell's book for a quick peruse to see if there were ideas I could inject into our congregation's upcoming canvass. After a first read, I ordered four more copies the next day, and handed them around to the Canvass Committee members. Michael lays out a renewed vision of generosity with which to appraoch the perennial problem of raising the church budget fromthe faithful. His observation that this process is no less about growing souls than any other area part of church life, and that the object is to cultivate a generous spirit, sat well with my congregation this year. We used his book in our planning and our process. The result? The book was a part of a positive canvass, pledges are up and people are feeling good about their generous participation in the life of the congregation.

Creating Congregations of Generous People
Michael Durall begins his stewardship consultations by asking congregations, "What kind of people do you want to become?" In his new book, Creating Congregations of Generous People, Durall argues that a thoughtful annual stewardship appeal, based on questions and answers about who we are, can serve as a vehicle for spiritual growth among members. Just published by the Alban Institute, Creating Congregations of Generous People is the fifth title in its Money, Faith and Lifestyle Series.

According to Durall, asking for money eventually becomes routine, even tedious-but creating a congregation of generous people becomes more meaningful with passing time. The book looks at real-life congregational cases and includes guidelines for implementing Durall's member-building approaches to sustaining effective stewardship.

"`Stewardship Is Not for Sissies' could be this book's subtitle," says Mary L. Miles, Director, Annual Program Fund, Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, Boston. "Michael Durall challenges congregations to accept their responsibility to own the stewardship process and to empower people to lead more generous lives...Drawing on examples from current stewardship literature, the practices of many faith traditions, and his own experiences, Durall explores how money is viewed in religious settings as well as how to create a climate for increased generosity and effective fundraising over the long term." Kenneth B. Smith, Senior Fellow, The Chicago Community Trust, calls it "one of the best books on stewardship" that he has read: "It should be must reading for every theological student and every pastor who approaches stewardship issues with hope for results."

"Having been a church treasurer and the chair of a stewardship appeal, I am painfully aware of how recalcitrant are the impediments and how betrayed are the opportunities to treat money as an instrument for God's work. Michael Durall's discussion of some of the dilemmas and strategies of congregational stewardship is a practical voice in a conversation that is desperately needed," asserts Paul G. Schervish, Department of Sociology, Boston College.

A principal of the Common Wealth Consulting Group in Belmont, MA, Durall publishes Charitable Giving, a quarterly newsletter that covers religious philanthropy. His consulting firm assists secular and religious organizations in establishing and sustaining effective stewardship programs. Creating Congregations of Generous People is Durall's first Alban book.