It may be the end of summer, but already, ’tis the season for planning Christmas compassion projects. From filling shoeboxes to setting up angel trees, churches and organizations around the world are thinking about how to launch these elegantly simple ways of caring for others during the most wonderful time of the year. There...
Have Our Churches Become Country Clubs?
Have you ever calculated the percentage your church spends on those outside its walls? For the first time, I researched giving at several churches. What I found surprised me. Churches I examined were giving 1-2% of their budgets to benevolence, outreach, missions, and ministry partnerships. I believe individual church members are giving more, but...
Why Aren’t Churches More Engaged in Microfinance?
Sitting under a thatched gazebo with a group of friends in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Janet asked me, “Why haven’t churches become more involved in microfinance?” The best answer I could come up with was that too few people really understand microfinance and how it can be a tool to effectively address physical...