On October 23, we sponsored a webinar titled “UNCOMMON CENTS: A Christian Approach to Modern Stewardship & Giving.” Presented by Reverend Bill Keane, Senior Minister of the First Baptist Church of Branford, CT, the webinar looked at specific approaches to enhance sacrificial giving in the local church.

In this webinar, we considered the need for an emphasis in stewardship in our churches. These programs exist in churches where we need to turn spectators into sacrificial saints – introducing and restating basic concepts sometimes thought to be radical ideas.  For example: tithing. If one is not giving the first 10% of what they earn, they are not tithing. Many successful churches preach tithing all the time and their members believe it as being an intrinsic aspect of biblical discipleship.  Their Stewardship Campaign is a 24/7 approach, not a once-a-year effort.

We discuss how if a givers gift means something to them, it will matter in the Kingdom of God! People give sacrificially, not because of a glitzy campaign, but because of a mature relationship with God. Keane notes, sacrificial giving in the Church is rarely, if ever, a response to a budget.  It is most often a heart-felt desire to respond to God, in specific relation to the resources that one actually has at their disposal.