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  • Wrangling Abundance

Wrangling Abundance

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

by Melissa Spas, Mangaging Director of Education & Engagement

Anglican theologian David Ford says that “…coping with God and God’s generosity…” is at the heart of practicing the Christian faith.1  I am struck by the powerful inversion that happens in my imagination when I consider religious practice in this light.  The work of faithful stewardship is not about scraping up some meager offering, or worrying about how to close the gap in a deficit budget, but the task is to make sense of the abundant generosity of God to God’s people, in every imaginable way.

Earlier this month a group of past ECRF participants gathered in Austin, Texas to talk about the ways in which congregations learn and practice abundance.  One theme in our time together was the ability to identify a wider range of assets available to a congregation seeking to advance their mission. Of course, we talked about money and financial assets.

However, we also shared about the skills and capacity of volunteers and staff; the facilities and equipment we own or have access to; our current activities, knowledge, and network; and about the reputation that allows a congregation to experiment. We were so grateful to have leaders of several innovative initiatives in and around Austin join us and share about the way that they were able to recognize and celebrate the assets of their community.  These initiatives have been particularly successful in engaging young adults and others who are too often seen as in need of resourcing rather than as asset-rich themselves, and they painted a compelling picture of how an abundant imagination puts us in the position of coping with God’s generosity in generative and exciting ways.

The self-described “wrangler” of this group, called The 787 Collective, is Martha Lynn Coon, Director of Congregational Innovation at Austin Seminary.  She shared with us about Sidney Williams’ F.I.S.H. model for taking stock of capital resources, and identifying what a faith community already has in a variety of ways.  Williams addresses “Faith capital”, “Intellectual capital”, “Social capital” and “Human capital” in order to “develop transformational ministries that have a real impact on the community, exercise good stewardship, and reward the commitment to doing ministry differently.”2  About her ministry and work, Martha Lynn says:

“We’ve spent the last three years listening to the lives of young adults and watching how the Spirit is moving within the congregations that constitute The 787 Collective, calling them forward in new and creative ways to engage younger populations and further God’s renewing working in the Church.

Time and again we’ve witnessed abundance in situations that first seemed scarce.  The faith capital, intellectual capital, social capital and human capital that we explored with the Lake Institute are sometimes overlooked resources in congregational life, but exploring new ways to grow and share these types of capital calls us closer to the mission of the Church and provides the potential for significant impact in the lives of both congregations and young adults.”

A new lens for identifying and understanding assets, resources, and money itself can allow us to shine a light on all the capacity in and around us. The questions we ask and the assumptions that we bring will make it easier or harder for us to account for all that we have to work with in ministry and religious life.  How do we cope with God’s generosity? What does it take to become resourceful wranglers of the abundance we find in our work and in the world?

1 Ford, D. (2005). Living in Praise: Worshipping and Knowing God. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

2 Williams, Sidney S. https://www.churchleadership.com/leading-ideas/f-i-s-h-differently-take-stock-of-all-available-capital-resources/


 

Questions for Reflection

  • Review the different types of capital. How might using the F.I.S.H. model help your organization identify abundance?
  • Read the David Ford quote again. How do you cope with God's generosity, both as an individual and as an organization?

Expanded Perspective

We are now in the eighth year of our four-day intensive course focused on religious fundraising. Over 1500 participants have learned about nurturing generous organizations and donors, fundraising as ministry and shaping a theology of money. Through partnerships with seminaries and denominational offices, we have taught this course from coast to coast and continue to add new locations every year.

As is the case with any offering, there comes the time when it needs to be updated and improved to meet the needs of new constituents and changing times. Every year we update the materials with the latest Giving USA data. However, with the latest research from the National Study of Congregations’ Economic Practices and new resources that inform the way we teach, we knew the time for revising the curriculum was soon. 

Over the last several months a team of Lake Institute staff have worked hard to improve an already top-notch program established by our founder Bill Enright. We’ve taken the foundation he created and added new resources, up-to-date data and a redesigned look to bring the Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising into a new decade.

As we are working on the current ECRF program, we realize that many of our participants want to dig deeper. They want to explore fundraising in their specific context – congregations or faith-based non-profits – and are looking to us for a new resource. This led us to a new learning opportunity offered in Austin a few weeks ago, Congregations Learning and Practicing Abundance. Stay tuned for more offerings in the future!

Lake Institute on Faith & Giving is a learning organization. We strive to provide resources and content that help our audience, which means we also need to learn and grow. We are excited for the new opportunities coming this year and beyond!

Discovering the Other

Asset-Based Approaches for Building Community Together
by Cameron Harder

Discovering the Other is an introduction to two tools that community builders have found helpful: appreciative inquiry and asset mapping. These tools help congregations see that all of life is saturated by the sacred and give them energy to begin living as if it were so. Instead of asking, 'What's wrong?' appreciative inquiry asks, 'What's right?' Asset mapping asks, 'What resources do you have personally that we could bring to our future together?'

Buy the book

David Brooks & Anne Snyder

Join us for our 17th Annual Thomas H. Lake Lecture with David Brooks and Anne Snyder on March 12 at 6 pm. The speakers will explore faith, philanthropy, and community in a polarized world. This year we’ll be at St. Luke’s UMC in Indianapolis (plenty of free parking!). We’ll hear David and Anne discuss faith, philanthropy, and community in a polarized world. A book signing and reception will follow the lecture. Your registration is kindly requested.

RSVP Today

Lake Lecture 2020 with David Brooks and Anne Snyder

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