The Rev. Dr. Andrew Kukla, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Boise, Idaho, showed a picture of a stained-glass window from a different church. In the middle of the window, a red plant dominated the scene.
Teaching how to budget, save, eliminate debt and start investing should become essential life skills, Katherine Lankford says. Don’t wait until you are 30, 40, 50 or 60 years old to learn hard lessons. Instead, look at the experience and the mistakes of others and take charge of your financial habits now.
A planned gift (also known as an estate gift or bequest) is often the largest gift anyone will make, said Karl Mattison, Vice President for Planned Giving Resources at the Presbyterian Foundation.
Talking about money, and even more directly, asking for money as part of church stewardship, can make people uncomfortable — including church pastors and leaders.
The Rev. Greg Allen-Pickett is a pastor — but also embraces his role as a “cheerleader and storyteller for the grand mission history” of his church, First Presbyterian Church of Hastings, Nebraska, and the larger Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Kevin Riley’s life has been full of risk — and not all of it good.
Riley, the commissioned pastor of Mount Baker Presbyterian Church in Concrete, Washington, suffered from addiction, homelessness, and incarceration earlier in life. Those life experiences, harrowing as they are, increased his comfort level with risk — an attitude that served the church well when the Covid pandemic arrived.
Being a church treasurer has become more complex in recent years. This largely volunteer job goes far beyond simply doing the math to ensure the books are balanced and the bills are paid.
Today, church treasurers and church staff in general need to be aware of the many ways the church can be defrauded, either by internal trusted people or by scammers who find ways to trick staff into disclosing information.
Grace Pomroy took her position as director of the Stewardship Leaders Program at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota with joy. When she entered the building, it was empty except for two people — one wearing a makeshift mask and rubber gloves. Papers to be signed were shoved back and forth down a long table.
It was March 2020.
A prominent preacher and social justice activist, the Rev. Dr. Andrew Kukla, is scheduled to lead worship on the opening evening of the Stewardship Kaleidoscope Conference, when the popular event convenes on Monday, Sept. 23.
