Friday, October 08, 2004
Stewardship E-Newsletter 2 September
Stewardship E-News
September, 2004
Seen on Bumper Stickers:
“I am for the separation of church and hate!”…“I considered atheism but there weren’t enough holidays.”…“Lord, help me to be the person my dog thinks I am.”…“A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing.”…“The best things in life aren’t things!”…“Never give the devil a ride. He always wants to drive.”…[>Christianity Today, Aug. 04. p. 53]
Free Printer NOT! Xerox is advertising free printers for churches in many Christian publications. But the catch is you must buy ink cartridges from them only and you must accurately estimate your usage in advance. And ink costs seem rather high.
Churches have a tendency to buy equipment they do not need. I have seen very small churches with very expensive copiers with capacities far beyond what they need. It may be cheaper for a small church to take their copying to shops like Kinko’s or Staples—especially for any larger jobs you have.
Famous Preachers Preach on the Internet: http://www.sermonindex.net/ has over 4000 downloadable sermons by some of the very greatest: D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Vance Havner, etc. as well as more modern: Ray Stedman, Martin-Lloyd Jones, J. Edwin Orr, and even contemporary, Jim Cymbala. These can be downloaded as MP3 players or burned onto CDs. Some are video clips. There is also a trove of printed materials. The service is free but donations are accepted.
Church Based Credit Unions: Around the country about 500 faith-based credir unions with a combined $2.9 billion in deposits make loans and teach financial literacy. Pa/SJ affiliate, Sharon Baptist church in West Philadelphia opened a branch of its New Life Credit Union under a federal rul that allows credit unions to serve non-members of their organizations in low income neighborhoods. About 50 members have signed up. Faith-based credit unions come under community-based credit unions which are designed for low-income areas. Their default rate is no higher than those in traditional credit unions. Many church credit unions offer classes in budgeting, buying a first home and other financial topics. [Burlington County Times, 6/14/04]
Direct Debit Tithing: a new organization has been set up to allow church members to have their and offerings deducted from their bank accounts and directly deposited into the church’s account. In addition, a confidential on line accounting is available to the contributor at all times. Benefits of this method include a 20 to 30% increase in contributions and a reduction in bookkeeping and the cost on offering envelops. About 1100 churches, and 10,000 contributors are signed up. For more info, visit http://www.directtithing.com/ or phone 1-866-344-8464.
Here’s Help: Our state convention can provide consultants for churches and Associations on Money Matters and conferences on church finance, stewardship, capital fund campaigns and Christian Money Management. We have posters, pamphlets, CD’s and books to help you promote stewardship, missions and the Cooperative Program. Contact Stan Smith at 1-800-451-6599; StanKSmith@aol.com or Bob Tallent at 856-778-6117; rgtallent@Comcast.net. See BRNONLINE.info for a list of available material. For articles and comments see my blog at bobbybaptist.blogspot.com
rBob Tallent, 21 Sumac Ct. Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054
September, 2004
Seen on Bumper Stickers:
“I am for the separation of church and hate!”…“I considered atheism but there weren’t enough holidays.”…“Lord, help me to be the person my dog thinks I am.”…“A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing.”…“The best things in life aren’t things!”…“Never give the devil a ride. He always wants to drive.”…[>Christianity Today, Aug. 04. p. 53]
Free Printer NOT! Xerox is advertising free printers for churches in many Christian publications. But the catch is you must buy ink cartridges from them only and you must accurately estimate your usage in advance. And ink costs seem rather high.
Churches have a tendency to buy equipment they do not need. I have seen very small churches with very expensive copiers with capacities far beyond what they need. It may be cheaper for a small church to take their copying to shops like Kinko’s or Staples—especially for any larger jobs you have.
Famous Preachers Preach on the Internet: http://www.sermonindex.net/ has over 4000 downloadable sermons by some of the very greatest: D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Vance Havner, etc. as well as more modern: Ray Stedman, Martin-Lloyd Jones, J. Edwin Orr, and even contemporary, Jim Cymbala. These can be downloaded as MP3 players or burned onto CDs. Some are video clips. There is also a trove of printed materials. The service is free but donations are accepted.
Church Based Credit Unions: Around the country about 500 faith-based credir unions with a combined $2.9 billion in deposits make loans and teach financial literacy. Pa/SJ affiliate, Sharon Baptist church in West Philadelphia opened a branch of its New Life Credit Union under a federal rul that allows credit unions to serve non-members of their organizations in low income neighborhoods. About 50 members have signed up. Faith-based credit unions come under community-based credit unions which are designed for low-income areas. Their default rate is no higher than those in traditional credit unions. Many church credit unions offer classes in budgeting, buying a first home and other financial topics. [Burlington County Times, 6/14/04]
Direct Debit Tithing: a new organization has been set up to allow church members to have their and offerings deducted from their bank accounts and directly deposited into the church’s account. In addition, a confidential on line accounting is available to the contributor at all times. Benefits of this method include a 20 to 30% increase in contributions and a reduction in bookkeeping and the cost on offering envelops. About 1100 churches, and 10,000 contributors are signed up. For more info, visit http://www.directtithing.com/ or phone 1-866-344-8464.
Here’s Help: Our state convention can provide consultants for churches and Associations on Money Matters and conferences on church finance, stewardship, capital fund campaigns and Christian Money Management. We have posters, pamphlets, CD’s and books to help you promote stewardship, missions and the Cooperative Program. Contact Stan Smith at 1-800-451-6599; StanKSmith@aol.com or Bob Tallent at 856-778-6117; rgtallent@Comcast.net. See BRNONLINE.info for a list of available material. For articles and comments see my blog at bobbybaptist.blogspot.com
rBob Tallent, 21 Sumac Ct. Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054
# posted by Bob @ 8:54 AM 
