A Weekly newsletter from the Missouri Baptist Convention

Welcome to The Stewardship Journal, a weekly newsletter from the Missouri Baptist Convention. Each issue offers practical advice and tips on your church’s financial health, with columns from MBC leaders, as well as insights from Mark Brooks, nationally renowned “Stewardship Coach.”

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Newsletter Archive

The Stewardship Journal is archived only for 2021. All editions of more recent Journals, beginning in January 2022, may be found here.

  • December 20 – (1) Missionary Musings; (2) The Stewardship Coach’s Year-End Thoughts for Pastors to Think About; (3) End-of-Year Email Sample; (4) The Best News of All; (5) How to Fulfill Your Resolutions.
  • December 13 – (1) How One MBC Church is Doing Two Years Into COVID; (2) The 2021 Last-Minute End-of-Year Plan; (3) Are Gifts to Your Church Tax Deductible? (4) Keep the Focus on Christmas.
  • December 06  – (1) How Is the Church Doing Two Years into COVID; (2) Black Friday Lessons for the Church; (3) Are You Prepared for Last Minute Giving; (4) Give a Gift That Lasts.
  • November 22  – (1) Saying Thank You With A Thankful Letter; (2) How to Be Like Lance; (3) Sample Commitment Card; (4) Your Gift Matters.
  • November 15  – (1) A Review on the State of Giving; (2) My Fireside Chat to Pastors; (3) Snail Mail End-of-Year Appeal; (4) How Many Turkeys Does It Take.
  • November 08  – (1) Missouri Baptist Pastors Speak Up About The Cooperative Program Part 2; (2) The Senior Pastor’s Leadership Role in Stewardship; (3) Successfully Engage the Congregation in Stewardship; (4) The Christian’s Supply Chain.
  • November 01  – (1) Missouri Baptist Pastors Speak Up About The Cooperative Program; (2) Lessons From the Red Cross; (3) Using Social Media Successfully; (4) A Christmas Reminder.
  • October 25  – (1) Fulfilling The Great Commission Through Cooperation; (2) Making the Case for the Offering Time; (3) Don’t Forget the Offering; (4) Halloween Is About Saints Not.
  • October 18  – (1) What Every Christian Should Know About Satan; (2) The Offering’s New Normal; (3) Avoiding 4 Common Mistakes Churches Make With Online Giving; (4) So Easy a Caveman Could Do It.
  • October 11  – (1) The Biblical Perspective of Stewardship – Part 2; (2) Making End-of-Year Appeals Appealing; (3) New Partnership for Advancing Generosity; (4) Join A Winning Team.
  • October 04  – (1) The Biblical Perspective of Stewardship; (2) Get Ready for #GivingTuesday; (3) #GivingTuesday Help; (4) It’s October, So, Let’s Talk Candy.
  • September 27 – (1) It’s Time to Preach on Stewardship; (2) Using Social Media for End-of-Year Appeals; (3) How to Set Up and Use Social Media for End-of-Year Appeals; (4) Fantasy Football Mania;
  • September 20 – (1) What Every Church Should Know About End-of-Year Giving; (2) How to Cast Vision for End-of-Year Appeals; (3) Vision Worksheet; (4) You Make A Life By What Your Give;
  • September 13 – (1) Stewardship Isn’t Just About Giving; (2) End-of-Year Appeal Prep; (3) End-of-Year Overview; (4) We Produce Winners;
  • August 30 – (1) Missouri Baptist Pastors Speak Up About Budget Planning; (2) Two Things Senior Pastors Do to Achieve Budget; (3) Keys to Making Your Budget More Appealing and Exciting; (4) Our Labor Is Not In Vain;
  • August 23 – (1) Missouri Baptist Pastors Speak Up About Making Budget: COVID’s Impact Upon 2020 and This year’s Budget; (2) The Coach’s Training Camp Budget Prep; (3) Statistics on Giving to Charites; (4) How Can I Get You Fired Up About Giving?
  • August 16 – (1) The State of Giving: The Factors That Will Bring People Into Giving; (2) Is It Too Late? (3) Capital Campaign Basics; (4) Is It Worth the Cost;
  • August 09 – (1) A Capital Campaign Success Story; (2) How Your Start Determines Where You Will End; (3) How Long Does It Take to Hold a Capital Campaign; (4) First Things First;
  • August 02 – (1) How An Acronym Can Assure the Future of Church Stability; (2) Raising Capital in a COVID World; (3) How to Successfully Work With Building Committees; (4) Olympic Moments;
  • July 26 – (1) The Blessing of the Budget – Part 2; (2) Laying the Foundation for Rebuilding Your Finances; (3) Planning a Come-From-Behind Offering Around Labor Day; (4) Passing the Baton;
  • July 19 – (1) The Blessing of the Budget – Part 1; (2) Priming the Pump for a Come-From-Behind Offering; (3) Sample Special Offering Direct Appeal Letter; (4) Vacation Investment
  • July 12 – (1) Missionary Musings; (2) Yes, You Can Make Up Lost Giving; (3) Vision Worksheet; (4) An Eternal Reward
  • June 28  – (1) Thriving or Surviving: Making the Most of Your Wages; (2) It’s July and I’m Behind; (3) Sample Approach for Mid-Summer Appeal; (4) The Home of the Free; Meet Our All-Stars
  • June 21  – (1) How Partnerships Happen; (2) Planning for Stewardship Success; (3) Keys to a Successful 4th of the July Offering; (4) How Your Gift Today Shapes Eternity
  • June 14  – (1) Missouri Baptist Pastors Speak Up and About Dept; (2) Managing and Paying Off Your Mortgage; (3) The Rule of Thumb for Full Capital Campaign Dollars; (4) Father’s Day Gifts
  • June 07  – (1) Missionary Musings; (2) The Stewardship of Debt;  (3) Sample of How to Cast a Vision for Debt Retirement; (4) Yes, We Do Talk About Money Here!
  • May 31  – (1) How Digital Are Missouri Baptist Churches; (2) The Great Reveal: What COVID Showed About the Church’s Weaknesses; (3) How to Use Screen Shots and Social Media to Increase Summer Giving; (4) VBS Trivia
  • May 24  – (1) The Worldwide Web of Giving: Giving Your People New Ways to Give; (2) Raising Digital Dollars in a Material World; (3) A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words; (4) A Memorial Gift
  • May 17  – (1) On the Current State of Giving; (2) The Offering’s Not dead; It’s Different; (3) How to Use Memorial Day Weekend to Increase Stewardship; (4) Let’s Get Ready for Summer
  • May 10  – (1) Pastors Share Their Thoughts on Stewardship Preaching; (2) The Forgotten Sermon: How to Preach Effectively on Giving; (3) Making the Case for the Forgotten Sermon; (4) Make This Your Graduation Day
  • May 3  – (1) Missionary Musings; (2) How Your Vision Can Accelerate Generosity; (3) The 15 Offerings of Summer: How to Reverse the Summer Slump in 60 Seconds; (4) How is Your Vision
  • April 19  – (1) Let’s Use VBS to Establish a Culture of Stewardship; (2)The Legacy Lane: A new Way of Looking at Giving; (3) The Next Generation of American Giving; (4) Sowing for a Harvest
  • April 12 – (1) How to Increase Summer Giving; (2) Fully Funded Summer Planning Edition; (3) How to Avoid a Summer Slump in Giving; (4) What Does 83% Mean for the Destiny of Children?
  • April 5 – (1) Words of Wisdom From a Veteran Pastor; (2) Why Every Church Needs a Legacy Lane; (3) How to Determine if Your Church Needs a Legacy Lane; (4) Go!
  • March 29 – (1) Missionary Musings (2) Last Minute Easter Offering Planning; (3) Your Best Easter Offering; (4) We Bring Hope!  
 
  • March 22  – (1) Who Is Your Mary Gibbs? (2)The Gratitude Lane: Using the Power of Saying Thank You; (3) Crafting a Thank You Card or Letter; (4) Showers of Blessing!
  • March 15 – (1) Love and Give; (2) The Direct Appeal Lane: Using Email and Texts to Build Stewardship; (3) 10 Key Tips for Improving Your Emails?  (4) You are Richer Than You Think!
  • March 8 – (1) We are Your Stewardship Resource; (2) The Direct Appeal Lane: Using Snail Mail to Build Stewardship; (3) The Basics of an Effective Direct Appeal Letter; (4) Be a Saint!
  • March 1 – (1) Missionary Musings: The Two Sides of the Giving Coin; (2) Using Social Media to Enhance Your Digital Lane; (3) March Madness?  
  • February 22 – (1) The Tithe: Cornerstone of a Generous Life; (2) Developing the Digital Giving Strategy; (3) Is Your Church Website Giver Friendly; (4) Three Reasons Why
  • February 15 – (1) Do You Trust God? (2) How to Use Your Campus and Platform Lanes to Increase Giving; (3) Making Your Campus Giving Friendly; (4) Your Security Begins With Your Generosity
  • February 8 – (1) The Joy of Giving; (2) Using the Easter Offering to Increase Stewardship at Your Church; (3) The Why Vision Worksheet; (4) The Heart and the Cross
  • February 1 – (1) Dr. Yeats Interview with MBC President Jon Nelson; (2) Using the Pastoral Lane to Build a Stewardship Platform; (3) How to Develop a Pastoral Lane; (4) Super Bowl Sunday!
  • January 25 – (1) Missionary Musings; (2) The Key Lanes for Increasing Giving; (3) End-of-Year Giving Statement; (4) Does $142 Say I Love You?
  • January 18 – (1) The Stewardship of Life; (2) The Anatomy of the Offering; (3) Ten Steps to a Better Offering; (4) What God’s Word Says About the Offering
  • January 11 – (1) Missionary Musings; (2) Building Systems and Stories; (3) Your story and The Connecting Power of Vision; (4) Missions and Ministry Moment
  • January 4 – (1) And Interview with Dr. John Yeats and mark Brooks; (2) 2021 Giving Success: It Starts With You! (3) Missions and Ministry Moment: Setting Up Your Offering; (4) Bonus Material: How to Make January “Recurring Giving Month”