Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

Labor Day is past; a new program year begins, often followed by the annual giving campaign. We invite you to set aside time to think about the ‘why’ of a person’s decision to give, perhaps starting with your own giving story and reflecting on how to speak to the ‘why’ this annual campaign season.

The experiences and ideas of these congregations and individuals may spark conversation in your congregation:

Congregational leaders willing to try something different were the catalyst for a new approach to St. Paul’s 2015 annual giving campaign. Working with all church committees and groups, this team wove all of the church's blessings into a compelling narrative. “Why We Give” by Nancy Davidge shares their story.

Presidential election years bring questions about their impact on charitable giving. In “Annual Giving & Elections” Erin Weber-Johnson shares the results of her research into this question and offers five recommendations – the first is remembering the ‘why’ – to consider when planning an annual giving campaign.

En ”Abre tu corazón a la misión de Dios,”Verónica Godinez nos comparte cómo el amor, el abrir su corazón, y dar a Dios de su tiempo, talento, y tesoro ha hecho viva la misión de Dios. (Video entrevista por Sandra Montes.)

What is good stewardship around educating our next generation of clergy? In “Rethinking Clergy Education,” Gary Shilling invites us to consider changes in the way our church identifies, recruits, trains, and financially supports emerging clergy leaders.

We encourage you to think about how the ideas presented in this and every issue may provide an impetus for evaluating and reflecting on what you could learn from the experiences of others. To help in your discernment we offer a list of the resources related to the topic at the end of each article. If you have a resource you’d like to share, please email me with the link or add it to the site using the Your Turn feature.

If you are interested in Spanish language content, please visit our searchable index for Spanish content here.

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