03/01/2023 - A Word of Thanks and Appreciation from Tracy Keene
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - StewardshipPlease take a few minutes to watch this most sincere “Thank You!” video from our SNEUCC Board President, Mr. Tracy Keene.
Blogs
Blogs
02/06/2023 - It’s That Time Again – Annual Tax Filing Season
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - StewardshipClergy taxes are more complicated for several reasons. The UCC Pension Board announced last Fri. in a Feb. e-newsletter that its 2022 tax reporting resources are now ...
07/22/2022 - Encouraging Financial Stewardship is Just Good Parenting (or Grandparenting!)
By: Generous Thoughts - StewardshipAre you among the 86 percent of Americans that believe that financial education classes ...
07/21/2022 - A Heartfelt "Thank You!"
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - StewardshipThank you! Your generosity so far this year is deeply appreciated, is never ever taken for granted, and does not go unnoticed!
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02/22/2022 - Pentecost Book Study to Look at 'Generosity, Stewardship and Abundance'
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - Stewardship“If you are seeking a single, comprehensive guide to church finance, look no further. This is it. Lovett H. Weems Jr. and Ann A. Michel have written a practical guide ...
02/01/2022 - Results of Proportional Giving in 2021: Thank You
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew Lee Gagen - StewardshipThank you all for your generous financial support! You contributed $3,484,442 to support the work of the SNEUCC and the national setting through Proportional Giving in ...
01/18/2022 - Inflation and Church Budget
By: Generous Thoughts - StewardshipDear Colleagues, A church leader recently asked me, “how do we create a budget given increasing inflation?” Many people wonder about the effect of inflation on church ...
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12/07/2021 - Tasty Tidbits
By: Generous Thoughts - StewardshipDearest Cojourners, Words are delicious! I love how they taste when they fall out of my mouth and into the atmosphere. I enjoy playing with my words as creatively as kids...
12/05/2021 - Generosity and Two Wolves
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - StewardshipI suspect many of us have heard some version of the old Cherokee legend known as "The Story of the Two Wolves." I recently heard it again, and it occurred to me that this...
11/24/2021 - Support Urged for Extending and Expanding Charitable Deductions
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - StewardshipMembers and friends of our churches consider many factors when deciding about whether and how much to contribute to their church. One is often tax deductibility. (See ...
11/02/2021 - Engaging Lapsed Donors
By: Generous Thoughts - StewardshipWhen I had you to myself, I didn't want you around. Those pretty faces always made you stand out in a crowd. But someone picked you from the bunch, one glance was all it ...
10/29/2021 - Churches Should Inform Members of the Universal Charitable Tax Deduction for 2021
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - StewardshipCongress extended and expanded the universal charitable tax deduction that became law as ...
10/18/2021 - Don’t Beg On Stewardship Sunday
By: Generous Thoughts - StewardshipDear Colleagues, Henri Nouwen’s reflection on A Spirituality of Fundraising informs my work and teaching around generosity. When thinking of annual stewardship ...
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10/12/2021 - The Practice of Generosity
By: Deborah Kirk - Making Disciples StewardshipJust like prayer, service, and worship, generosity is a spiritual discipline. It is a practice that can be modeled and taught, it is a habit that, with intention, can be ...
10/05/2021 - Is Your Fall Stewardship Campaign Just SO-SO?
By: Generous Thoughts - StewardshipDear Colleagues, Many years ago, my church choir director, Joel Johnson, taught me about the danger of doing anything that was just SO-SO. No, it wasn’t about the ...
09/22/2021 - Reuniting Churches With Their Lost Treasure
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - StewardshipWould you like to find some lost treasure? Could your church use some unexpected money? Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island all have “Unclaimed Property” ...
09/21/2021 - Mission Clarity = Missional Generosity
By: Generous Thoughts - StewardshipWhat would you like your world to look like 5 years from now? How about 10 or 20 or 50 years from now?
09/07/2021 - Socially Responsible Investing and Spending
By: Generous Thoughts - StewardshipSocially Responsible Investing and Spending What motivates you to make a charitable donation? Do you want to make a positive difference in the world? Perhaps you want to...
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08/17/2021 - The Fatigue of a Fundraiser
By: Generous Thoughts - StewardshipDear Friends and Colleagues, It is appropriate that I am writing this on my last day of work before a much anticipated and much needed weeklong vacation. Why is it much ...
08/03/2021 - Confrontational Generosity
By: Generous Thoughts - StewardshipConfrontational Generosity Dear Colleagues, At General Synod in July, a new initiative called "Join the Movement" was launched across all settings of the UCC. The Rev....
07/26/2021 - Giving USA 2021 Report
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - StewardshipGiving USA, which issues the oldest and most comprehensive report on charitable giving in the U.S., recently released its report for last year. The report contains mixed ...
06/15/2021 - Philanthropic Autobiography
By: Generous Thoughts - StewardshipPhilanthropic Autobiography Dear Friends, Have you ever stopped to think about what inspires you to be generous? Do you have a plan for how and where you donate your ...
05/18/2021 - Generosity: That's What My Mother Taught Me
By: Generous Thoughts - StewardshipIn a compilation of stories from over 100 interviews with people who had been identified by their pastors as generous givers, Herb Mather in That’s What My Mother Taught ...
05/14/2021 - Our Divided Self
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - StewardshipDoes the following ring true in your experience? Is it generally the case at your church? Here is what we say through our stewardship practices: 10% belongs to God; the ...
05/04/2021 - Why Online Giving?
By: Generous Thoughts - StewardshipBefore serving in my present capacity, I served as an Associate Conference Minister for the New York Conference. During that time, I coordinated worship services for ...
04/20/2021 - The Gift of God’s Presence During the Covid-19 Pandemic
By: Generous Thoughts - StewardshipI don’t know about you, but years from now when we are finally all vaccinated and the Covid-19 pandemic is a memory within our collective conscience, there are some ...
04/13/2021 - Thank You For Your Generosity!
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - StewardshipI want to publicly and enthusiastically thank the churches that have financially supported the mission and ministry of our Southern New England Conference (SNEUCC) and ...
04/06/2021 - Grant Funding Opportunities
By: Generous Thoughts - StewardshipDear Friends and Colleagues, At this moment it is clear that there is a great amount of need throughout our country. As development professionals, we are ...
01/12/2021 - Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 Can Benefit Churches
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - StewardshipInformation is available on how the CAA law relates to churches and religious groups.
11/17/2020 - Budgeting in a Time of Uncertainty and COVID-19
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - Conference staff StewardshipHistorically, a church’s budget should have served at least three purposes: 1) provide financial guidance for the upcoming year; 2) place a limit on spending; and 3) be a...
10/01/2020 - Important Documents – Does Your Church Know Where They’re Kept? (Part I)
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew Jonathan Guest - Conference staff Stewardshipby Jonathan Guest and David Cleaver-Bartholomew For many churches these are challenging and stressful times. Church members are concerned about worship, programs, and ...
10/01/2020 - Important Documents – Does Your Church Know Where They’re Kept? (Part II)
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew Jonathan Guest - Conference staff Stewardshipby Jonathan Guest and David Cleaver-Bartholomew In our previous article published on ...
09/17/2020 - Planning Annual Fall Pledge Campaigns
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - StewardshipIn today’s unprecedented context, when churches cannot worship in person and there is great economic uncertainty and social upheaval, it is quite reasonable to ask: How ...
08/24/2020 - Universal Charitable Tax Deduction for 2020
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - Conference staff StewardshipAs part of the CARES Act that became law earlier this year, the government provided a new universal charitable tax deduction. The deduction allows taxpayers to deduct up ...
08/17/2020 - Stewardship, Choice, and Discipleship
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - Conference staff StewardshipOne aspect of stewardship that struck me afresh the other day is that biblically speaking, stewardship is not presented as optional for us. In Genesis 1.27-28 we are told...
05/11/2020 - Renting Your Church Facilities: Planning Now for the Future
By: Bridget Johnson - StewardshipIsaiah 43:19: Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. While all of ...
05/11/2020 - The Good Samaritan - The Good Steward
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - Conference staff StewardshipThe story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10.25-37) is one that many of us have heard at least a dozen times. But I wonder how many have heard it through the lens of ...
05/01/2020 - Living More Deeply Into Who We Were Created To Be
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - Conference staff StewardshipLast weekend, I discovered two writings that intrigued and excited me. They did so because they reveal generosity as a point where our scientific and religious worlds ...
04/16/2020 - Unexpected Money Can Become Unexpected Generosity
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - StewardshipDear Partners in Ministry, As you have probably heard, the federal government started distributing CARES Act stimulus checks of $1,200 per adult and $500 per dependent ...
03/27/2020 - Transition or Transformation?
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - Church Innovation Conference staff StewardshipI frequently hear people express their strong desire for us to transition out of this pandemic and return to basically what life was before it struck. They just want to ...
03/23/2020 - Scarcity or Generosity?
By: David Cleaver-Bartholomew - Conference staff StewardshipAs the Coronavirus and its effects on people’s livelihoods has become more severe, I have been struggling with the question of how we can talk about giving to the One ...
02/21/2019 - Grieving and Rejoicing
By: Kent Siladi - Church History and Identity Stewardship"In my head, I know that churches are places where communities gather, and that many have a season of life and impact, and then reasons arise that means that the church ...
10/31/2018 - Many Voices One Mission: Exciting Stewardship
By: Charles Kuchenbrod - Church Innovation Conference programming Many Voices, One Mission Stewardship Together, As One"The stewardship committee often is placed in the church trustee/finance budget constellation of people. It belongs in the deacon/faith formation constellation of ...
08/01/2018 - How to Raise Money for your Community Projects
By: The Parish Paper - Making Disciples StewardshipA congregation’s community project often starts with someone’s idea or dream, followed by a plan designed by a core team, and then, a group of volunteers willing to roll ...
05/01/2018 - How to Balance Hospitality and Church Security
By: The Parish Paper - Church Innovation Disaster Relief StewardshipWhen Jack picked up his car after repairs at the local dealership, he noticed instructions securely taped on the main desk where all customers could easily read it. "What...
04/01/2018 - Church Energy Use: Can We Harness Hope?
By: The Parish Paper - Church Innovation StewardshipCarbon dioxide emissions have been implicated as a key factor in rising global temperatures. Because all church buildings use energy, much of it derived from carbon-based...
10/26/2017 - Court Ruling on Clergy Housing Allowance Raises Questions
By: Jonathan New - StewardshipShock waves have reverberated across the land over the past two weeks as clergy and the religious organizations that employ them got word of a federal court ruling that ...
09/08/2017 - In Memoriam: Rufus Cushman, Stewardship Master
By: Jonathan New - StewardshipThose who think stewardship is about money have it wrong; stewardship is, primarily, about people. That’s just one of the many stewardship lessons I learned from a man ...
07/11/2017 - Property Taxes, the First Amendment, and Your Church
By: Jonathan New - StewardshipA recent ruling in Massachusetts may spark interest in the subject of property taxes and church real estate.
05/10/2017 - Another Appeal?
By: Jonathan New - Conference programming StewardshipSome of you are going to be wondering “Didn’t I just get an appeal back in December?!”
05/01/2017 - Financing the Local Church
By: The Parish Paper - Church Innovation StewardshipEven though they are not members, Bill and Dorothy go to a church in their neighborhood once or twice per month. They are fond of the pastor and proud of the ...