Growing a Generous Church: A Year in the Life of Peach Blossom Church
Imagine a church where it feels safe to talk about money. You could bring your troubles - debts, job losses - and share your joys such as inheritances and new jobs. You could talk about your giving.
Peace Blossom Church is such a place. While Peace Blossom Church is fictional, it is based on churches and donors the author has met - and stories that are flat-out miraculous.
The members of Peach Blossom Church have survived the pandemic but are worried about their future. They take a leap of faith and hire Pastor Kim to lead them with a stewardship focus. During monthly coffee shop gatherings, the church leaders share stories of generosity and learn that giving is a spiritual discipline
Growing a Generous Church is filled with:
- Bible teaching from both the Old and New Testament
- Personal Stories of how people learned to give
- Practical ideas your church can borrow
"By inviting readers to join the leadership team of the imaginary (but oh so familiar) Peach Blossom Church, Lori Guenther Reesor illustrates the power of talk to transform the behavior of individuals and of congregations. Her skillfulness in weaving scripture, story, and strategies for congregational engagement makes Growing a Generous Church a useful resource for pastors and stewardship committees eager to make joyful conversation partners of reluctant parishioners. As readers recognize themselves in the good folks of Peach Blossom Church, we can trust they’ll become more comfortable in speaking about money and more generous in their relationship with it." - Rebekah Burch Basinger, fundraising consultant and author of Growing Givers’ Hearts: Treating Fundraising as Ministry
"This engaging and delightful book presents a theology of stewardship in fictional form. The challenges of Peach Blossom church ring true because they are based on the author’s extensive research in congregations. How and why do we share our resources? How does gratitude create opportunity? The strategies the characters employ are creative and provide practical food for thought. An excellent book for Sunday schools, study groups and personal reflection." - Carol Penner, Assistant Professor of Theological Studies, Conrad Grebel University College
"Using dialogue that we have all heard spoken by familiar people Lori's year through the ups and downs of Peach Blossom Church eventually addresses all the questions, big and small, faced by stewardship leaders in our congregations. Thoughtful, gently humorous and gleaned from much time spent with many congregations Lori's wisdom and practicality will inspire you to invite generosity in your community because it is all based on gratitude." - Susan Graham Walker, Congregational Giving and Stewardship Consultant
"Generosity is at heart of the Christian Church, yet those who are in the pews and the pulpit are hesitant to talk about it. Why is that? Thankfully there is Peach Blossom church to show us how it is done. Lori Guenther Reesor has provided a brilliant road map for churches to begin the journey towards deeper faith through stewardship. If you would like your church to move beyond guilt-inducing year-end pleas for money and embrace the joy of giving and living in gratitude and faithfulness, this book is for you!" - Darren Pries-Klassen, CEO, Abundance Canada
| Type | |
| Genre | Personal Theory/Thesis |
| Expression | Narrative/Novel/Story |
| Topic | Financial Stewardship, General Congregational Finances |
| Audience | Leaders |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Self-Published |
| Collection | CommonWord Book Launches |
| ISBN | 9781777515003 |
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