Mark Brooks

If your giving held steady for ten years, it did not hold steady. It shrank. Inflation quietly took a bite out of every flat budget, and most churches never noticed. I ran the numbers in this Substack.

The last week of December is too late to start a year-end plan, Pastor. This week is not. Begin with 15 honest yes-or-no questions in my free Self Assessment. Email your completed assessment to [email protected] and I will send you my End of Year manual free.

When was the last time a child in your church watched an adult give? When giving goes invisible, it stops being taught. The plate isn't the problem, Pastor. The 60 seconds before it is. My thoughts in this week's Substack.

A church that thinks about giving only in November is always playing catch-up. Generosity is a 365-day system with a rhythm for every month. What is your plan for giving in February? Pastors, come talk it through in my Facebook group, The Stewardship Coach.

Vision drives giving. Systems make vision sustainable. A fully funded church is not a program you run for six weeks in the fall. It is a way of thinking that shapes all 365 days. I wrote about that shift.

Walk into your 2027 budget meeting with something better than a hunch, Pastor. Take my free Self Assessment, email your completed assessment to [email protected], and I will send you my End of Year manual free.

A December offering should be about mission, not about closing a deficit. Give your people a vision worth funding and they will rise to meet it. What specific mission will your year-end offering accomplish? My thoughts in this week's Substack.

A capital campaign done well does not compete with regular giving. It deepens discipleship and stretches the faith of the whole church. Pastors, I started a Facebook group, The Stewardship Coach, to talk through questions like this. Come join us.

Hope is not a strategy, and it is not a budget either, Pastor. Before you finalize 2027, build a budget your people can actually hit, then lead them past it. I wrote about how to do that.

Here is a simple trade, Pastor. Fifteen honest answers from you, and my End of Year manual from me. Take my free Self Assessment, email your completed assessment to [email protected], and I will send you the manual free.