Ask, Thank, Tell: Improving Stewardship Ministry in Your Congregation

by Charles R. Lane

The goal of this book, says author Charles Lane, is to perform a dramatic rescue of stewardship, freeing it from any connection whatsoever to "paying the bills." When the Bible talks about stewardship it almost always talks about the intimate connection between how a person handles financial matters and that person's relationship with God. Stewardship is an intensely spiritual matter that lies close to a disciple's relationship with Jesus. The book is designed especially for use in congregational planning and study. Congregational stewardship leaders will come back to three foundational verbs ask, thank, tell over and over as they help individuals experience the joy of giving generously. The author makes the convincing case that there is little in life today that can help a disciple grow in relationship with Jesus more than a solid intentional biblical stewardship.

Genres: Religion, Spirituality, Theology, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 2, 2006

Reviews

[Todd Buegler]

Ok, I'm kind of biased, because I know Charles "Chick" Lane. And I've had a tremendous amount of respect for him for years.

And he is wise.

In his book, he outlines a simple, but significant framework for thinking about Stewardship. Too often, we (and by we, I mean I) take a spaghetti approach. We just try things and throw them up on the wall to see if they stick.

Lane outlines a new way of thinking, and a process for helping congregation's rethink their stewardship. This book was helpful for me as I think about our stewardship.

[K.W.]

Short, easy and understandable reading. Filled with ideas to aid in completely changing the conversation regarding 'stewardship' and discipleship in a congregation. Excellent book!

[John Lucy]

Lane orders this book on stewardship according to the three actions, in order, of the title: ask, thank, tell. Doing so makes it easy to remember, even if not consciously, what you've just read. Stewardship in the church then becomes fairly easy: ask, thank, tell.

Good read with a lot of useful tips.

[Amy]

Good read for pastors and churches on the three focuses for Stewardship ministry: ask, thank, and tell. Also an important point was made that Stewardship is discipleship, growing deeper in a relationship with Jesus and God’s people.

[Jim Cramer]

Marvelous Insight into Effective Stewardship

The educational value of this book is beyond words. Readers will learn the tools necessary to turn Stewardship into a viable and significant ministry.

[Alvin]

Read for Church ministry preparation. Good basic overview of the challenges of stewardship. Somewhat dated on technology recommendations.

[Emily]

This book was adequate. It covered the basics of stewardship the same way most everyone I've read has. Lane offers good suggestions for ways to grow individual giving in your congregation by growing knowledge of the work God is doing through that congregation. He never calls this fundraising, and I believe that he does not consider it fundraising. He stays very clearly within the lines of giving as a task of discipleship.

However, this book's goal is to "help God's people grow in their relationship with Jesus through the use of the time, talents, and finances God has entrusted to them." This would imply that stewardship has some relationship with the time, talents, and finances we have that *do not* go to the church, and neither this book nor any other I've read addresses that other 90-99% of those resources. I am not convinced that God entrusts some people with more money than others. I am also not convinced that such an individualistic focus truly gets at the heart of a communal body's "stewarding" of resources.

This criticism falls unfairly on Lane's shoulders because I finally crystallized my complaints with stewardship literature while reading his book, so as a result this rating is lower than other stewardship books that may be equally flawed.

[Lori Schwilling]

Charles Lane provides a framework for a stewardship program based on these three actions--Ask, Thank, Tell--along with specific examples of what might be included at each step. Underneath the "how to" runs the continual thread that stewardship is about helping people grow in their relationship with Jesus through the use of the resources God has entrusted to them.

The ideas presented could be adapted by congregations of all sizes,by those who find it difficult to talk about money or by those who embrace financial stewardship as a spiritual matter.

[Charlotte Ehney]

This book could have just as easily been a 20 page booklet. Some of the information was dated. The whole use of internet based communication and the development of social media has evolved since the publication of this book. Reinforcing of the thank and the tell as part of the stewardship campaign is the best points of the book.

[Telly]

I was hoping I might learn a thing or two about fundraising by reading how church's do it. There are some good points, but nothing hard hitting that gave me that "ah ha" feeling. Not a bad read at all, but it did not fulfill the purpose I intended.

[Meredith]

The first time I read this was in conjuction with a spring theological event. Then this past year (2015), we've been reading it as a church council.

So much good stuff to chew on and flexible enough for each congregation's personality.

[Jerry]

The first five chapters help shape and form a biblical and theological perspective.

[Michelle]

A good model for Stewardship

[Andy]

Good stewardship stuff, I'm in the middle somewhere but it is good for ministry no doubt.

[Cori]

It is a good practical guide for stewardship.