Creating a Culture of Generosity: A Field Guide for Church Leaders

by Greg Gibbs

How can leaders move a congregation from “meeting budgets” to “making disciples” when it comes to generosity in the church? What if people who follow Jesus were known as the most generous in their community? What will this take?In this super practical reference book, Gibbs outlines 5 Critical Waves for senior leadership of churches to consider on their way to developing a custom Generosity Discipleship Plan. Giving can be a topic either abused or ignored, but now churches will have a proactive plan to encourage open-handed living and positive impact for God’s kingdom.

352 pages, Paperback

Published February 12, 2021

Reviews

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. As a church leader (laity) I would highly recommend it. One of the best points of this book, is that the author does not tell you..."this is how you must do it" (in relation to church fundraising) But, rather, ..."here are some ideas and examples to discuss and points you may want to consider, understanding that it (fundraising, stewardship, capital campaigns) must work in YOUR context". It is refreshing to read a church related program book that acknowledges that all church contexts are not the same. For that reason alone, it is well worth the investment of time and money. In addition to that, there are many really good points of discussion that church leaders can glean from this book. Yes, it is written by a person with a "mega church" experience, but even a small 300 member church like mine can pull some tidbits from this book that are valuable. One is that the talk of "stewardship" is wrong....it's generosity and a culture change that will take time that is required. The wrong time to talk of "generosity" is just at specific times, but rather it needs to be an ongoing dialogue, and that dialogue needs to be altered depending on the "maturity" level of the giver, as not everyone is at the same place (often this is age related....but not necessarily.)

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for a seminary class, Gibbs has plenty of not just theory, but boots on the ground practicality for leading us toward the gift of the Spirit that is generosity.

[Sarah Hazelrig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gave it a good old grad-school skim -- helpful content for thinking through how to develop or strengthen the generosity muscle in your congregation.