Be encouraged: "There’s gold in them thar’ pews!"

Sitting in your pews each week is a goldmine of resources waiting to be lovingly extracted and put to work for Christ. If your church’s giving is poor, I assure you it is not because your people are. They have far more money to give than you think.

The proof is in the results we have seen in the poorest of churches worldwide. When pastors in Zimbabwe, Africa, implemented the ten steps I am about to share with you, their giving increased 100 percent. In the Philippines, churches that used these steps saw giving increases of 100, 200, and almost 300 percent. Obviously, even the poorest of God’s people have money to give. They just need to be taught biblical stewardship.

The first year I implemented these ten steps in my church, our giving initially spiked 68 percent, then leveled out to 32 percent for the year. Our giving increased 32, 23, 27, 19, and 18 percent in five consecutive years. Other churches in the United States have seen 25, 30, and 57 percent increases in giving.

Your church will experience similar results.

As I was writing this, I received an email from a pastor who recently implemented the ten-step Dynamic Giving System. I got his permission to share it because I think it will encourage you.

"Hi Rod, Just a little update from down here at Calvary Church in Pueblo. We have some exciting results to report! We implemented your Dynamic Giving System this spring (2005). I presented our very first stewardship series during the month of April. We distributed and collected the God’s Guarantee cards on the last Sunday of April."

"I was immediately overwhelmed by the response from our people. Just reading their cards and seeing the commitments people were making was a tremendous blessing. I also had several wonderful conversations with people throughout the month as they reported to me the work God was doing in their lives relative to stewardship."

"Well, the results of the first month following the stewardship series are in. Our general fund offerings for the month of May show a 57 percent increase over our average monthly offerings for both the past fiscal year and calendar year [emphasis mine]. For the past three years, our giving had been stagnant at best. We even saw a slight decrease this past year."

"Needless to say, we are thrilled by the results. But even more, we are thrilled by the spiritual response and growth we see in our people. Many seem to be empowered and encouraged to follow the Lord more fully in this area of their lives. I know it has only been one month, but we are confident that God has done something great here."

"We are looking forward to implementing the rest of the Dynamic Giving System, and will be planning a stewardship emphasis on an annual basis. To God be the glory,

Dr. David Asch Calvary Church Pueblo, Colorado"

Amen!

Here are the steps Dr. Asch is taking to bring spiritual and financial renewal to Calvary Church:

Step 1: Master the Biblical Principles of Stewardship.

• Overcome a common misunderstanding of grace giving that keeps pastors from bold stewardship leadership. • Get clear on what the Bible really says about tithing and what to say that will stir your people to give much more than 10 percent. • Have your faith enlarged as you study God's amazing promises of emotional, spiritual, eternal, and financial rewards for the faithful giver.

Step 2: Personally Follow the Biblical Principles of Stewardship.

• Be encouraged and challenged to give faithfully to your church, for your own good. • Learn why it is vital that you set the example of biblical giving. • See your personal story of faithful giving inspire your flock to similar generosity.

Step 3: Preach an Annual Stewardship Series.

• Learn how and when to deliver an annual stewardship series that transforms your people from tippers to tithers in a few weeks, year after year. • Preach a ready-to-use, biblical, expository sermon series that has proven to increase giving and to kindle spiritual renewal in hundreds of churches worldwide.

Step 4: Expose Your People to Stewardship Testimonies.

• Learn what the Bible really says about public giving testimonies and how you can unleash their enormous power during your stewardship series. • Let the testimonies of faithful givers practically deliver the messages for you. • Use a sample stewardship testimony guide to help your people prepare theirs.

Step 5: Ask for a 10 Percent Commitment.

• Learn a method of asking for a generous giving commitment from your people that will move them to increase their giving ten-fold, overnight. • Learn how to offer a money-back guarantee that captures imagination and galvanizes giving. • Use a sample commitment card you can personalize to collect your people's increased giving commitments.

Step 6: Send Follow-up Letters to New Givers.

• Personalize and distribute pre-written, sample follow-up letters to reinforce your people's new giving commitments.

Step 7: Pray For Your New Givers.

• Tap into the power of believing prayer to bring God's blessing on your people as they launch out into new giving territory.

Step 8: Distribute Frequent Giving Records.

• Use a simple and easy method to provide non-threatening accountability and encouragement to keep people giving generously throughout the year.

Step 9: Use Estimates of Giving at Budget Time.

• Unleash the power of estimates of giving at budget time to increase giving. • Personalize a sample estimate of giving card for use in your church. • Distribute and collect the cards to plan and implement an increased, realistic church budget, year after year.

Step 10: Teach Stewardship in New Members’ Classes.

• Learn how to use your new members’ classes to get giving commitments from newcomers throughout the year. • Teach from a sample stewardship lesson outline in your new members’ classes.

If you faithfully implement all ten of these steps in your church, you will be thrilled with the results.

You might even spark a revival.