Rev. Dr. Cynthia Campbell shares how the October lectionary gives us an opportunity to reflect on how God hopes that we will live our lives. “Love God, in whose image you are made. Love others as your love yourself. Respect the God-given dignity of all persons. Strive for the good of all, for the common good.”

“As you get ready for the stewardship season, how are you identifying the gifts all around you in the lives of your people? And how are you remembering to name those gifts as God’s work and words in our midst?” Rev. Kyle Nolan, Ministry Relations Officer of the Upper Midwest Region, shares how to give thanks for all the ways that we see God working through all the gifts that are brought and shared.

As you start planning your church’s fall stewardship campaign, check out the Stewardship Navigator. A free tool that offers a variety of resources from Stewardship Sermons to Narrative Budgets to Pledge Cards and Thank You Card.

Remember as a child when every once in a while you’d get an ice cream sundae and someone would add an extra cherry or maybe another dollop of chocolate sauce? Not anything you asked for, it was just an added treat? Think of Giving Tuesday as that “value add” to your stewardship efforts – you don’t have to ask for it; it’s part of an international effort that’s already packaged.