Charles R. Lane, Ask, Thank, Tell: Improving Stewardship Ministry in Your Congregation. Augsburg Fortress, 2006.
Referenced in: Giving and Financial Stewardship
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
Lane makes the case the stewardship is not about the congregation’s needs at all, but about the fact that “generous giving is one of the basic acts of discipleship.” (8) So the focus of stewardship should be on the growth of each giver in their primary relationship with Jesus Christ rather than on the good of the congregation. To accomplish this, he suggests a stewardship ministry focused on three verbs – ask, thank, and tell. He first lays a foundation of the biblical teachings on money and possessions, giving, and stewardship. He then describes the three-pronged program.
First is to “Ask” the members, as part of an annual response program, to “consider the blessings God has entrusted to them, and how they will respond to those blessings through financial support of the congregation’s ministry.” (67) This includes a chapter on “Improving the Ways You Ask,” which lists, in order of effectiveness, the ten most effective ways to ask someone to give. Lane also lists the seven top motivators for people who give financial support to a non-profit organization.
Second is to “Thank” people individually and collectively, in every way possible for what they give. This chapter offers a treasury of creative ways to “Creating a Culture of Thanksgiving” by giving legitimate praise to people for their generosity, following a pattern set by Paul and other biblical authors.
Third is to “Tell” the story of what God is doing through the changed lives of the givers and the specific ways in which people within the reach of the church’s ministries are begin blessed by the generosity of members.
This book is full of sound and ethical ideas for creating a culture of generosity. It is in the same genre as Clif Christopher’s Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate. Those who prefer a milder approach to fund-raising strategies may want to start with Lane and move to Christopher, but both are worth reading.
From the Publisher
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.
Editorial Reviews
“Ask, Thank, Tell is a straightforward, easy-to-read stewardship guide that ought to be placed in the hands of every seminarian, pastor, and congregation leader. Lane gives biblically grounded practical advice that, if followed, would transform the church. The emphasis is on mission, not maintenance; discipleship, not membership and the giver’s need to give, not the church’s need to receive. The author advocates a biblically based primary relationship with Jesus Christ that includes open, basic, plain, and ongoing talk about money.” – Jerry Hoffman, coordinator for “Stewardship in the 21st Century,” A Luther Seminary Web-based Ministry
“‘Seize every opportunity to tell your story,’ says author Charles Lane, as he encourages stewardship leaders to give many compelling ideas for helping people to grow in their relationship with Jesus through joyful stewardship. This book is especially useful for those who want guidelines for planning stewardship in their own context. Of special note is the warning in chapter 8: ‘It is easy to start thinking about what will work best for the [stewardship] leadership team. Resist this temptation. Focus instead on what will work best for the givers.’ The section on Creating a Culture of Thanksgiving is worth the price of the book.” – Ed Kruse, ELCA Director for Stewardship
“In this helpful new book, Ask, Thank, Tell, Charles Lane puts the center of stewardship ministry where it needs to be on Jesus. Using the Bible as his foundation, Lane offers practical, easy-to-follow steps for congregational leaders who want to strengthen their church’s stewardship ministry. I’ll certainly be recommending this book to the congregations and leaders I coach.” – Rochelle Melander, author of Our Lives Are Not Our Own: Saying Yes to God
About the Author
Charles “Chick” Lane currently serves as Director for Stewardship Key Leader, a program of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Prior to that he served as pastor of three congregations and on the synod staff of the Northwest Minnesota Synod (ELCA).
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