Take Stewardship to the Next Level

2025 SAS Track Sign Up is Now Open

Before Your Sign Up

  1. One Church - One Track. We want your church to concentrate on a single track. Members of the same church are asked to register for the same track. 

  2. Be Certain before you register. Talk with your team and agree. Then register at the appropriate link below. Registration is open now. 

  3. Register as Individuals for the Same Track. Everyone who wants the Zoom Link and reminders for the Track Meeting needs to follow the appropriate link below and register. You will be automatically added to the reminder email list and receive a confirmation with the Zoom Link and Dates. If you "unsubscribe" from GSB emails, you will NOT receive reminder emails. 

  4. Pastors may also register for the Pastoral Leadership Track in addition to their church's chosen track. 

  5. These meetings will NOT be available by video later. Please plan to attend for discussion, Q&A, and content. 

List Overview (Each Church May Choose 1 Option):

  • Option 1: Volunteer Recruitment and Retention - How To - With Paul Marsh

  • Option 2: Council Leadership: Engaging and Effective Meetings - Paul Walters

  • Option 3: Special Appeals - Jennie Wolf Smith

  • Option 4: Storytelling Using the Donorarc Model - Mitzie Schafer

  • Option 5: Learning to Think and Act Strategically - Rev. Nathan Swenson-Reinhold

  • Option 6: Planned Giving - Matthew Schultz

Additional Option for Pastors Only:

  • Stewardship: The Effective Pastoral Leader  - Pete Reuss

Option 1: Volunteer Recruitment and Retention - How To - With Paul Marsh

Congregations have long battled the 80/20 rule: that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. Now it is even harder, as many congregations report that 80/20 rule becoming a 90/10 rule.

In this volunteer track for SAS, we will focus on the recruitment, retention and stewardship of church volunteers, as well and growing leaders in your congregation and identifying successful stewardship team members.

All tracks will be at 9am pacific, 10am mountain, 11am central and noon eastern time.

  • January 30

  • February 27

  • March 27

  • April 29

Meeting 1: Overview--how do we recruit volunteers? We will consider the process of determining our volunteer needs, preparing recruitment materials, identifying prospective volunteers and how ministry team leaders go about inviting their service.

Meeting 2: Writing job or service descriptions. You will bring a list of volunteer opportunities at your ministry to this meeting and we will walk through how we write a job or service description together.

Meeting 3: How to retain volunteers. In this meeting we will talk about how to make your volunteers’ experiences worthwhile and fulfilling. We will review check ins, conflict resolution, continuing education and gratitude gatherings.

Meeting 4: How to grow volunteer leadership in your congregation. One of our goals in refining our volunteer program is to raise up new leaders and maintain a leadership pipeline. We will discuss how to identify potential leaders, give them varied experiences throughout your ministry, and invite them into leadership roles

Option 2: Council Leadership: Engaging and Effective Meetings - Paul Walters

Getting people to serve on congregational councils or leadership boards can be like pulling teeth. The mere suggestion of an invitation can be met with looks of horror. It does not have to be that way. In this track learn how to use the time together to build up leaders, develop relationships with one another, and find joy and laughter in your time together. All this will make your time together more productive and more inspiring.

Serving Jesus and building up God’s kingdom is a joyful activity, even when that means being part of a congregational council.

Meeting dates on Zoom: 

  • January 13 at 7:00pm Eastern

  • February 10 at 7:00pm Eastern

  • March 10 at 7:00pm Eastern

  • April 7 at 7:00pm Eastern

Option 3: Special Appeals - Jennie Wolf Smith

How do we ask for money for something not covered by the budget, but not big enough of a project for a capital campaign? This is the sweet spot for a special appeal.
Often used to cover one-off building projects (HVAC replacement, parking lot repavement, etc.), special appeals can also launch new ministries, close funding gaps, fuel an endowment fund and more.
In this track, stewardship teams will learn:

  • how special appeals differ from stewardship drives and capital campaigns,

  • when and how to conduct a special appeal, and

  • to use the Inform-Inspire-Ask-Thank model to walk you through your own appeal - over the course of the Winter Track sessions or for a future special appeal.

Dates - All sessions at 12:00PM Eastern/11:00AM Central/10:00AM Mtn
Tues, Jan 7 - Overview
Tues, Jan 28 - A Case that Informs and Inspires
Tues, Feb 25 - How to Ask
Tues, March 15 - Thanking and Reporting

Option 4: Storytelling Using the Donorarc Model - Mitzie Schafer

The best stories, the ones we can’t wait to tell, are stories that come from passion and excitement. When we are jazzed about a recent event, we can’t wait to tell everyone we meet and post it on social media. Telling stories about our ministry needs the same level of passion and excitement, but it also needs a purpose. We need to use every moment and every story to engage constituents in our work and encourage them to act. 

We should not depend on our people to tell/write the story the way we need it told. Instead, we must interview them with some key things in mind. Is your story about IMPACT, what your ministry provided to the person changed, or is it about GENEROSITY, how giving changed a person and your ministry? In this track we will learn how to identify stories, interview for them, write them using the Donorarc Storytelling Model, and how and when to share them.

Session 1: Finding the story, interviewing for it, and writing it

Session 2: Editing stories, choosing a title, using the model to adapt other communication, and how and when to share stories

Calendar

  • Wednesday, January 22nd - 1pm-3pm Eastern/12pm Central/11am Mountain (Note this is a 2-hour session)

  • Wednesday, February 26th - 1pm-3pm Eastern/12pm Central/11am Mountain (Note this is a 2-hour session)

Option 5: Learning to Think and Act Strategically - Rev. Nathan Swenson-Reinhold

Learning to think and act strategically is often a deep struggle for congregations and congregational leadership because it requires groups of people to go from ideation (what we believe we are about and what we believe we are to do) to manifestation (how we bring that vision to life). Join professional coach and GSB Partner, Nathan Swenson-Reinhold, on this four session masterclass on thinking and acting strategically. Designed for pastors, council presidents, and congregational councils, this course will provide opportunities to explore:

1. How we listen to God, each-other, our context, and our community
2. How we explore why we exist and what we are called to do
3. How we bring those learnings into the multi-dimensional spaces of the church (e.g. facilities, committees, and internal and external relationships)
4. How we build structures to support these things into our calendars, agendas, and communications

Disclaimer: This course is not a substitute for a legitimate, well-executed strategic planning process. However, it will help leaders consider the key dimensions of congregational life and mission, facilitating awareness, clarity, and new agency.

Calendar

  • Each 1.5 hour session will be held at 7 p.m. Eastern/ 6 p.m. Central/ 5 p.m. Mountain.

    Session 1: January 9 -- Learning to Listen

    Session 2: February 13 -- Our WHY and Our WHAT

    Session 3: March 13 -- Bringing Listening and Purpose Into Our Spaces

    Session 4: April 10 -- Landing Strategy and Action

Option 6: Planned Giving - Matthew Schultz

Building a foundation for a comprehensive planned giving program will eliminate preventable misunderstandings and infighting. A strong foundation includes a Gift Policy and Endowment By-laws. The program’s foundation should be built on transparency, best practices, and consensus building. It should have clear expectations, eliminate conflicts of interest, and support the mission and vision of the congregation. It is critical that members of the congregation understand their options and how to access support. This is best achieved by creating a culture of leaving a legacy of generosity. Creating this affirming culture takes time, attention, and consistency. Through this track, the Pastor and Planned Giving Committee will develop the critical pieces of an effective Planning Giving program for the congregation. 

Calendar

  • Each one-hour session will be held at 2 p.m. Eastern/ 1 p.m. Central/ 12 p.m. Mountain/11 a.m. Pacific

    January 8 - Planned Giving for Legacy Impact 

    February 5 - Best Practice for Gift Policies 

    March 5 - Best Practice for Endowment By-Laws 

    April 2 - How Members Can Leave Plans that will Honor their Wishes 

BONUS OPTION FOR PASTORS:

Stewardship: The Effective Pastoral Leader  - Pete Reuss

Congregational generosity. That’s the job of the Stewardship Committee, right?  Pastoral Leaders can find 1001 reasons why they shouldn’t be involved in asking people to grow in giving. The reality is that Pastoral Leaders play a critical role in generosity ministries. In this track for these leaders, we will 

·       Examine the Pastoral Leader’s personal relationship with money

·       Understand your vital role in encouraging generosity

·       Consider the culture of the congregation around generosity…and take steps to change it.

·       Discern how the topic of money connects with preaching

Meeting dates on Zoom (all on Thursdays at 2:00 pm Eastern/1:00 Central/Noon MT)

January 9 – Looking in the mirror: your personal relationship with money

February 9 – Generosity: Leading cultural change in the congregation

March 6 – The Pastoral Leader’s role in raising funds for ministry

April 3 – Money and preaching