The following blog post was written by Brian Kluth and posted on ChurchCentral.com. I’m starting to work with churches as a financial consultant through The Change Group and thought this article was worth reposting. Check it out:

In our national www.STATEofthePLATE.info survey research among churches, we discovered that giving is declining in 37% of the churches and is flat-lined in another 24% of churches.  In this new economic climate, here are 10 ways that a church pastor and leaders can inspire generosity and increase giving so their church can focus on thriving instead of just surviving.

1 – INTENTIONALLY focus on stewardship as a matter of Christian discipleship

If we do not teach our people that Christ is Lord of ALL, is He really someone’s Lord at all?  While a Christian cannot serve God AND money, that must be taught to serve God WITH their money.  Don’t preach and teach on finances and giving for  institutional survival, aim for transformed lives.  No one is born generous.  Generosity is something that must be taught and caught.  I don’t believe the heresy that God wants everyone to be rich, but I do believe that God wants everyone to LEARN to become more generous with whatever God has given them.

2 – INSPIRE people’s generosity through true stories

The Bible is filled with stories of people’s generosity – - the little boy with the 5 loaves and 2 fish, the Macedonians who gave in the midst of their poverty, the former slaves who gave their riches to build the tabernacle, David who shared his wealth to build the temple, the widow that fed Elijah from the little she had, the widow’s mite, and many more.  But also share true generosity stories from your own life and the lives of those you know.   If you need ideas for true stories, check out the 40 true stories in the free eDevotional at www.GiveWithJoy.org or search google for “stewardship stories, tithing testimonies, generosity illustrations.”

3 – INCLUDE financial/generosity teaching opportunities in the church worship service and annual calendar

In the worship service share an offertory verse or video.  In your church calendar, consider sending out a 40 day generosity devotional that couples and families can go through together.  Offer financial classes, Sunday school, and/or seminars throughout the year.  Put generosity and financial literature/pamphlets/articles in the lobby literature racks, bulletin, newsletters, and giving statement mailings.

4 – IGNORE the doom and gloom the-sky-is-falling media headlines

Yes, we live in the midst of some challenging times.  But when the headlines says unemployment hits 10% that means that 90% of our people are working!  When the headlines indicate the stock market stumbles, the reality is that many of our people aren’t dependent on the stock market for their weekly or monthly income.  We are not to operate in fear, but in faith in a God who is bigger than the latest media headlines of our day.  The reality is that if someone makes more than a $1000/year, they are richer than 80% of the world’s population.  We need to teach our people to be faithful stewards and generous givers with whatever they have.

5 – INVESTIGATE best practices and materials that can be adopted or adapted for use in your church

Don’t try to reinvent the wheel.  There are a lot of proven resources available for your church to use.  Start by downloading the free national report on the“50 Best Practices and 80 Best Websites to Increase Giving” at www.annualstewardshipprogram.org.

6 – INCREASE the number of ways you allow people to give

For a number of years the debate has been should a church pass the plate or have a box in the back for offerings.  Today, the answer is both and more!  Pass the plate, have a box in the back, offer online giving, electronic check processing, stock transfers through a brokerage account, gifts-in-kind, and estate gifts.

7 – INSTRUCT people from the Scriptures about finances and generosity

We need to teach people to be faithful givers, not because the budget says so, but because the Bible says so.  Our focus needs to be to teach people to be faithful givers to God, not to the church budget.  Our goal is that our people please God, not the church finance committee.  Church budgets are spending plans, not the giving goal.  It is the Scriptures (all 2350 verses on finances, generosity, and material possessions) that will help people become faithful stewards and givers.

8- IGNITE people’s faith in God as their Provider

I like to ask people, “What would you rather have – - what your company can pay you or what God can provide for you?”  God is bigger than a paycheck or a pension.  We need to teach people that their company may be their employer, but God is their Provider.  He is bigger than stock markets, housing markets, and job markets.  Too many people have had a Tom Cruise theology of “show me the money” attitude.  In the www.GodsProvisions.org website, there is a list of over 40 ways God provides for His people.  He can use paychecks and pensions as part of His provisions, but He is not dependent on them.

9 – INVOLVE people in giving opportunities beyond the general operating budget

In addition to people’s regular giving, churches can mobilize resources for benevolence needs, building projects, mission projects, crisis/relief ministry, camp scholarships, and special designated needs.  Different people are motivated by different things.  Wise churches know how to invite people’s “over and above” giving to tap into the God-given desires people have to feel they are meeting a specific need.  The www.STATEofthePLATE.info View from the Pew personal surveys identified 14 different areas at church and beyond the church where people give their donations.

10 – INFORM people of how their gifts are being used and helpful financial websites

When you send out giving statements, include some type of financial newsletters that highlights church giving, special projects, missionaries being supported, and financial websites that can be of help to them.

About the author: BRIAN KLUTH is a pastor, speaker, radio teacher, and bestselling author.  He is the founder of www.MAXIMUMgenerosity.org website and free eNewsetter for pastors and leaders.  His www.GenerousLife.org 40 Day Bible devotional has been ordered by 1300 churches to give to every family in their congregation to inspire generosity and increase giving.  Kluth’s annual www.STATEofthePLATE.info research surveys monitors church giving, budget, and generosity trends.

Today and tomorrow, I’ll be attending the Velocity ChurchPlanters.com conference in Cumming, GA at Mountain Lake Church. Speakers include Rick Warren, Steven Furtick and Dave Gibbons! If you’re there, I’d love to meet you. Should be fun. You can follow the action on Twitter.

I promise (I think) this is the last one. I do have a blog prepared on a totally different subject tomorrow (leadership). The last 2 posts (Lifehouse and this one) have come from your comments. I thought your suggestions were too good to go unnoticed.

In today’s video/song, one of my favorite bands, Death Cab for Cutie, ends their live concert with Transatlanticism. Thanks to Michael for reminding me of this piece of musical genius. Notice that the electric guitar plays his first soft strum at 1:50 in. The drummer sits with his arms in his lap for the first 3 minutes! At 3 and 1/2 minutes in he starts to lighting play his cymbal and kick.

At about 4 and 1/2 minutes in, the lead singer (Benjamin Gibbard) switches from keys to guitar. At about 5 minutes in you get to experience a band truly letting a song breathe – it’s wonderful. If you’ll notice: from about 4 minutes to 6 minutes there are no vocals – just instruments building (this is what I was referring to in my post about Owl City and the future of worship music – Selah moments).

At about 7 minutes in the drummer builds to where he’s beating the fool out of the drums and then right at 7:36 he drops out – again reinforcing what I said here about players knowing when to drop out. Watch and enjoy!

My hope is that worship leaders will drink this (and the last 4 posts) in. Wrap your brain and heart around the philosophy of letting music build, breathe and taking dynamics seriously. Send my blog links to your band members. Ask them to watch the videos, take notes and use it for a launching pad of discussion that you can have at your next rehearsal.

If you’re a band member in a local church band, show this to your worship leader and other band members. If you’re a pastor or church leader, pass this on to your worship pastor. Let’s raise the bar in our worship leadership and strive for a creativity and beauty that is worthy of our Creator.

Today’s example of great musicianship is brought in part because of one of the comments made by Trae earlier in the week. I absolutely love this song and love using it in worship, but it had slipped my mind. Trae brought it back to my attention.

This will close this week out. This is Lifehouse singing/playing “Everything” live in Amsterdam. Please notice how long the song takes to build. The band doesn’t come in strong until 4 minutes in!

As Trae said, one of my friends and favorite worship leaders, Michael Bleecker of the The Village Church (where Matt Chandler is Lead Pastor) does this song the best of anyone I’ve heard lead it. I used to play this song with a band I was in every Tuesday night that led worship for 20 somethings/singles and college age. I would often request that we play this or just start playing the intro and let the band jump in with me. Enjoy!

Not sure how this translates to worship? Watch this video of a drama performed to Lifehouse’s “Everything”. I’ve blogged about this before. I can not watch this without crying every time – it’s amazing.

Yesterday I expressed my personal opinions about music, dynamics and letting a song build. I said that the quickest way to spot an amateur player is to see him playing the whole song. A real musician knows when to not play.

One of my favorite bands is Coldplay. Today I thought I’d show you Coldplay playing “Fix You” (one of my favorite songs) Live from Tokyo. In this video, notice the bass comes in at 0:51, the guitar comes in very lightly at around 1:20 and drums come in with a driving electric guitar at about 2:44 (like yesterday almost 3 minutes into the song!) . You’ll notice the drummer often has his arms crossed or his hands in his lap – again a sign of  a pro. Like yesterday, both bands also know when to drop out at the end. Enjoy!

I can’t embed it, but also check out the same song (“Fix You”) Live from Austin City Limits HERE.

Continuing with the theme of worship music (yes, I’m focusing on worship leaders for a bit), I’d like to talk about one of the most beautiful parts of music: dynamics. Dynamics are the ebb and flow/highs and lows of music.

As you know, I travel quite a bit and visit/work with a lot of churches. One of the most common problems with church praise bands (and also easiest to fix) is this issue of dynamics. Most church praise bands play too much. They play all the time (from beginning to end) – which is another way of saying they’re too busy – and they don’t let the music build. Like I said yesterday, music needs space – it needs to breathe.

If you’re  a worship pastor that leads a band and you let your musicians play 100% all the time, you’re dropping the ball (you know I like to shoot straight). I mentioned that when I visit churches I often look for a laptop on stage. But one of the first things I look for is who is not playing. The difference between an amateur musician and a professional is knowing when not to play. It’s the whole “less is more” thing that I always preach.

Maybe this is something that your church band struggles with. Maybe you have a pianist that used to be “the band” and is used to playing the full 100% of the music. Now that a guitar, bass and drums are added in, she doesn’t know that her role must decrease and she must adjust the amount of action or busyness that she plays with in order to allow the other instruments to equal to 100%. This is what I call the 100% rule. You only have 100% to divide up – any one player can’t play like the 100% is up to him/her.

Let’s get practical: Often to make a point, I will go to the extreme. I used to do this with my camera operators and video directors all the time. When working with church bands, I will often ask players to “sit out” or restrain from playing for a LONG period of time – in order to get the point across.

One of the best songs I’ve used to teach this to countless people is “My Immortal” by Evanescence. I want you to watch this video twice. The first time just enjoy it and be moved by the song. The second time, look at it more technically.

As you’ll notice, the high-hat comes in at about 2:43 and the full band kicks in (hard) at about 3:07. If you missed that, the band doesn’t come in until 3 minutes into the song. This is a song and video that you can download from iTunes and play for your church band in order to drive this point home. The song is moving and powerful because of how long the rest of the band waits to come in. The song would be ruined if the band was playing the entire time (which again, is what happens with most church bands).

Take this lesson seriously. Learn and grow from it. Go to extremes with your band if you have to. Let the music build. Your congregation will thank you.

Tomorrow I leave for San Diego. I’ll be speaking for the first time at the National Outreach Convention. I’m really looking forward to it as I’ll be able to see many great friends, leaders I respect and hopefully meet some people for the first time. I’ll be speaking four times. Here’s where you can catch me if you’re attending:

• Innovation in the Church – Wed. at 3pm
• Church Next: A Panel of Innovators – Thurs. at 10:30 am featuring: Greg Ligon, Greg Surratt, Larry Osborne, Dave Ferguson, Dino Rizzo, Hugh Halter and myself.
• Church Planting – Fri. at 1pm (with Charles Hill)
• The Birth of Innovation – Fri. at 2:30pm

Today I leave for 10 days straight. Boy will I miss my family! I fly to South Carolina this afternoon to speak at a worship conference Thursday through Saturday in Spartanburg, SC. I always enjoy this conference because it takes place 15 minutes from where I grew up and so I get to spend some time with my mom and sister. If you’re going to be at First Baptist Spartanburg, please stop by my class and say “hey”.

Then Saturday I fly from South Carolina to Birmingham, AL to join my new friends and team at ARC for a Church Planter Basic Training. From Saturday to Friday I’ll be involved with a week of intense training for church planters. I can’t wait!

Next week I’ll share with you a new project I’m doing with ARC that could involve YOU and your church. I’m pretty excited about it and hope you’ll be too.

Today is my first official work day with ARC (Association of Related Churches). I’m thrilled to begin working with this great, Kingdom-minded organization. My heart is strong for the Big “C” Church, as you know, and I’m pumped about working with a number of churches, church planters and leaders around the world.

What will I be doing? A number of things. My first project is to take their existing CPR (Church Planters Roundtable) – which meets at various churches throughout the country and build an online version of it, so that a potential church planter can stay at the comfort of his home and log in to take the CPR – which is one of the big 3 of the ARC process.

I’ll also be serving as a coach for church planters. Both pre-launch and post-launch, I’ll be helping, supporting, encouraging and challenging church planters as they are on their journey. I’ll also be involved in a number of other smaller projects, events and functions of ARC.

I’ll also start back doing some consulting with churches and organizations on the side, as well as writing and working on a couple of book projects I have on-deck.

Again, I’m honored to join Billy Hornsby and the ARC team and I hope you’ll get to know us. Whether you’re a potential church planter that is interested in planting through ARC or whether you’re an existing church that would like to partner with ARC to plant churches (that covers just about all of you) – I look forward to speaking with you and seeing what we can do together to build the Big “C” Church.

Just to recap: I’m no longer at Bent Tree. I’m beginning on staff with ARC. If you’re not familiar with ARC, read HERE. We’ll be eventually leaving Dallas, TX. This is big news. Please comment/respond and let me know you read this and know what’s going on in my life.

After over a year of traveling to 15 different cities, I’m finally bringing the Church 2.o tour to my hometown of Dallas, TX. This Thursday, the 23rd we will host another Church 2.0 Local Forum at Fellowship Dallas off Park and 75.

If YOU are in the DFW area or know someone that is, PLEASE consider joining us or inviting someone to attend. You (or they) can register HERE.

Some have asked what goes on at these gatherings (this will be the 16th one I’ve led). The Church 2.0 Local Forum is a true unconference and is very informal/casual, but I’ll give you a little overview of what the day will look like. We’ll go from 10am to 2:30pm.

• First hour: We’ll discuss new media/technology – specifically Twitter and Facebook and how they can be used for ministry purposes. I’ll share 6 key realities of these new technologies. *** I’ve added 2 since the last one.
• Second hour: We’ll dive into a huge discussion on the topic of innovation. I’ll share 7 ways that innovation is born and what God is teaching me about innovation. *** I’ve added 2 ways since the last one.
• We’ll then break for lunch and encourage people to go eat somewhere close by with someone they don’t know and get to know them over lunch.
• The post-lunch part we’ll discuss social justice/what breaks my heart and the heart of God – as well as have time for Q & A.

Sponsors for Church 2.0 Dallas are:

• EasyWorship
• Fellowship Technologies
• Planning Center Online