Touching story of generosity from a small church in D.C. Sometimes small acts of kindess to those poorest in society speak loudest. The church is also helping the couple get on their feet once they get back from their two day honeymoon.
http://tinyurl.com/homelesswed
May 23, 2009 • 11:40 am 0
Church gives homeless couple dream wedding
January 31, 2009 • 4:07 am 0
Louie Giglio’s new church plant aims to give away $25K during first service
On February 15, the Passion City Church will be holding two services at the Tabernacle in downtown Atlanta. The new church’s web site states “we will be pooling our resources to do two things: 1) help a single parent family in the Atlanta area 2) provide Scripture for a people group in SE Asia who have yet to read one verse of the Bible in their own language. Our goal to meet these needs is $25,000. Together, our little can do a lot, so please come prepared to give and be a part of Love Atlanta/Love the world.” What a way to launch a new church! Also, love how the church has set up an NCF donor advised fund to accept gifts early on…..both generous & innovative! (sorry for the shameless self-promotion)
January 11, 2009 • 9:19 pm 0
Houston church and Hooters waitresses serve hurricane-ravaged community
The Baptist Standard – Members of Rice Temple Baptist Church come from about 35 countries and speak 27 languages. But the predominant language is love. That spirit of openness and loving acceptance enabled the congregation to partner with a group of Hooters waitresses to meet the needs of the people of Oak Island, a Galveston Bay coastal community almost completely wiped out by Hurricane Ike. Patrick’s 2 cents – It’s been my experience that generosity often leads to unique partnerships to meet needs. This story is one such example….very touching I thought. Worth the read.
November 18, 2008 • 7:23 pm 1
Former Willow Creek pastor starts church with unique funding model
Chicago Tribune – Waterfront Community Church gives 100% of money given in the offering to outside-the-church charity. Using a missionary model, eight sponsors cover Waterfront’s expenses, including salaries and rent, so all of the weekly offerings go straight to the community. “Some people like to see where their money is going,” said Jim Semradek, 38, a former pastor at Willow Creek Community Church. “My dream is every time a person puts a dollar in the plate, something happens. When you give, you see a face on the other side that you’re blessing.” Patrick’s 2 cents – I like the innovative thinking here, realizing that there are many issues that could be debated. However, our churches tend to be so inward focused when it comes to how they spend the money, it might be good to have someone so far on the other side it makes us think. Plus if Dick Towner helped develop it….you got to love it!
September 3, 2008 • 9:37 pm 0
Fort Worth entrepreneur raises the bar in charitable giving through giving catalog
The Greatest Gift Catalog Ever is sent out during the holiday season. The catalog looks roughly like a Lands End or Williams-Sonoma catalog, but instead of clothing, kitchen gadgets or other merchandise there are charitable giving opportunities. Patrick’s 2 cents – I’ve seen these types of catalogs by individual global ministries but never a community-focused catalog of various local ministry giving opportunities.
July 21, 2008 • 11:23 pm 0
Generosity….a new way of doing business?
Bull! (Not Bull) – An intriguing example of transparency in business is Rob McEwan, CEO of GoldCorp, a gold mining firm. He said he would “take all our data, put it in a file and share it with the world” and “then ask the world where to find the next six million ounces of gold”. The experiment paid off by saving 3 years exploration time and the discovery of new gold that moved them from being a small to a huge company. Patrick’s 2 cents – it hit me while reading this article and another blog the connection between open source business models and generosity. In open source, you share your data and systems….you give them away to a larger community who then gives back to you through innovation. Fascinating read but a bit long.
July 15, 2008 • 10:00 am 0
Church project puts smoke detectors in Victoria homes
Victoria Advocate – Canadian church gives out 3,467 smoke detectors. Patrick’s 2 cents – I had to include this one because of the name – Shadrach Meshach, Abednego – Saved from the Fire. Classic.
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/features/faith/story/278063.html
June 28, 2008 • 1:27 am 0
Monopoly for the rich and their children
American Public Media – Maybe you’re familiar with the old saying “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.” It basically means somebody a few generations back got rich, but the successors in the family had no success in managing that wealth and they ended up back to square one. Knowing how to talk to the kids about money is a problem even wealthy families face, so the wealth management firm GenSpring has come up with a conversation starter of sorts: A board game that’s called “Shirtsleeves to Shirtsleeves.”
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/06/25/shirtsleeves_to_shirtsleeves
Filed under: Giver , creative, young givers
June 18, 2008 • 8:01 pm 0
Casting off life’s cares
Los Angeles Times - Dave Dixon made a radical lifestyle change after realizing that ‘time, not money, is the real commodity in life. It took several careers, two divorces and plenty of prayer and reflection before Dixon settled on this lifestyle, one that he says is divinely inspired. The ordained pastor sees himself living out God’s message that faith and people, not possessions, are what is of true value.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-singer18-2008jun18,0,1575107.story
• 3:23 am 0
Where for profit and non-profit meet
Non-profit assistance fund – The State of Vermont recently adopted legislation creating a new type of entity, a Low-profit Limited Liability Corporation. The L3C, as it is called, is sort of a hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit created as a way to attract both private and philanthropic capital to build businesses with a social benefit. The key insight of the L3C is that it is not a two-part world but a three part world and that many worthy causes are capable of being self sufficient; they simply do not offer enough of a return in order to attract for profit investors – particularly at their inception.
http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2008/05/12/where-for-profit-and-nonprofit-meet/
