Cultivating Generous Congregations Seminar at Quaker Hill

Friends United Meeting is excited to be partnering with Everence Financial Services to host a Cultivating Generous Congregations (CGC) seminar at Quaker Hill Conference Center in Richmond, IN,  on May 1st and 2nd, 2020. Registration is available online. CGC is a dynamic program that will transform the stewardship ministries of your Church and Meeting. The seminar offers practical skills, along with a biblical grounding, that will help congregational leaders:

• Rethink their roles in church finance,
• Become better stewards of their member’s gifts and donations, and
• Awaken a deeper spirit of generosity within their communities.

FUM General Secretary Kelly Kellum says of the program, “What excites me about this seminar is that participants do not attend alone, but come as a team of three or four members from their Church or Meeting. As pastors and stewardship leaders learn through the presentations, they will be given opportunities to design their own congregational plans for creating cultures of generosity.” The team should include three of the following: Senior Clergy, Treasurer, Stewardship/Finance Committee member, and another active leader in the Meeting.

FUM’s ministry partners at Everence have worked closely with Lake Institute since 2012 to offer this seminar to fellowships at an affordable cost. Lake Institute developed Cultivating Generous Congregations based on extensive research that is updated annually. Part of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the institute is committed to having a practical impact with this seminar, which has touched churches throughout the nation. 

According to Kellum, “CGC is one of the most effective programs I am aware of that will impact the stewardship life of a congregation. Generous congregations will strengthen Meetings and Churches, and this will unleash new ministries among Friends, which contributes to the expansion of God’s kingdom.”

Colin Saxton, Stewardship Consultant with Everence, will be the keynote presenter.

Before you take this course, you should:

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• Believe in your Church or Meeting’s capacity for greater generosity.
• Have a desire to become more comfortable with money.
• Be willing to rethink and redefine giving in your local faith community.
• Understand giving to include service, social networks, and the sharing of ideas and professional expertise. 

Registration begins at 5:00 p.m. on May 1st, and the event wraps up at 4:00 p.m. on May 2nd. All the conference events will take place in the FUM office building, and rooms will be available next door at the Quaker Hill Conference Center. For more information about how your congregation can be enriched by this experience, contact North American Ministries Coordinator Ben Snyder at bens@fum.org.