Off the Shelf 154 – Father Michael White
Money is one of the toughest topics to deal with or discuss as a parish and for good reason. People don;t want to be “preached” to about money. But how do we get around this so that parishes get what they need to function properly. Father Michael White joins me this week to discuss creative ways to broach this subject. We discuss his latest book written with co-author Tom Corcoran ChurchMoney: Rebuilding the Way We Fund Our Mission (A Rebuilt Parish Book)
From the publisher Ave Maria Press
The Pew Research Center recently reported that 26 percent of Catholics are giving less because of the sex abuse crisis and reports of misconduct against priests and bishops. That makes the already difficult task of raising money for churches and bishop’s appeals much more challenging.
Rev. Michael White and Tom Corcoran—award-winning authors of the Rebuilt Parish series—know from twenty years leading Church of the Nativity in Timonium, Maryland, that it’s no fun working in a parish struggling to pay the bills. Without money, you can’t hire staff to provide the programs you want to offer. You constantly have to beg parishioners to give. You grow frustrated and angry when they fail to respond.
Does this sound familiar?
In ChurchMoney, White and Corcoran will help you learn the basic skills you need to discover that true success in raising funds comes from the incredibly freeing approach that connects giving to discipleship.
The two share their stories of success and failure. They tell us what they learned to meet the real financial challenges of their mission. They offer the practical wisdom and inspiration you need to tackle the thorny matter of raising money in your Catholic parish.
White and Corcoran share the lessons, facts, habits, and great ideas they’ve implemented from some of the most successful and vibrant churches in the United States. ChurchMoney offers a proven plan for raising money in parishes. It’s readily adaptable, firmly rooted in the reality of leading a Catholic parish, based on the Bible, and finessed with the best advice of communication professionals.
You will read stories of embarrassing failure and exhilarating success in tripling a budget and running three extraordinarily successful capital campaigns over a ten-year period including their most recent campaign leading to the construction of $16 million sanctuary built debt free. They have increased staff fourfold and significantly raised salaries and increased staff benefits while expanding mission outreach both locally and internationally.
1 thought on “ChurchMoney: Off the Shelf 154 with Fr. Michael White”
So……………, “God willed all religions.” That’s what the Catholic Church teaches nowadays? Bet ‘giving’ via discipleship will improve when the truth is taught.