A Church Anew Book Series: Interview With Grace Pomroy, Author of "Funding Forward"
Photo by Pedro Lima on Unsplash
Church Anew is delighted to continue a series that celebrates the books and contributions of leaders in our community. While we can’t share every book or article or milestone, feel free to nominate someone or some piece that you know by emailing support@churchanew.org. Pastor Eric Shafer has led a storied career across the church and is interviewing authors in this recurring feature. This week, we are happy to present Eric’s interview with Grace Pomroy about her new book, “Funding Forward: A Pathway to More Sustainable Models for Ministry.”
Please share a short summary of this book - what can the reader expect to find in it?
In the midst of declines in attendance and donations, many congregations find themselves at a crossroad: How do they live out God's mission in this time and place when they seem to have less and less assets to do so? This book begins at this crossroad. It starts by diving deeper into the challenges congregations are facing and exploring why a better stewardship program won't be enough to address it. Then we chart a pathway forward to examine the assets God has entrusted to our care, discern God's mission, realign the congregation's budget with the mission, explore what God might be calling the congregation to do, and find funding from both internal and external sources.
Who should read this book?
I wrote this book for congregational leaders - both lay and clergy. I have a special place in my heart for church treasurers - many of whom have sounded the alarm about their church's financial challenges long before people were ready to hear it. I had them in mind as I wrote this book. I also had in mind the people who are deeply committed to the congregation's mission who have often heard "no" too many times in this season of scarcity. There is a pathway forward that tends to both the money and mission as we follow God's call into a faithful future. The book is easy to read individually or together as a congregational group. Each chapter begins by dwelling in God's word together and ends with discussion questions and a practice to help you take action on what you've learned.
As you prepared to write the book, I understand that you researched over 100 congregations. What are some of your key learnings from that work?
My research team and I learned so much through the research project - more than the book could contain - but if I had to distill it down to three key learnings it would be:
1. The mission matters much more than the money. We heard time and time again from the congregations we studied that it was imperative to have a clear sense of your mission and vision: What is God calling your congregation to do and to be in this time and place? If your goal is to simply keep the doors open and the lights on, not only is that not faithful, it's unlikely to bear financial fruit.
2. These projects require buy in, participation and leadership from both clergy and lay members. No pastor did this work single-handedly, nor were they called to do so. I realize this can be difficult to hear in the midst of the volunteer shortage many congregations are facing, however we often heard stories of volunteers from inside the congregation who had never thought their skills might be of use to the church - these are not the folks serving on every committee - as well as community partners who will never be in your pews on Sunday morning. It took many hands to bring this work to life.
3. God is at work. We heard testimonies of God's work in and through the Funding Forward process as people realigned their budgets, discerned God's mission, found new community partners, brainstormed about the future, dusted off long-neglected assets, and found unexpected sources of funding.
Can you share one of your favorite congregation examples?
It's so tough to choose. We had the privilege of doing in-depth interviews with 12 of the 101 congregations represented in the survey, their stories are the lifeblood of the book. One of the stories that has been deeply resonating with me lately is the story of how Concordia Lutheran Church in Chicago started their intergenerational care ministry, Concordia Place. Concordia was facing many of the declines in attendance and donations churches are facing today in the 1980s. However, they pulled together enough money to bring on "the cheapest pastor possible" (in their words) - which was a recent seminary grad. Little did this new grad know, they had only raised enough money to cover his salary for one year. When Pastor Zook arrived, he realized quickly that something would need to change, and the inspiration for that change came just three days into his first call. As he was walking back to the parsonage one day, he ran across three single moms, all named "Barbara", who shared with him their urgent need for childcare. They couldn't leave their jobs to come pick up their kids from school at 3pm, was there something the church could do about this? It was this conversation which birthed the church's first after school childcare ministry which they housed inside the congregation.
What would you like your readers to take away from this book?
God is present and at work in your community and in your congregation. While we may be seeing some declines in our congregations, the gospel is not declining. I think it's easy for congregation leaders who have put time, effort, and finances into their congregations to believe that these declines are their fault - they have failed. I held these leaders close to my heart as I wrote the book. I hope this book offers them space to grieve what they are experiencing, reminds them they are not alone, gives them hope for a new future, and offers them a simple pathway toward that new future.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
If you'd like to try before you buy, you can get a free chapter of the book from Faith+Lead. If you're a data nerd like me, you can also dive deeper into the research in this free research e-book. We hope to get this information into the hands of as many congregations as possible!
Rev. Eric Shafer
The Rev. Eric C. Shafer is a regular contributor to Church Anew and serves as “Pastor in Residence” for Global Refuge - www.globalrefuge.org - which is now in its 85th year serving immigrants and refugees. He has served ELCA congregations in Pennsylvania and California and was the ELCA’s Communication Director, a synod bishop’s assistant, and an interfaith communication executive. He and his wife, Kris, live at Pilgrim Place in Claremont, California.
