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The Scientific Study of Giving
In a couple of weeks I am going to join a group of academics and researchers being convened by the Lake Institute at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. The purpose is to have a roundtable discussion on a review of recent literature on faith and giving. They sent out the forty-three page report ahead of time and I thought some of the observations might be interesting to a wider audience. As far as I know nothing is proprietary. Again these are just quotes and observations that I found interesting as I read. Most of them are predictable and common sense. Some are thought provoking. Some are well I’ll…
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The Messiah
This morning we are looking at what Jesus believed about his being the Messiah (or Christos – the anointed one). Jesus did not step into a historical vacuum. The Jews had developed a number of beliefs around the figure of the Messiah – and Jesus confounded them all. So, let’s look at some of the background for the anointed one. At the time of Jesus, many (or most) Jews believed in a messiah who would be a deliverer for the people of Israel. He would be another King David who would bring the nation back to prominence in every way. As well, he would be victorious over all their enemies…
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Jacob Wrestles With God
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I Want Your Job
People often ask how they can get a position as a grantmaker with a foundation. It seems sensible that donors with foundations would want help in the work of giving money. Over the years, I have had scores of people looking for individuals, families and private foundations who recognize the need for staff or consultants to assist them in their giving. I am sure there are some degree programs out there that are designed to help prepare someone for the work. For instance, The Center for Philanthropy at Indiana University has a degree program in philanthropic studies. The RGK Center for Philanthropy at the University of Texas has formal programs…
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Personalities
I don’t want to break confidences when I use personal correspondence for these blogs but these questions and concerns from Gathering participants are the best sources of thought for me. “One objection to the growing number of support and mentoring programs for young ministry entrepreneurs is that too much is made of the person/personality rather than the organization or movement that’s required to produce significant systemic impact. We’re trying to figure out the proper balance between celebrating and supporting the entrepreneur who creates the organization and ensuring the organization is strong and deep enough to outlast and outperform a charismatic individual.” I’m especially interested in this one because it’s a…
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Basic Doctrines Of The Church
This morning we are beginning a several week series on the study of basic doctrines of the Church. There is a good case to be made for this. We don’t hear much about doctrine today. I’m not sure I heard much about doctrine when I was growing up. We knew we were Baptists and thought we knew what that meant but didn’t. We learned our doctrine from our hymns. We knew about propitiation from “Washed in the Blood” and “Nothing but the Blood”. We knew about the sacrificial death of Jesus from “The Old Rugged Cross”. We knew about forgiveness from “Just As I Am” and about grace from “Amazing…
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A Safe Place
The Gathering is a safe place. That’s what all the surveys tell us. In fact we’ve used the phrase ourselves for so long to describe The Gathering that we’ve stopped considering what it means. That’s dangerous – not safe. Last year we commissioned Dave Goetz and CZ Strategy (www.czstrategy.com) to do interviews and research to find out (among other things) what our participants meant by safe. Four things rose to the top of the list. (1) We are cause agnostic. We are not pushing an agenda for giving. (2) People sense they are with peers. It’s okay to be open with peers. (3) We are nonsectarian. There is no “right”…
