Mission Yearbook: Marketing can help with selling stewardship

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Carson Brown spoke last month during the opening day of Stewardship Kaleidoscope. (photo by Gregg Brekke)

Finding ways to link your congregation to stewardship requires a marketing lens to “sell” stewardship as an essential element of the Presbyterian experience, and that “support must be earned, it cannot be expected,” speaker Carson Brown said at Stewardship Kaleidoscope.

“How focused are we on selling what we’re doing to the people within our congregation?” Brown asked on the opening day of the Presbyterian Foundation’s Stewardship Kaleidoscope 2025 in New Orleans. The annual conference was presented by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Brown is a graduate of Florida Gulf Coast University with a bachelor’s degree in communication and is pursuing a Master of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary.  He serves as a pastoral resident at First Presbyterian Church in Bonita Springs, Florida.

“Why is marketing important? Why do we need to sell stewardship? Many of us come from generations where it’s just an expectation that people are going to give — not just on Sunday mornings but when their pledge envelopes roll around,” he said.

“We’ve always been able to reliably count on people to come into church and feel a sense of obligation to contribute to the mission of that church through their time, talent and especially their treasures,” Brown said.

The reality, though, is that churches compete for donations with dozens or hundreds of other organizations, many of which use comprehensive marketing tools to reach their audiences. Calls by the church for financial support faces challenges from families’ schools, nonprofit clubs such as the local theater or symphony, and other groups.

The youngest generations, teens and young adults, have a strong distrust of organizations, research shows. Gen Z tends to see society as becoming less generous. Their own levels of giving support that — but they also outshine all other generations in terms of volunteering their time to organizations.

Further, post-Covid, as more and more people decide to stay away from attending church services, why would you not expect giving to decrease as well?

Brown’s tips for selling stewardship apply equally to “selling” the church experience in general:

All marketing is communicating

Identify and clearly understand campaign principles, goals and objectives.

Develop a strategy for plainly and meaningfully communicating these things

Never assume knowledge!

Never expect even what’s plainly obvious — try to inform the congregation about church needs and how they’ll be addressed, instead of expecting people to know.

For the Boomer generation, Facebook is an excellent tool to share church news. For social media campaigns, use a good mix of cellphone videos, testimonials, info-graphics and simple calls-to-action to keep the page active.

Interestingly, people under age 45 might prefer to receive church news and stewardship promotions through the mail — because they grew up not receiving a lot of handwritten notes, letters and cards, Brown said. For printed materials, there are several easy-to-use graphic programs such as Canva that help design flyers, information cards and other marketing materials.

Still, face-to-face visits typically are most effective when it comes to sharing the church’s needs and stewardship opportunities. For smaller churches with perhaps 500 or fewer active members, in-person visits can be a great tool — but might be impractical for larger churches, he said.

Finally, when communicating with church members and the community about what’s going on, including stewardship opportunities, Brown recommends going back to the basics of logos, ethos, pathos: Use logic and what makes sense; appeal to people’s sense of what’s right; and appeal to feelings and passion.

John C. Williams for the Presbyterian Foundation (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Amanda Craft, Manager, Immigration Advocacy, Mid Council Ministries, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Octavia Craig, Treasury Assistant, Treasury Office & Central Receiving Services, Administrative Services Group 

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus, thank you for inviting all of us to participate in your mission. Guide our congregations as we disciple giving them opportunities to see your work in and through them in the world. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Sermon calls for witness from the margins

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During worship Sunday ahead of the World Communion of Reformed Churches' 27th Council, worshipers joined hands in a sign of unity. (Photo by Rick Jones)

Ahead of the start of the 27th General Council of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the Rev. Dr. Setri Nyomi preached on “Witnessing from the Margins,” exploring powerful biblical accounts on healing from 2 Kings found here and here and the Gospel of Luke.

“The Scriptures read today show God’s preference for people at the margins,” said Nyomi, the WCRC’s Interim General Secretary.

In the account of Naaman’s healing, the enslaved girl who connected Naaman to the healing he will receive isn’t even identified, but “she had light in her,” Nyomi said, “and she didn’t want to hide it.”

Naaman and his entourage headed to the palace, but “the solution was not in the corridors of power,” Nyomi noted. Instead, the military commander is told by Elisha’s messenger to wash in the Jordan River seven times to restore his flesh. Naaman is outraged, preferring the healing powers of more familiar Syrian rivers instead. Then his unnamed servants tell him, “Why don’t you at least try?”

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The Rev. Dr. Setri Nyomi, Interim General Secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, preaches on Sunday ahead of the 27th General Council. (photo by Rick Jones)

“The result was healing,” Nyomi said. “Naaman realizes there is a God above all gods. The servants provided an alternate solution,” suggesting to Naaman that “relying on the corridors of power is not as helpful as you think it will be.”

“As those who wield power think they can annihilate a whole nation of people” while “the rest of the world looks on, where are the prophets and the witnesses from the margins?” Nyomi asked. “This account tells us God’s choice is these witnesses from the margins. Our choice is to be a witness wherever we find ourselves to be.”

In Luke’s report on the healing of 10 men with a skin disease, only one — a foreigner — returns to praise God with a loud voice and to fall at Jesus’ feet to thank him. “His priority was to come back in faith and gratitude,” Nyomi said. “Being faithful is always connected to gratitude to God.”

Even today, many people remain on the margins — of communities “and even in our churches,” Nyomi said. “The message that God cares for us no matter who we are is a message not everyone in the church wants to identify with” because “those in the corridors of power are saying something else: kick out all those aliens who are not of our kind.”

Like Naaman’s servants who urged him to “do the simple thing, we are the alternate voice in such a time as this, and we will not stay quiet,” Nyomi said. “We are called to be witnesses from the margins, and part of that call is to express gratitude to God for the calling God has given us and the privilege we have to be God’s witnesses.”

“The question is, are we ready?”

A pair of pastors, the Rev. Chelsea Lampen, co-pastor of the Reformed English Language International Service (RELISH) in Hannover, Germany, and the Rev. Dr. Jessica Hetherington of the Global Institute of Theology, led the liturgy during the worship service, held at the Empress Hotel Convention Center. Worshipers had the opportunity to learn and rehearse the theme song for the 27th General Council, “Persevere in Your Witness.” Scripture passages were presented in the native language of the person reading them.

The hymns for the day, including “We are Marching in the Light of God,” were sung in multiple languages. When those in worship prayed the Lord’s Prayer and recited the Apostles’ Creed, they joined together by offering both in their native tongues. The result was a beautiful blend of energy and cacophony.

“My friends, go in grace, persevering in your faith and your witness,” Nyomi said during his benediction. “May the blessing of God, our Creator and Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit be with you now and forever more.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Amalia Cottrell, Archives Technician, Presbyterian Historical Society, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Emily Cowser, Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Life & Witness               

Let us pray:

Lord, we thank you for the privilege of being able to support your mission here and around the world. Give us the wisdom daily to do your work. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Webinar explores the story of a martyred Presbyterian pastor

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Michele Minter

Michele Minter, who’s the vice provost for institutional equity and diversity at Princeton University, grew up in Cleveland. Minter recently offered up a webinar for the Synod of the Covenant called “The Choice Goes on Forever: Cleveland and the Martyrdom of the Rev. Bruce Klunder.” Watch the webinar here.

Klunder, a Presbyterian pastor who’s honored at the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, died at age 26 on April 7, 1964, protesting the construction of a segregated school in Cleveland. Klunder was crushed by a bulldozer. He left behind his wife, Joanne, and their two children. Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, the Stated Clerk of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, eulogized Klunder three days later at a memorial service at the Church of the Covenant attended by 1,500 people.

Minter opened her talk by signing the first verse of “Once to Every Man and Nation,” a hymn her mother taught her decades ago after being introduced to the hymn “at the funeral of a minister killed in Cleveland.”

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The Rev. Bruce Klunder (Wikipedia photo)

According to Minter, the first Black families moved into Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood in the 1940s. White flight meant Glenville became a Black neighborhood during the 1950s. A white Presbyterian pastor wanted to invite Black neighbors to worship at the church he served, but members of the then all-white congregation turned visitors away at the door. The presbytery tried to intervene, and the pastor left, Minter said. Minter was later baptized at the Glenville United Presbyterian Church.

In Cleveland, the struggle for civil rights during the 1960s focused on desegregating the public schools, Minter noted. As the city became majority Black, its Black schools were overcrowded and its white schools were far from filled. Rev. Klunder was among the founders of the local chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality, which was best known for the Freedom Rides. The executive secretary was Ruth Turner, “a strong-willed and completely fearless former teacher,” Minter said.

Protests and violence rocked Cleveland’s Murray Hill neighborhood in January 1964. Two Black people were beaten by members of the crowd, who also roughed up priests from their own parish who were trying to intervene. Police responded by arresting two teenagers and releasing them an hour later.

In early April, the Cleveland City School District announced plans to build a segregated school in Glenville. Minter turned to “A Death and Life Matter,” a sermon Klunder had preached to an all-white congregation, to explain why overcoming inequity was so important to the young pastor.

“Why is it,” Klunder asked in his sermon, that Black people “crowd themselves into overcrowded, run-down flats and apartments in areas where trees and grass are all but unknown? … It is primarily because of certain structures which have grown up for which few people take any personal responsibility. … It is because integrated neighborhoods have appeared to be poor financial risks, and therefore, the policy of all the major banks in Cleveland probits the making of loans to Negroes, regardless of collateral, if they wish to buy or build in a predominantly white neighborhood.”

“The fact that we have Negro ghettos in our inner-city neighborhoods has meant necessarily that we have had segregated schools — schools where close to 100% of the pupils were Negro,” Klunder preached. “What kind of schools are they? They are in areas cut off from the tax revenue of the prosperous suburbs.”

“It is a life and death matter for all who exist as oppressed people,” he said. “It is a life and death matter for all of us, for our times are explosive. None can claim the luxury of not having to decide. The structures are being radically attacked, and each of us must respond even if it is only a personal response to the reading of a newspaper account of some action somewhere. It is an American dilemma.”

“To understand suffering and to make it your own will not dictate a particular strategy of action,” Klunder said, “but it will throw you into the battle to make your own decisions as a follower of him who suffered all that we might be one. Our Lord is risen! In him we have peace and life. Amen.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service 

Let us join in prayer for:

Christina Cosby,  Representative, Office of Public Witness and Presbyterian Ministry at the UN, Presbyterian Life & Wiitness
Donna Costa, Food Service Manager, Stony Point Center, Presbyterian Life & Witness

Let us pray:

God, thank you for being faithful in difficult moments. Help us to see you in the gathered community and to seek to support those trying to follow you. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Indianapolis church responds to school with reading, community and care

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A Teacher Appreciation Lunch. (Courtesy of Robin Hess) 

A decade ago, Fairview Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis entered into a partnership with the school six blocks away, James Whitcomb Riley School #43, with a simple conviction: Every child deserves to hold a book that belongs to them. Today, this partnership has grown into a web of care and relationship that reaches students, teachers and families throughout the school year.

Four times a year, members of Fairview sit down for lunch with third-grade classes at School #43. Then, a community member reads a book aloud to the class. At the end of each session, every student receives their own copy of the book to keep. By the end of the school year, each third grader has collected four books. It’s a small but real personal library that may, for some, be the first books they have ever owned themselves.

The partnership extends well beyond the four visits. Each session also includes snack packs prepared by Fairview volunteers, a small but meaningful gesture that says we thought of you; we prepared something for you; and you are worth the effort. During National Teacher Appreciation Week, Fairview hosts an Appreciation Lunch for School #43 teachers and staff. 

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Reading with the third grade class. (Courtesy of Carolyn Bogigian)

Winter at School #43 means cold, and Fairview’s Keep ’em Warm Project work to make sure students have what they need to face the season. Supported by a $250 Thrivent grant, and fueled by donations from church members and child care families, the project collected and donated over 100 items of clothing last year. Skilled crafters in the congregation added handmade hats, gloves and scarves to the mix. These were not surplus items dropped off at a door. They were gathered, sorted and given with care.

Sometimes Fairview’s support is more personal. When a family in the school community lost their home to a fire, Fairview responded. Clothing was gathered and financial support was offered, not as a program, but as neighbors who heard of a need and showed up.

What Fairview has discovered over nearly a decade is that presence is its own form of proclamation. Congregants who might never describe themselves as "doing mission" have found themselves moved by the faces of third graders lighting up at the sound of a story. Teachers have learned that people in their community see them and value them. A school that serves a neighborhood with significant need has come to know that they are not alone.

This is the witness Fairview Presbyterian is called to offer: not programs delivered to recipients, but a congregation showing up, year after year, in ordinary acts of reading and feeding and warming and caring.

Pastor Shawn Coons, Fairview Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis

Let us join in prayer for:

Devan Caton, SR OPS Manager & Business Analyst, Operations, the Presbyterian Foundation
Omar Chacon, Mission Specialist, Migration Accompaniment Ministry, Presbyterian Life & Witness

Let us pray:

God of the open book and the set table, thank you for every child whose eyes have widened at the sound of a story, and for every volunteer who showed up, again and again, because they believed it mattered. Thank you for teachers who pour themselves out daily and for the rare moments when they are told it is seen. Teach us to keep showing up. Teach us that presence is a form of prayer, that a book given is a blessing, and that community built across difference is holy ground. May the children of School #43, and every school, know they are seen, loved and not forgotten. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Presbyterian Youth Collaborative brings North Carolina churches together

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The first PYC gathering was visiting a pumpkin patch in fall 2025.

The Presbyterian Youth Collaborative (PYC) is a new and innovative youth ministry start-up within the Presbytery of Charlotte born out of an idea from Director Genie Richards and a shared sense of calling and responsibility between Providence Presbyterian Church and Sardis Presbyterian Church. Rooted in the faithful ministries of these two congregations, PYC represents a significant milestone: a move toward collaborative, parish-style youth ministry that responds honestly and creatively to the realities facing the church today.

Based out of Providence Presbyterian Church and Sardis Presbyterian Church in South Charlotte, North Carolina, PYC currently serves approximately 60 middle and high school students from both congregations. PYC officially launched in fall 2025 with a strong turnout and enthusiastic buy-in from both youth and parents, signaling both trust in the vision and need for steady faith community for teens. As the ministry grows, PYC hopes to become a resource for the wider Presbytery of Charlotte in years two through four, particularly for congregations seeking sustainable models of youth ministry and curious about parish-style ministry.

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PYC is a welcoming, inter-church youth ministry rooted in the grace and love of Jesus Christ. We walk alongside students in grades 6–12 as they grow in faith, build strong relationships and explore their unique call in the world. The program is guided by three goals: supporting congregations in sustaining healthy youth ministry amid limited resources and staffing challenges; addressing the decline in young adults engagement in the PC(USA) by helping youth see themselves as part of something larger than one congregation; and immersing young people in Presbyterian theology, heritage, and culture so they feel connected to their Presbyterian identity and confident as beloved children of God.

In a time of declining giving, limited staff bandwidth, and volunteer burnout, PYC offers a shared solution. Congregations pool resources, share the rising costs of trips, camps, and service opportunities, and draw from a larger base of faithful volunteers. This collaboration lightens the load on individual churches while creating richer experiences for youth.

Teenagers today live in one of the most competitive and stressful seasons of life. PYC intentionally creates a third place apart from performance, where youth can simply be. Through worship, Scripture, prayer, shared meals, conversation, creativity, and service, young people are discovering a church that sees them, values them and invites them to claim faith as their own. We see God at work daily through transformed confidence, deeper relationships and growing ownership of faith. One of the most beautiful surprises and examples of God working through this ministry is the growing number of regular friends and visitors. We’ve found that many young people not affiliated with a church are quite curious about youth ministry but see not belonging to a congregation as a barrier of entry. Because PYC is not led by any one church, it opens the door to curious young people. 

The ministry includes weekly Sunday youth group gatherings, monthly Mustard Seed Groups for middle and high school students, and a full inter-church confirmation program where youth learn together across congregations while remaining rooted in their home churches, along with regular weekend trips, summer camps, and service trips locally and across North Carolina. PYC is open and affirming, fully welcoming LGBTQIA+ youth as they are. We are grateful for two congregations willing to take a faithful risk on something new and encouraged by the early fruit already visible in this shared ministry.

PYC is led by Richards and supported by a committed pastoral team: the Rev. Dr. Allysen Schaff, associate pastor for Contemporary Worship and Community Building at Sardis Presbyterian Church; the Rev. Dr. Joe B. Martin, senior pastor at Sardis Presbyterian Church; the Rev. Dr. Jody Moore, senior pastor at Providence Presbyterian Church; and the Rev. Dr. Lal Rodawla, associate pastor for Congregational Life at Providence Presbyterian Church and co-moderator of the Presbytery of Charlotte. Together, they model shared leadership and a belief that Christ calls congregations to in community together. If anyone is interested in learning more or starting something similar, we want to share what we’ve learned! Please reach out to Richards at genie@ppc1767.org or genie.richards@sardis.org. 

Genie Richards on behalf of Sardis and Providence Presbyterian Churches 

Let us join in prayer for:

Jenny Branson, Executive Assistant, Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program
Jennifer Cash, Copy Editor, Media & Publishing, Presbyterian Life & Witness

Let us pray:

God, thank you for this messy, beautiful work of growing in faith together. Thank you for teenagers showing up, asking questions, and teaching us more about grace than we could imagine. Help us hold space for curiosity, for belonging and for the Spirit moving in ways we don’t control. May these youth see your love in friendships, in shared meals, in service, in the church and in each other. And may we, too, learn to trust that you are building something larger than we can see.

Mission Yearbook: First United Presbyterian Church of Fairbury, Nebraska, finds a mission to connect

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First United PC (provided)

Mission Possible began with a bold challenge to the confirmation students of First United Presbyterian Church of Fairbury, Nebraska: What if we trusted God enough to take on a mission that felt too big for us?

Rather than starting small, our youth chose a challenge rooted in the real needs of our rural community. In southeast Nebraska, reliable transportation is essential for daily life. Without it, families struggle to work consistently, get children to school, access medical care or even buy groceries. Recognizing this reality, Mission Possible committed to purchasing, repairing and giving away vehicles to local families in need.

The goal was ambitious, but with the support of our congregation and community, the youth have already given away four cars. Each one represents more than transportation. It represents independence, stability and renewed hope. For the families who receive them, these vehicles open doors to employment, education and everyday life that many take for granted.

Mission Possible is entirely youth-led, and in that leadership our congregation has been changed. As our church continues to thrive and grow, it has been our young people who are leading us boldly into the future, reminding us that mission is not about age or resources, but about faithfulness and trust in God.

This work has also grown out of a broader shift in our congregational life known as Connect. Through Connect., we have been learning to focus less on programs and outcomes and more on genuine human connection. Instead of asking how to attract people to church, we ask how to love our neighbors well — by listening, showing up, and responding to real needs with humility and care.

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First United PC (provided)

The Connect. movement is changing the way we see one another and the people beyond our walls. It is drawing us back into the slow, faithful work of knowing names, stories and lives. We are learning again that love cannot exist at a distance — we cannot love neighbors we do not know.

Mission Possible is one powerful expression of that culture. It embodies a church learning again that faith is lived in relationship, that service flows from listening, and that the gospel is made visible through love in action. Some connections lead people deeper into the life of the church. Others simply lead to stronger, healthier lives in the community. We trust God with the outcomes.

Our story is still unfolding. But through Mission Possible and Connect., we are rediscovering that the church does not exist to preserve itself, but to bear witness to God’s love in the world. We give thanks for a generation of young leaders, a congregation willing to follow and a God who continues to remind us that every mission truly is possible.

Dave Conde; Ministry Coordinator; First United Presbyterian Church; Fairbury, Nebraska

Let us join in prayer for:

Katie Carter, Manager, Faith-Based Investing & Shareholder Engagement, Presbyterian Life & Witness
Cole Sites, Facility Specialist, Building Services, Administrative Services Group                           

Let us pray:

Faithful God, we thank you for the courage of our youth and for the call you place upon your church to serve our neighbors with love and compassion. Bless the work of Mission Possible and the relationships formed through Connect. Teach us to listen before we act, to trust you boldly and to serve faithfully without fear. We also lift before you our brothers and sisters in Presbyterian churches and across every denomination. Lord, be with all who seek to follow Christ in every place and tradition. Strengthen your church wherever it gathers. Renew its witness. Unite us in love for neighbor and faithfulness to your gospel. May our lives and our congregations bear witness to your grace and may every mission we undertake bring hope to those in need. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: The Brandermill Church in Midlothian, Virginia, is born of unity and growing in grace

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Children pray over The Brandermill Church’s leadership. (provided)

When residents moved into Brandermill, a planned community in Chesterfield County, Virginia, in the mid-1970s, they envisioned more than just a neighborhood. They dreamed of a new dimension in church life. In March 1974, the Virginia Council of Churches invited denominations to reach across traditional lines and create something unprecedented: an ecumenical congregation that would unite rather than divide.

The Richmond District of the United Methodist Church (UMC) and Hanover Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (PCUS) answered that call. Under the leadership of Rev. D. Clyde Bartges, worship began in February 1977, and by Nov. 6, 1977, The Brandermill Church was officially chartered with 126 members. Our founding covenant declared a sacred commitment: to serve as one body under Christ’s Lordship, witnessing to our unity in him.

Nearly 50 years later, that ecumenical spirit remains our heartbeat. Though now affiliated with the PC(USA), we continue honoring both Reformed and Evangelical traditions. Our congregation reflects beautiful diversity — about half our members live in Brandermill, half come from surrounding communities, and all come from varied Christian backgrounds, united in our mission to “engage disciples to worship, study and serve.”

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The centrality of the table and God’s Creation. (provided)

Our commitment to intergenerational ministry — “Growing Young Together” — brings seasoned disciples alongside our youngest members, creating bonds that span generations. From our thriving weekday preschool to adult discipleship programs, we nurture faith at every stage. Our six Marks of Discipleship — prayer, worship, Scripture reading, service, relationships and giving — form the rhythm of our shared life, creating what we call a “PoWeR SuRGe” of faith.

We believe in the priesthood of all believers, that every Christian has direct access to God and a calling to ministry. Through committees, teams, and our elected Church Council, we practice the Reformed principle of shared governance, discerning God's will together through prayer and the Spirit’s guidance.

The Brandermill Church stands on the shoulders of giants — our great cloud of witnesses from both PC(USA) and UMC traditions who sustain and inspire us. We are proof that unity in Christ transcends denominational lines, and that when we invest our voice, energy, spirit and time in God’s work, extraordinary things happen.

Rev. Christopher M. Tweel; Senior Pastor and Head of Staff; The Brandermill Church; Midlothian, Virginia

Let us join in prayer for:

Heath Carter, Senior Editor of The Journal of Presbyterian History, Presbyterian Historical Society
Jackie Carter, Project Manager, Media & Publishing, Presbyterian Life & Witness

Let us pray:

Gracious God, who calls us to be one body in Christ, we thank you for The Brandermill - - born from a vision of unity and sustained by your grace. Bless all ecumenical congregations seeking to witness to your love across denominational lines. May our commitment to worship, study and serve together inspire others to build bridges tather than walls. Gyide us as we nurture faith across generations, that young and old alike may discover, nurture and share your gifts. In Christ's name. Amen.