Nevertheless, generally speaking, if your church has recently endured a difficult leadership transition, major disagreement about the church’s vision and strategies, a scandal, or a split, you may want to hold off on pursuing a new initiative in favor of focusing on getting healthy as a body of believers—so long as it is financially feasible to do so.
3. Successful Church Capital Campaigns Take Place in Churches Where Generosity Is Already Part of the Culture.
Even if your church is relatively healthy, the announcement of a capital campaign should not be the first time, or even the first time in a long time, the congregation hears a sermon about generosity.
While it can often be a sensitive subject to speak about from the pulpit, finances are a major part of every Christian’s discipleship process and should be discussed regularly.
Furthermore, when your church talks about finances, it shouldn’t only ever be in pursuit of getting them to tithe. The people at your church need to be equipped with a fully orbed theology of money. To that end, your church would do well to regularly offer resources that help people not only think biblically about their money but also help them take practical steps to begin managing it in a healthy way.
Oftentimes, people have a desire to be generous that exceeds what their current finances can bear. Seeking to help your people manage their money in a godly way on a regular basis will put them in a position to respond more generously when the need arises.
4. Successful Church Capital Campaigns Take Care to Galvanize Key Leaders.
As a general rule, the highest capacity leaders in your church tend to also be your most generous givers. Because they have invested so much in your local expression of Jesus’ mission, they deserve a special seat at the table when you are rolling out your plans for a capital campaign.
Successful resource initiatives are the ones that seek to galvanize key leaders early, giving them advance access to information about the campaign and casting vision for the project to them in smaller group settings. These interactions with key leaders should come in advance of your church’s general announcement of the capital campaign.
When pastors honor and recognize the impact of their key leaders by engaging them with intention, they not only inspire their generosity, but they also turn these key leaders into ambassadors for the campaign, multiplying excitement throughout the entire church.
Capital Campaigns Are a Leap of Faith.
When done well, capital campaigns are a lot of work. But they are also a leap of faith. Regardless of how well you map out your project, cast a compelling vision, and strategically engage high capacity leaders, it is up to God to move in the hearts of your people.
Remember that when the sum of your church’s pledges and contributions are totaled, that number at the bottom line is not a reflection of your worth as a person or as a pastor. When all is said and done, be faithful with what God has given you, whether it is more or less than what you were hoping for, knowing that God is able to accomplish immeasurably more than anything we could ask or imagine through our churches, regardless of what the finances look like.
