Creating Generous Congregations: A Step-by-Step Guide

A problem facing many churches today is the lack of strong leadership in the area of stewardship, particularly the stewardship of financial resources. Church leaders—clergy and laity—have had little or no training in this area, and they feel uncomfortable and embarrassed in encouraging financial support for the church’s ministries.
Failure to provide decisive leadership in this area has had negative consequences for the church, including a decreasing percentage of charitable dollars directed toward churches and a growing lack of understanding among church members of the relationship between giving and spiritual growth.
Creating Generous Congregations is written to assist church leaders in gaining necessary expertise in the stewardship of financial resources, so that persons will be invited to grow spiritually and the various ministries of the church will flourish.

David Heetland is senior vice president for planned giving at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. Prior to assuming this position, he served as the seminary's vice president for development. Under his leadership the seminary completed three major capital campaigns, including the most successful capital campaign in the seminary's history, which raised more than $100 million. Dr. Heetland holds a BA from the University of South Dakota, an MDiv and ThD from Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, and a Diploma in Theology from Cambridge University in Cambridge, England. He is an ordained United Methodist minister and a Certified Financial Planner. Dr. Heetland is a frequent preacher, speaker, and consultant to various nonprofit organizations.