Someone in our church went to Project Resource last year. Should we sign up again? Yes! If you or some members of your church participated in Project Resource last year, you already know how helpful this training can be -- and we think you’ll get even more out of it this year. The Project Resource faculty has updated the curriculum to address this year’s special challenges, and further customized their presentation for the Diocese of Newark’s unique needs.
Is it really a 2-hour meeting? That seems like a long time. Within each evening session is “team time,” so actual class time will not last the full two hours. Generally, the interactive “class” time lasts around 60 minutes or a little longer. The rest of the time is for teams to work together. If your church chooses to schedule your “team time” at another time, that can also work well and makes the Tuesday commitment shorter.
What if I have to miss a session? Each of the sessions will be recorded and made available to registered participants within a few days after each meeting. So, it will be easy to get caught up even if folks must miss a live session or two.
My church is small, and we don’t have that many members. Will this training be relevant? This training has been developed around the needs of the Diocese of Newark, with our church sizes and cultural diversity in mind. The training is designed to provide concrete, proven ideas that your team can put to work, regardless of church size or budget.
I would like to do it, but I don’t know if I can pull a team together. What should I do? We had several “singles” who participated in Project Resource last year, who got lots of good ideas to put to use for both their pledge campaign and year-round calendar. So don’t hesitate to sign up even if it will just be you. That said, we do think a team approach is ideal, so if you can enlist others to join you, that is recommended.
Who should be on the team? A good approach is a clergy person, warden, and one or two members of your stewardship committee or vestry.
We are in “transition,” as we search for new clergy. Would this training make sense for us? One of the areas that clergy look for in a new church is that congregation’s commitment to stewardship. A faith-based approach as taught through Project Resource will help show your congregation’s commitment to this important area. We think this training is especially useful for churches in (or approaching) transition.
More questions? Reach out!
Cynthia McChesney
Missioner for Stewardship and Legacy Giving
cmcchesney@dioceseofnewark.org
