Practical Theology Commons^™

Text Mining Stewardship Sermons, Rosanna Anderson

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Preaching about stewardship is a perennial concern for pastors. The advice that many mainline books on stewardship offer is for pastors to become more comfortable with talking about money. Another recommendation is to follow secular fundraising practices and speak about giving in positive terms like opportunity rather than obligation. But are pastors following this advice? How are pastors actually asking for financial support during their stewardship sermons?

Having read and published reviews of numerous books with theories about what pastors and church leaders could do to increase financial giving, I set out to find empirical information about what preachers …