How to talk about money without seeming to talk about money

Face it. Your comfortable, suburban members could be giving much more to the mission, but they are distracted by baubles and entertainments (not the ones emanating from the worship center). Here are a few ways to encourage them to be more sacrificial in their giving, without scaring them away.

Sophisticated servant-leaders know how to shame and beg creatively and distinctively -- while seeming to be above all the nasty, but necessary, money talk.

What to do, what to do... Well, you could write a letter to your sheep, full of other matters but sandwiching in the need for funds, somewhere in the middle. But that is pretty obvious unless your members are new to church.

You can whip up enthusiasm by tagging the sheep as part of the growing excitement of a growing movement. Also, you can cast every fundraising success as proof your group is on the verge of bringing in the next new wave of innovation and change.

Alternately, you can convince older members to leave you their retirement income when they die.

If all else fails, blog about not caring about numbers, growth and celebrity. Watch the offerings pour in when you are perceived as a humble servant, uncaring about those things you spend the most time thinking about, brainstorming about, blogging about and conferencing about.