Money & Younger Generations

1. Money & Younger Generations $ September 28, 2013 9:30am - 12:30pm NW Washington Synod

2. What’s your generation? Your age is… 85+ = the greatest generation 68-84 = the silent generation 49-64 = the boomers 34-48 = generation X 13-33 = millennials

3. http://www.pewresearch.org/quiz/how-millennial-are-you/

4. Did you see this?

5. In 1990, did you see this?

6. In 1962, did you see this?

7. Who said it? “Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.” - Socrates -

8. What shapes a generation? world events economic factors culture

9. Gen X and Millennials Emergence of HIV/AIDS Fall of Berlin wall Challenger explosion Video and online games Diversity Education loan debt 24/7, multi-platform, social media 9/11 Economic recession

10. Gen X and Millennialsand Money… Gen X money priorities: mortgage, childcare, debt, savings, giving Millennial money priorities: rent, groceries, debt, job insecurity, savings, giving

11. Gen X and Millennialsand Money… Due to the 2008 crash… Gen X lost jobs, mortgages went underwater, they were caught in the worst of the crash Millennials experience guilt over purchasing foreclosed homes, and cannot find adequate work

12. Gen X and Millennialsand Money… Student loan debt has tripled since 2000. Avg. undergrad debt is $30K. In the same decade, real wages decreased approx $3000/year Millennials are 21% behind generational averages of wealth-building… they face being “worse off than their parents” (urban institute)

13. Gen X and Millennialsand Money… Some good news! In spite of all this, Gen Xers and Millennials are: generous relational socially conscious creative

14. Let’s get this out of our systems… What are some negative stewardship practices / attitudes / strategies you're familiar with?

15. Now that we are done with that… Let’s move on to more positive things,

16. After this parody. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7_dZTrjw9I

17. Generation Gap (values in giving) • What does the word stewardship bring to mind? • Why do you give to the church? • How do you feel about the word "duty" as it pertains to giving to the church? • In your personal life, how do you deal with money? (consider how you handle bills, make purchases, and donations)

18. HUGE SWEEPING GENERALIZATION TIME Care/trust for the institution (Duty) VS. Care for a cause / Trust built by engaging principals and supporting causes people are passionate about (Value)

19. What are so some shared intergenerational values/attitudes around giving to the church?

20. VOTING WITH YOUR MONEY? • How do you feel about this kind of language/mentality around giving in the church? • tax • investment • consumer

21. Use of Money as a transaction vs. interaction

22. transaction and interaction When it comes to financial stewardship, we tend to start with questions like “what should we do to encourage giving?” and “what will we be doing with the money raised?” Starting here generally moves us toward finding techniques and tools - managing the transactions of money - it’s all about what we do, or hope to do  (techniques and tools like online giving, kiosks, square, etc, which are GOOD and NECESSARY, but they are not ultimately the point of stewardship) and what we do is important - after all, that’s the ministry! But more basic to sustainable and engaging financial stewardship - which also unites generations - is navigating the interactions of money.  We need to start with questions like, “what do you remember about the first time you shared money?”  “how are your money choices influenced by what you learned about money at home?  in advertisements?  in church?”  “what are some changes you long for in the world?”

23. transaction and interaction Instead of particular techniques or programs, these are questions that get at WHY we steward money together, rather than focusing on WHAT we will do to raise it or what we will use it for.   Navigating the interactions of money (the stories, values, and relationships that impact our decisions around money) must precede managing the transactions of money (budgets, donation tools, etc) Interactions guide the transactions - WHY we steward leads to WHAT we do with resources - people of all generations can engage with WHY (our mission, after all!) and even if they have no financial resources to share can create other “whats” (volunteering, etc) that align with the mission.   If we only ever talk about transactions, we accidentally are saying that sharing money is the only way to participate.  If we talk about mission, about WHY we steward, it’s an open-ended invitation to participate in creative ways.  another way to say this, is that people don’t buy into “what you do” as a ministry, they buy into WHY it’s done.

24. transaction and interaction If Nike sold shoes with the motto “We sell shoes” they probably wouldn’t have the same impact they create by saying, “Just do it” VS. How might churches shape and steward stories and emotional connections to the WHYness of our existence so that the WHATness of what it takes to live it out can be realized? How might we emphasize our interactions before our transactions?

26. NW Washington Synod Stewardship Video: Doing God’s Work Together http://s3.amazonaws.com/storage.nm-storage.com/lutheransnw/downloads/ELCA_Macedonia_1.mp4

27. SOME UNIQUE EXAMPLES OF HOW SOME CHURCH COMMUNITIES HAVE APPROACHED MONEY

28. Leaven Projecttaking root, breaking open, rising up • When forming, and asked what had the greatest impact on participant’s lives, everyone’s answer included “debt”- so they made money a public topic among them instead of viewing it as a private and personal thing. • Saw over time that money represents their time, effort, bodily energies -things that are sacred- so money can represent the sacred, it must be stewarded with great intention • Regularly assess where their finances come from and where it is released. Portland, OR http://leavenproject.org/

29. Devoting a great deal of time both in church and out with the subject of money. • Groups gathering together to work on budgeting, debt management, etc. • Asking people to try tithing without it being a grab for money by insisting they try giving a full %10 to an outside organization for a period of time. • Adding practices to worship to directly engage with money (ex. nailing cash to a cross during worship) Minneapolis, MN http://www.jacobs-well.net/

30. A unique way to approach church budgeting: Looking at programs and ministries of the church by percentage (ex. how much time/money is spent by staff and resources on youth ministry vs. building maintenance) instead of merely analyzing a sheet of line item expenditures. Littleton, CO http://www.abidinghopelutheran.org/

31. Ancient Faith, Future Church Seattle, WA (Fremont) http://www.apostleschurch.org/

32. Around 85% young adult aged members. • Massive student loan debts • fluid work and housing • No institutional legacy money to rely on • No established patterns of regular church giving • Congregation full of institutional distrust – hurt evangelicals and uneasy newcomers • How can we sustain it? Good question. • What does it mean to buy a building when most of us are renters?

33. COTA OCTOBER $ LITURGIES

34. COTA OCTOBER $ LITURGIES “Let’s talk about money without asking for it” Oct. 6: Debt (debtors anonymous guest) Oct 13: Spending and $ Ethics Oct 20: Saving and Enoughness Oct 27: Giving and Generosity (Reformation) Inviting Thrivent Financial Planner for a presentation and conversation after worship.

35. COTA OCTOBER $ LITURGIES “Let’s talk about money without asking for it” Oct. 6: Debt (debtors anonymous guest) Oct 13: Spending and $ Ethics Oct 20: Saving and Enoughness Oct 27: Giving and Generosity (Reformation) Inviting Thrivent Financial Planner for a presentation and conversation after worship.

36. COTA OCTOBER $ LITURGIES A prayer of confession... Gracious God, we come before you a people too nearly conformed to this world and its values. We spend our money on that which is not bread and turn our eyes away from images of those who have no bread, yet we ignore our own hunger and thirst for you and your righteousness. We stop ourselves at the American Dream of home ownership, when there is so much more to hope for for others.  We scrounge for coins in the couch, instead of bread to give to the hungry. We want badly the clothes and the latest gadgets and we like to give, God, but only when our stomachs are full and our wants fulfilled. We believe that financial inequality is such a massive problem that there is nothing we can possibly do to change it. We have too often allowed Wall Street and the church to become mere subsidiaries of the entertainment industry, to be bought, sold and consumed.  God, is there anything left in this world that is not for sale? Is greed really just a matter of not knowing what we truly want? O Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Speak forgiveness and hope into our lives. Transform our life of transactions into a life of interaction and connect us through you to one another for the flourishing of humanity and dignity for all. This is our humble prayer. What words of comfort do you have for us?

37. COTA OCTOBER $ LITURGIES ALL STAND Please stand. Join with me in offering forgiveness to one another. FORGIVENESS All:  Neither this world nor your life is so broken that God cannot restore it to wholeness. God sent Jesus not to judge us, but to save us. God accepts both our courage and our fears. In the name of Christ, your sins are forgiven.

38. COTA OCTOBER $ LITURGIES SAMPLE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER God’s table is set for all. The lord be with you… and also with you Open up your lives We open up our lives to the Lord God of abundant life, In your exuberant love you gather us to your bountiful feast. In a time of expendable relationships, You gather us, and we come together traversing the lines that obstruct our kinship, As the financial abyss deepens, You gather us, and we come together, deprived and comfortable. While the lie of scarcity is violently shoved into our ears, You gather us, and we come together, greedy and generous You gather us, and we come together with the anxiety caused by our debts, the joys of a new pay raise, the fear of how to make ends meet, with our disposable incomes, and our bounced checks.

39. COTA OCTOBER $ LITURGIES In your plentiful grace you share the richness of your table, the works of Your hands and our hands, provided by You and by us. May we, like the the beggars at the city gates and the poor woman in the temple, put our faith in the sacred economy of your provision and love. And like Zaccheaus the transformed tax collector who opened his house, and Joseph of Arimathea, who gave his costly tomb for your body, may we in the economy of love become Your means of provision and care to others. WORDS OF INSTITUTION Bountiful Spirit, come down upon these simple earthly things of bread and wine so that they may be for us your body and blood, so that we may be for others your body and blood, broken and poured out for all. Send your spirit to break open our inward focused lives, inspire us with an unconditional generosity of life, and transform us by your holy currency of love and forgiveness. Blessing, praise, and thanks to you, holy God, through Christ Jesus, by your Spirit, in your church, without end. Amen. END WITH “DEBTS” VERSION OF LORD’S PRAYER

40. THE KIOSK We use this with a square reader to collect credit card payments for worship and also for donations for meals and other events.

41. This is how it works and looks • press the button for the amount • swipe your card in the reader • sign your name • and enter email or text if you want a receipt sent to you • Voila! You’ve just generously supported the ministry of your church. Thank you!

42. Sample OFFERING CARD for online givers. Code on right goes to online giving page. I’ll probably change language to “I gave electronically…”

43. Do any of you have other examples of churches approaching money differently; perhaps your own congregation, perhaps one you're familiar with?

44. Stewardship Video from House for All Saints and Sinners http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2BgL0nAe9A

45. So, how does this crazy stuff all actually work? Is it really worth it?

46. THE KIOSK Some examples between $50 and $350 (click on pictures)

47. CREDIT CARD READERS • Welcoming to those people for whom this is their only form of currency. (“why don’t churches take my kind of money?”) • Mobile/Tablet Device – Free or almost free • Easy sign up online • Monthly fee options, or not • Fees roughly equivalent to other online giving by credit card options (simply giving, etc.) • Usually just plugs into headphone jack • Direct link to Bank Account • Sorry Windows Phone Users…doesn’t work yet

48. CREDIT CARD READERS SQUARE (most common) Swipe Fee: 2.75% Key Entered: 3.5% + $0.15 OR Flat Rate of $275/month (Worth it if you are bringing in $10,000/month or more. If you are getting that much on your kiosk, another 25% goes to Church of the Apostles :)

49. CREDIT CARD READERS SQUARE The Square reader is by far the most common credit card reading device, meaning there are far more options in regards to kiosks. The company has a strong relationship with Apple so it operates best on ipads and iphones. In my search for a solution for our church, I eventually settled on buying an ipad and using Square after trying to make it work with a different tablet. There just was just not enough support for other devices yet. A particular type of headphone jack is required for it to work – one that includes a microphone input. Some devices do not have this, such as the 1st Gen. Google Nexus tablet.

50. CREDIT CARD READERS INTUIT (No transaction fees except For reward cards) Swipe Rate: 2.75% Key Entered: 3.75% OR Monthly Fee: $12.95 Swipe Rate: 1.75% Key Entered: 2.75% (Worth it if you get more than $1295 a month)