USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement is preparing clergy and lay to help African Americans and other minorities become financially secure through wealth building sessions.
The Rev. Mark E. Whitlock, Jr., is the new pastor of Reid Temple – one of the largest churches in the AME denomination – in Glenn Dale, Maryland. Bishop James L. Davis, presiding prelate of the AME Second Episcopal District, announced the appointment on July 11, at the Summer Summit at the Sheraton Norfolk. Whitlock succeeds the Rev. Lee Washington, who retired after leading the 6,000+congregation since 1989. Whitlock’s ministry is well-known throughout the greater Los Angeles area. As the pastor of Christ Our Redeemer AME Church in Irvine, he led the largest predominately African American church in Orange
Pastor Mark E. Whitlock, Jr. of Christ Our Redeemer AME Church invited the faith community to join him in fasting for spiritual renewal and an end to gun violence. Through the fast, which started Nov. 11 and continues until Jan. 21, Whitlock believes God will heal “our lives, our land, our churches, our communities, our nation and world.” Among the incidents spurring Whitlock to action are the mass killings in Pittsburgh and Thousand Oaks as well as the recent murder in Las Vegas of the 25-year-old son of the Rev. Dr. Najuma Smith-Pollard, pastor of Word of Encouragement Community Church
The workshops will provide strategies that cover the spectrum of Black male life from the personal to the public, at home and in the world abroad.
The offering plate is no longer a viable source of revenue to scale a church. The church must research and apply for multiple streams of income. The church may consider establishing a 501c3 nonprofit corporation. Government, foundations, and wealthy donor may give to a church, but a separate 501c3 nonprofit corporation is preferable. Please consider the following steps when seeking funds from government, foundations, and wealthy donors: Research by using Google, Yahoo, and non-profit fundraising blogs and websites for government agencies, private foundations, and wealthy donors willing to fund social service programs. Use keywords to improve the search. For example:
Online giving is one of the fastest-growing methods of giving to churches. Online giving is a way of donating money via the internet and cell phone. Online giving is a safe, secure, easy, and a swift method of tithing and giving offerings to God’s church. Online giving works! Many church members are addicted to writing checks, touching cash, lifting coins and filling out donation envelopes. The church may consider starting a 12-step program for people afraid of giving online. Some persons truly enjoy placing money in the offering tray, but they don’t give to the church unless they are physically
Church Stewardship is raising, expending, and managing God’s funds and property. This is the fundamental principle of biblical stewardship. Too many church leaders use the same pitch for money every week, but expect better results. Church leaders must keep up with the times by perfecting a new pitch for raising resources: The Pitch The pitch is the primary method of connecting with a donor. The pitch is informational and emotional. Donors connect with persons making the pitch. If a pitch is just informational, it lacks passion. If a pitch is just emotional, it lacks content. The pitch must have a
The church has a dark hidden secret. It has been a secret for centuries. The secret is churches have a number of the same people regularly asking for financial assistance, treating the church like a bank rather than a place of worship. The church pays their rent, utilities, car notes, telephone service, and groceries on a monthly basis. These are not seniors on fixed income, but these are young and middle aged adults. Some of them are unemployed, living on the streets, but a large number of them go to work every day. The church may consider changing the “benevolence”