The Bible establishes specific qualifications for pastors (see 1 Pet 5:3, 1 Tim 3:2–7, Titus 1:8, Eph 6:4). But above all, they are to “set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12)—a tall responsibility.
Today is Pastor Appreciation Day, and to honor the work pastors do for the sake of the gospel, we’re sharing about four pastors who lived out 1 Timothy 4:12 and loved God’s people well. (more…)
This guest post is from pastor and C.S. Lewis scholar Ryan Pemberton.
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When I get called in to speak, it’s either on the topic of C. S. Lewis or calling. That’s about all I’m good for, I like to joke (half-jokingly). The best is when I can share a bit on both.
As a minister for university engagement in Berkeley, I’m often doing some combination of the two. And while C. S. Lewis is quoted as much as any other writer among Christians, it isn’t often that I see others looking to Lewis for wisdom on calling. But I’ve found him to be a helpful guide here, too. [Read more…]
This is a game-changer for church announcements.
Digital Signage is a feature in Proclaim that lets you display announcement slides, Bible verse art, and more on monitors all throughout your church building. Think of it as having miniature billboards you can customize with just a few clicks. [Read more…]
Fall is here and that means the busyness of the holiday season is about to start. And while the holidays are full of celebration and fun, it can be stressful for church members to find time to plan their generosity for the upcoming new year. [Read more…]
Here are this week’s top deals, brought to you by Faithlife Ebooks. For more deals, visit our sale page or get our Free Book of the Month. Some of these deals are only good for a few days, so act fast to get these books at the sale price! [Read more…]
Teaching is often thankless and can be exhausting. Yet every day teachers impact society by the lives they touch.
Since today is World Teachers’ Day, we at Faithlife want to say “thank you” to all teachers for the work you do. [Read more…]
Pain and suffering baffle us. Con artists prey on the elderly. Children are killed at school. People commit horrible evil and escape punishment. Meanwhile, tornadoes, floods, fires, and other disasters wreak havoc on those we love. [Read more…]
“Remember that there are only three kinds of things anyone need ever do. (1) Things we ought to do (2) Things we’ve got to do (3.) Things we like doing.”
— C. S. Lewis
Below is a sweet letter from Lewis to his goddaughter, Sarah Neylan, shortly before her confirmation. The letter—which I was sad to trim but had to—reflects on the role of feelings in Christian devotion before ending with a brief word on duty. [Read more…]
“To cover fees, or not cover fees, that is the question.”
While Shakespeare never debated the benefit of giver-covered fees, it is a debate in churches. And for good reason.
Before we look at the “why” behind giver-covered fees, let’s break down the “what.”
A processing fee is an amount it costs to process or facilitate a gift. Processing fees apply to credit/debit transactions and ACH transactions—they just work a little differently.
For credit and debit cards, a processing fee is the amount charged by the credit card company that issued the card. Most card processing fees are around 3% plus a small fixed amount for each gift (For example, Faithlife Giving’s premium rate is 2.49% plus 30 cents).
For ACH transactions, a processing fee is usually a smaller percentage with a fixed amount. (Faithlife Giving’s premium ACH transaction fee is 1.0% plus 30 cents per gift.)
Every time you swipe a card or make an ACH payment—even when you’re buying groceries— someone is paying a processing fee to your bank or card issuer (Visa, Mastercard, etc.).
The question here is this: should a church pay the processing fee for online gifts, or should they make it optional for a giver to cover the fee as part of their gift?
Theologically, churches vary greatly on giving. Because of that, there are multiple positions on questions like whether to cover fees or not.
While churches don’t follow a set of cookie-cutter philosophies, we can still talk about the two main camps churches fall into when it comes to allowing people to cover their own gift processing fees.
(That means to stop giving people too many options.)
(That means direct opposition to processing fees.)
No matter where you fall in the discussion, Faithlife Giving could be a great fit for your church. That’s because our goal is not to tell you how your church should give but provide you with a giving platform that supports your goals and mission.
That’s where one of our customers’ favorite features comes in.
If your church is using Faithlife Giving, you have the ability to enable givers to cover processing fees. This means that your regular givers can increase their gifts to the same amount that the church would pay including the fees. In simpler terms: your church gets 100% of what your giver intended you to receive. (Side note: the entire gift, even the portion covering the fees, is tax-deductible.)
It’s fun to see how giver-covered fees are working out for churches using Faithlife Giving:
For our customers who made it optional for givers to cover fees, givers choose to pay them 60% of the time.
Options.
Faithlife Giving allows givers to pay the processing fees in addition to their gift amount ensuring your church receives the full gift amount.
Or you can choose to cover the fees as a church. Either way, Faithlife Giving gives you peace of mind, so you can focus on serving people.
Learn how Faithlife Giving makes giving an enjoyable, painless experience for your church.
Here are this week’s top deals, brought to you by Faithlife Ebooks. For more deals, visit our sale page or get our Free Book of the Month. Some of these deals are only good for a few days, so act fast to get these books at the sale price! [Read more…]