Donald A. Smith

For more than three decades of ministry, Don has planted new churches, turned around struggling churches and helped established churches maximize their potential. As a Lead Pastor for more than twenty years, he exhibited visionary leadership in taking congregations where they never felt they could go. As a ministry coach and church planting strategist for ten years, Don provided support for the pastors and lay leaders of more than one hundred new and established congregations in the area of stewardship, church multiplication, worship and leadership development.

Such outstanding work led Don to Horizons in 2006 where he was able to focus on helping congregations grow in their generosity ministries. He has been able to combine his experience in revitalizing established churches and planting new congregations with his unwavering commitment to help congregations succeed in raising the essential capital to fund their ministry vision.

Don’s passion for creating and building community, his heart for people and his excitement for seeing congregations succeed in reaching new people, more people and new kinds of people provide motivation for him in his vital work as a part of the Horizons team.

A graduate of Southwestern University and Perkins School of Theology at SMU, Don and his wife, Amy, reside in the Dallas area.

How to Demonstrate a Return on Investment to Your Donors

by Don Smith | Apr 11, 2018 | 0 Comments

One of the most frequently cited reasons for making a charitable donation is the donor's desire to make a difference in the world. People want to see their donations at work. Donors want to know their gift is making a difference, and they want to see a return on their...

The Primary Indicator of Discipleship is Generosity

by Don Smith | Sep 5, 2017 | 1 Comment

This month, the Horizons Blog will focus on “Generosity as Discipleship,” and highlight core philosophies and practices based on this principle. Are you failing to grow disciples? You will fail if you do not include generosity in your teaching. If we, as the church,...

“Know Before You Go…” The Importance of Planning for a New Place of Ministry

by Don Smith | Mar 30, 2017 | 1 Comment

I am a frequent traveler to the Holy Land. In 2016, I hosted my 17th tour to “The Land of Jesus” and look forward to returning in 2018. One of the ways I prepare first-time travelers for the pilgrimage is by creating a “Know Before You Go” document that provides an...

Contributions by Candlelight: 5 Things to Consider When Planning for the Christmas Eve Offering

by Don Smith | Dec 15, 2016 | 0 Comments

Christmas Eve services are most often remembered for Carols, Candlelight and Communion. We may spend a lot of time and energy planning for these “c’s,” but what about “Contributions“? How much energy are we investing in planning for the financial gifts people are...

Coffee, Conversation and Connection – A Sustainable Strategy for Ministry

by Don Smith | May 26, 2016 | 0 Comments

This is a season during which those who work for the church reflect on their ministry assignments and how they will work to accomplish it. Many will spend time considering these important questions: 1) How do I spend my time and with whom? 2) Who am I called to serve?...

The Top 5 Ways To Accidentally Reduce Church Giving

by Clif Christopher | Jun 12, 2019

In my over forty years of ministry, I have never heard a pastor say he/she has more money than the church needs. I have certainly found pastors who shared that their people were very generous or that they had out-given their budget, but never that they had too much. The mission is too big and the need is too great to not always need more. Yet every year I come across dozens of pastors and laypeople who are doing things that absolutely reduce church giving.

Are you doing things right now that unintentionally reduce giving in your congregation?

Here are five ways to accidentally reduce church giving:

1 – Emphasizing numerical targets versus missional objectives.

I have seen so many pastors encourage their people to give “an increase,” “do 3% more,” or “help us balance the budget.” The facts are that people today just do not care whether you achieve some arbitrary target or not. They want their gift to have impact and change lives. Spend your energy sharing with people how their giving to the church will make the world a better place.

2 – Publishing church giving figures in the bulletin and/or newsletter.

This sends a signal to all that this is what you really are about. You are wanting to bring in more than you send out. It says nothing about your mission and it usually appears to reflect an unhealthy church because you are behind for the year. Facts are 90% of all churches are behind until December. It is normal, not a sign of impending death. Just stop doing it.

3 – Using a line item budget to communicate with the congregation.

There is nothing about a line item budget that helps your people understand what you are truly doing in ministry. From appearances it seems that all that you are supporting are some people and a building. Line item budgets should be used only by the finance people. Distribute a missional budget to the congregation.

4 – Apologizing or joking prior to delivering sermons on money.

When Moses came down from the mountain and saw the golden calf that the people had made to worship, he did not make a joke about it or apologize for what he was about to say. He was forceful and direct and they knew he meant what he was saying. There was no misunderstanding that he considered this a very serious matter. They had put worshipping a golden calf ahead of worshipping God. Your people are doing this every day that they choose money over God. It is a big deal. People need your help to give up that which they love more than God. Quit acting like it really does not matter.

5 – Thinking that “not knowing” what people give is a righteous act.

For some reason pastors think people will think more of them if they deny themselves knowledge of individual gifts. This behavior will keep you from putting the right people in leadership, being able to diagnosis spiritual health in persons, and thanking people when they truly need and often expect thanks.

Now, go forth and quit doing those things that hurt the Kingdom!

Have you missed the first installments of the Giving Intelligence video series?

If you’ve missed the beginning of the Giving Intelligence series, they can be found on Giving365 which is a free subscription from Horizons Stewardship that includes this new video series, blogs, ebooks, webinars, and more! Subscribers receive bi-monthly blogs including information on best practices, the latest trends in giving, and helpful tools to use immediately to grow giving. In addition, Horizons’ team of Ministry Strategists will share their insights and expertise through a series of webinars. To access more of Horizons’ free stewardship resources, click the Giving365 logo below.

Giving365 - Blog - Horizons - church stewardship resource

The blog was updated from the original published April 29, 2017.

Are you Ready to Lead “A Generous Life”? (An Excerpt from A Generous Life)

by horizonsstewardship | May 30, 2019

Eyes Wide Open by Scott McKenzie

The Village Inn in Malawi, Africa, provided attacking wolf spiders, bats, bed bugs, holes in the ceilings, broken bathroom fixtures, and all the cold water you could use—free of charge. Most of us on the mission team “stayed alert with eyes wide open,” but certainly not in gratitude. Our eyes were wide open in worry and fear and discomfort.

Colossians 4:2-4 (The Message)

2-4 Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Don’t forget to pray for us, that God will open doors for telling the mystery of Christ, even while I’m locked up in this jail. Pray that every time I open my mouth I’ll be able to make Christ plain as day to them.

As we gathered for breakfast, in the midst of complaining, we heard the quiet voice of Emily, a Malawian traveling with us, say, “I saw the face of God in my motel room.” Having never slept in a bed before, Emily’s eyes were “wide open in gratitude.”

In that moment, I knew. Here was a child of God, created in the image of God with a loving and generous spirit. With her “eyes wide open in gratitude,” Emily made “Christ plain as day” to us. Emily’s gratitude taught me a critical lesson. We are all born in the image of a loving and generous God. However, we choose daily whether to live out of this loving and generous spirit. Often, we choose to live out of a resentful and bitter spirit instead. And in making our choice, we either make Christ plain or not.

Reflection

Can you think of someone recently who made Christ plain to you with a loving and generous spirit? Can you think of a time when you had the opportunity to respond either with eyes wide open in gratitude or with eyes wide open in bitterness or fear? What did you choose? What were the results?

A Generous Life

A Generous Life reminds readers that we are all born in the image of a loving and generous God. The 28 devotions center around four weekly themes using generosity principles of gratitude, prayer, and faith. The journey that is “grounded in gratitude, revealed through prayer, and sealed by faith” will help people return to the generous life they were born to live. The daily readings are written by the Horizons Stewardship Team–a diverse group of pastors, church leaders, speakers, and authors. All profits from A Generous Life will be donated to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) to support global missions.

A Generous Life will be available on June 4 through Amazon and Cokesbury.

To access Horizons’ free stewardship resources, click the Giving365 logo below.

How to Make the Offering About Love (An Offering Talk for Sunday)

by Dustin Cooper | May 16, 2019

Instead of simply calling the ushers forward, help your congregation understand deeper meaning and connection inherent in the offering time of worship. Use what I call an Offering Talk to connect the offering to the giver’s relationship to God.

An Offering Talk can help your congregation understand the deep meaning and connection inherent in the offertory. It is an ideal stewardship teaching moment.

Here’s a sample Offering Talk to use Sunday.

Every night a father tucked his daughter into bed and they would repeat their familiar routine. The little girl would say, “I love you” and her dad would say, “I love you first.” One night, however, the little girl interjected a change. After hearing her father say, “I love you first,” she proclaimed, “I love you always!” And that became their new routine. The little girl has grown and is now a young wife and mother, but daughter and father continue to share these words. The exchange continues to affirm their love and connection. One will say, “I love you first” and then wait to hear the response, “I love you always.”

I love you first, and I love you always.

As wonderful a gift as the love between a parent and child, how much greater and more perfect is the love between God the Creator and those claimed as God’s children? This is the image of the God we have come to worship today. A God whose love reaches back into all our yesterdays and stretches into all our tomorrows. A God who always loves and forgives, who is always there to guide us when we are lost, to strengthen us when we are tired, and who overwhelms our hearts with love and grace. We come today to both acknowledge and praise the One who loves us first and who will love us always.

The motivation for giving is love.

Years ago a widow gave her last two coins as an offering to God. Many still wonder what motivated such a sacrificial gift. Surely she did not expect to have her name engraved on a wall or have the street in front of the Temple named in her honor. She clearly did not anticipate her gift would be lifted up as an example for others to follow centuries later. So what motivated her gift? Maybe she was motivated by a heart-felt desire to declare her life had been blessed by a God who had always met her needs. Blessed by a God who loved her first and always. The widow’s sacrificial offering was the very best way she knew to express that she loved God first. She would love God always.

Too often the offering is viewed as a time to pay the bills.

Today, many see the offering as a way for the church to collect money to pay bills and fund ministries. Yet at its very core, the offering is so much more. The offering is the time we are invited to proclaim, through faith, that we love God first. We love Him more than our jobs, our assets, our possessions, our hobbies, and even our families.

The offering is the time we proclaim our trust in God, above all else, as we move into an unknown future.

It is in giving we stay connected to what is really important in life and not allow materialism to define who we are; and it is in giving that we gain a deeper understanding of the depth of sacrificial love God has for us. It is in giving that we grow in our own personal journey as a follower of Jesus. It is in giving we say to God and to the world those simple, yet life-defining words: “I love you first, and I will love you always.”

An Offering Talk connects the act of giving to a higher purpose.

The offering is not a time to pay bills as mentioned above. The act of giving is at the core of what it means to be a follower of Christ. Consider using this talk in your next worship service, or write your own. In either case, help your congregation see the higher purpose of giving in worship.

To learn more about Dustin Cooper, please click here.

Giving365 is a free subscription from Horizons Stewardship including blogs, ebooks, webinars and more! Subscribers receive bi-monthly blogs including information on best practices, the latest trends in giving, and helpful tools to use immediately to grow giving. In addition, Horizons’ team of Ministry Strategists will share their insights and expertise through a series of webinars. To access more of Horizons’ free stewardship resources, click the Giving365 logo below.

The blog was updated from the original published 2/20/2018.