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Last updated 23rd January 2026

Joyful Generous Stewards

Download our Goodie Bag

The Goodie Bag is a collection of resources designed to inspire and strengthen generous giving and Christian stewardship within your parish.

 

What is Stewardship?

Christian Stewardship is an integral part of our discipleship journey, a daily Christian practice. As Jesus followers, our giving is a sincere way of showing our love for God and a thankful response to His endless care and generosity.

The Diocese of Blackburn is committed to ten key principles, outlining what it means to be a Joyful Generous Steward.

 

Available Resources

5 week Giving Resource pack for New Local Congregations
New Local Congregations are new dynamic expressions of fellowship and ministry and need a dedicated toolbox of flexible, practical and impactful resources that inspire Generosity and Stewardship. This 5 week course enables leaders to help these congregations think about how much God has given them, and how to be generous stewards with the resources He has given them.

Download the New Local Congregations Resource Pack

 

Resources for Children and Young People 
Specifically designed for those leading ministry with children, these materials aim to inspire and educate children and young people and about Christian Stewardship and Generosity and are available on the DBE website: 

â–ºResources for Children
â–ºResources for Young People

 

Tools to help with clear Financial Communication
To help church members better understand their church’s financial position, we’ve created a simple template. By entering information from your accounts, it generates a summary document you can use for your finance return, along with charts to share with the wider church at your Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM). You can view an example here.

As we’re unable to upload the resource to the website, please email Stephanie Rankin if you would like a copy.

 

Talking Generosity 
Recognising the awkwardness many feel in talking about generosity and stewardship, we have developed a set of conversation starters, ‘Talking Generosity’,  designed to open up conversations in a non-threatening manner.
This resource aims to facilitate discussions on Christian Stewardship and Generosity within PCCs (Parochial Church Councils) and small groups or during a service.

Download the Convesation Starter Cards

 

Preaching Generosity
The Stewardship team in the Diocese of Rochester have created a series of short reflections, based on the lectionary readings, which are intended to help inspire you to consider how to inspire generosity in the liturgy of the Word, improving our understanding of money, stewardship, and giving. 

â–ºDiocese of Rochester Website

 

Enabling Generosity
We need to provide a choice of giving mechanisms to enable people to give in ways that are convenient to them. These include:

  • The Parish Giving Scheme - a simple system for regular and one off giving that enables donors to give monthly or one-off donations, reduces the workload for treasurers and includes Gift Aid reclaimed each month by PGS.

Download the PGS Gift Form (you will need to add your Church's name and PGS no.)

Click on the banner below to find out more:

 

  • Digital Giving - both contactless and online giving.  You can find out more about contactless giving and how to buy a device through Parish Buying.

Click on the banner below to find out more:

 

Enduring Generosity.  Legacies, regardless of their size, have the ability to transform communities.  Useful resources for individuals and PCCs include:

  • A draft legacy policy that a PCC can introduce to help people understand how the church might use any legacies
  • Suggestions for how to talk about legacies in your church using the Christian Aid Faith Will Resources
  • The ability to write simple wills free of charge using Farewill

Click on the banner below to find out more:

 

Encouraging Generosity
God is generous and through reading the bible we learn what it means for us to be generous.  New bible study materials will be developed for future years but if you are looking for ideas now then you could try:

  • Generosity Gift and Grace - a 5-week DVD/YouTube based course for small groups developed in this diocese.
  • Surprised by Generosity - a 7-week video-based course developed by the Diocese of Exeter
  • The Generosity Project - a book by Tony Payne and Geoff Robson (avaiable online or at Christian Bookshops) that aims to help either small groups or individuals change the culture of a church towards one of generosity.

 

Reviewing Generosity
Giving Campaigns might seem 'old fashioned' but most of us need a nudge to review our giving and a giving campaign provides a great opportunity for this.

  • Stephanie and Jotham can visit parishes to look at giving and talk about how to review this and hold a giving campaign or use the Giving in Grace resources to teach about giving.
  • The National Church has produced a Generous Church Check Up tool to help your PCC or sub-group think about how you can encourage giving in your church.
  • The National Church Generosity Week resources provide an annual opportunity to encourage people to review their giving.

 

Inspiring Generosity 
Short 2-4 minute videos intended to inspire and teach about generosity, featuring diverse contributors from across the diocese covering key topics such as 'What Does Generosity Mean to Me?, 'Why Give?' and 'Generosity Stories.' 

â–ºGo to YouTube Playlist  

Other Stewardship Pages

 

For more information, please contact our Stewardship Resourcing Officers:
Stephanie Rankin or Jotham Bate

Stephanie Rankin and Christy Sawyer July 2023 and regularly updated; last time by Jotham Bate January 2026.

Giving