by Rev. Melissa R. St. Clair

It always happened at the same time. Between the weekly tic-tac-toe tournaments my brother and I waged during the sermon and the bright organ chords that called the deacons to the chancel, my parents would quietly slip us each a dollar bill to place in the smooth wooden offering bowls as they passed us by.

And that’s the extent of the childhood conversations I remember about giving to the church.

I’m sure my parents valued generosity. They placed their own check in the same bowl every Sunday, and they encouraged us to give for the sake of those who had less than we did. And yet, by the time I was ordained, I still didn’t feel like I had the words to articulate why giving mattered—to God or to myself.

That changed in my first call—a multi-staff church in Kansas City, MO—where we typically crafted just one part of the liturgy each week. Being assigned the invitation to offering finally forced me to find and finesse the words that reflected my own theology of giving. (And ideally, those words would also inspire the people in the pews to part with their dollars and checks!)

Over time, my roles and responsibilities shifted, and soon I was preaching more Sundays than I was extending the offering invitation.

I wasn’t off the hook, though.

I still had to preach what I believed the Bible told us about generosity. Between student loan payments and being a solo (and single) pastor in a rural community, I didn’t feel much like the “cheerful giver” many an offering invitation has invoked (2 Corinthians 9:7). And yet I didn’t feel like I could preach about giving generously if I wasn’t at least trying it out for myself.

The first time I filled out a pledge card, I sat at my kitchen table and thought about all those who supported me through the ordination process. My grandpa, who faithfully gave to my home church’s seminarian support fund. The St. Louis congregations that pooled their resources to provide scholarships to Eden Theological Seminary students. The colleague who was early in his own ministry yet still slipped me some book money every semester.

So many people had been generous with me. Probably more than I knew.

It suddenly didn’t seem so difficult to complete the card. I wanted to say thanks to God for everyone who had made sure I had what I needed to serve the church in the way I felt called.

It got easier from there. A practice that started being rooted in gratitude eventually bloomed into joy! I started noticing and being inspired by how people around me expressed their generosity. Even my prayer life began to shift.

God, thank you for being generous with me.
Help me be generous in spirit.

The longer I practiced generosity, the easier it was to preach. Let me be clear: Preaching itself didn’t get easier—does it ever?!—but I didn’t feel as stuck when it came to preaching about generosity.

From the Center for Faith & Giving, I learned that stewardship isn’t just a season—it’s a spiritual discipline and way of life in response to our generous God. That relieved some of the pressure I felt about preaching our 4-week annual campaign each fall, because I knew I could (and should!) employ that lens of generosity all year-round.

According to the National Study on Congregational Economic Practices, there’s a strong correlation between teaching and preaching about generosity as a spiritual practice and increased giving. Among congregations that teach on giving weekly (9%), 90% reported financial growth. Among those discussing giving monthly, reported financial growth was 73%.

If you’re feeling unsure or unqualified about how to start preaching about generosity, you might begin with your own relationship to giving.

• What is your earliest memory of giving or receiving?
• What did you learn from your family about giving and serving?
• Who has most deeply touched your life as a giver? What makes this mentor memorable?
• To what people and places do you feel a sense of gratitude?

When we’re more familiar with our own stories, we’re more free to proclaim God’s story. And I now feel confident in saying—it’s a generous one!

Ready to integrate generosity and stewardship into your preaching practice? The 2025 stewardship theme materials Dreaming God’s Dream include 8 complete worship services, hymn suggestions, and sermon starters from eight different authors, plus additional faith formation sessions for children, youth, and adults. Learn more and purchase here.

Rev. Melissa R. St. Clair serves as the Minister for Faith & Giving for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and as the Executive Director of the Center for Faith & Giving. She was most recently a weekly preacher at Heart of the Rockies Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Fort Collins, CO, and now resides in Knoxville, TN, with her spouse and their two rescue pups.