The five practices

Extravagant generosity: giving as a spiritual practice, not a budget line

The five practices · Published 2026-10-31

Money is the subject many congregations find hardest to talk about, and the one where silence costs the most. The fifth of the five practices, "extravagant generosity", reframes giving from a means of paying the church's bills into a spiritual practice that shapes the giver. Its premise is that people need to give, for their own sake, at least as much as churches need to receive.

Vine & Lintel is an independent publication. This explainer discusses a public framework in our own words and is not affiliated with its author or publisher.

From stewardship to generosity

For much of the twentieth century, American congregations approached money through the language of stewardship: an annual campaign each autumn, pledge cards, a budget presented for approval. The framework in Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations keeps the practicalities but changes the emphasis. Generosity is presented as a fruit of grace and a habit of the heart, cultivated all year, connected to the congregation's mission and taught as plainly as prayer. The adjective "extravagant" points to the abundant, even wasteful, generosity of God described in Scripture: the father who runs to meet a returning son, the woman who pours costly perfume over Jesus, the widow who gives everything she has.

The practice spawned a whole family of resources. Schnase wrote a book of daily readings on giving, Practicing Extravagant Generosity (Abingdon Press, 2011), for use alongside a congregational stewardship program, and other authors produced workbooks and campaign materials built on the same theme. Our book notes describe the main titles.

What the Bible says about giving

The Hebrew Scriptures speak of the tithe, a tenth of produce or income, as a regular offering, alongside gleaning laws that left the edges of fields for the poor and the stranger. Jesus speaks about money more often than about almost any other practical subject, usually as a test of where the heart is. Paul's letters describe a collection for the poor in Jerusalem and urge cheerful, proportional giving. Across these texts, generosity is not only about amounts; it is about trust, freedom from anxiety and solidarity with those in need.

Many congregations encourage "proportional giving", in which people choose a percentage of income and grow it over time, with the tithe as a traditional goal rather than an entry requirement. That approach makes generosity accessible to people with very different means.

Signs of a culture of generosity

• Leaders who give and say so. Pastors and lay leaders who speak about their own giving, without boasting, signal that generosity is normal.
• Money talked about all year. Short, honest reflections on giving in worship, not only during a campaign.
• Stories of impact. Members hear regularly how gifts change lives through ministry and mission, not only how they cover utilities.
• Gratitude. Prompt, personal thanks to givers of every size, and thanks offered to God in worship.
• Many ways to give. Online and recurring giving, gifts of assets, and planned gifts, explained clearly.
• A generous church. A congregation that itself gives away a meaningful share of its income to mission beyond its walls.

Common mistakes

• Talking only about need. Appeals built on deficits tend to produce reluctant, minimal giving. People respond more to vision than to emergencies.
• Treating giving as private and therefore unmentionable. Confidentiality about individual gifts is right; silence about the practice of giving is not.
• Ignoring younger and newer members. People who did not grow up in church may never have been taught why or how Christians give.
• Disconnecting money from mission. When budgets are presented as line items without purpose, giving feels like paying dues.

Generosity beyond money

Although the practice is usually discussed in financial terms, generosity also concerns time, attention, skills and space. A congregation that lends its building freely to neighbors, gives volunteers' hours to a local school, or shares staff and expertise with a struggling church nearby is practising generosity as surely as one that tithes its budget. For individuals, too, generosity can mean patience with difficult people, forgiveness offered before it is earned, and hospitality at home. Teaching all of these together prevents the practice from being heard as a disguised fundraising appeal, and invites people with little money to see themselves as givers.

Generosity and the other practices

Generosity completes the movement the five practices describe: people are welcomed, worship, grow in community, serve others and give back. It also funds the others. But the framework's deeper claim is that the practices form a single life. A congregation that gives generously to mission tends to attract people who want to serve; people who serve tend to give more; people who give tend to pray differently about money. The practice also has a personal counterpart: in Five Practices of Fruitful Living, Schnase described generosity as a pattern of individual discipleship rather than a congregational program.

Questions for finance and stewardship teams

1. When, outside the annual campaign, did our congregation last hear about giving as a spiritual practice?
2. Do our members know what their gifts accomplished last year, in stories as well as numbers?
3. How do we thank people, and how quickly?
4. What share of our congregation's income do we give away? Would we be proud to publish it?
5. How do we teach giving to children, new Christians and people new to our church?

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