“From Tenants to Partners: Aligning Mission With Rental Relationships”
As our communities turn to renting out space to sustain their budgets, how do we honor these changes — recognizing that they may bring a sense of loss for some — while ensuring that these new relationships align with our mission? This session explores the grief and challenge of shifting a church’s relationship with its building while also uncovering the opportunity to build new currencies, especially the currency of relationships. Participants will reflect on how to engage renters as partners in ministry, fostering connections that strengthen both the church and the wider community.
On Monday, Jan. 12, 6 p.m. Central time, we’ll hear from the Kaleidoscope Institute on how mission and rental partners can (and should) align. There’s no need to register — just attend!
Mark your calendar:
“From Tenants to Partners”
Monday, Jan. 12, 2026
4pm Pacific / 5pm Mountain
6-7 p.m. Central time
Meeting ID: 972 3799 0677
Passcode: 326123
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,97237990677#,,,,*326123# US (Chicago)
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Throwback Webinar: Community Purchasing Alliance
In November’s Church Property Resource Hub webinar, Community Purchasing Alliance (CPA) explores collective purchasing options available to faith communities: shared utilities, shared insurance, shared services and more. CPA is a network of local cooperatives that leverage the buying power of community institutions in pursuit of sustainability, equity and justice.
CPA has graciously offered to be a free resource for cost comparison of insurance policies, utility bills and service/subscription contracts (e.g., for photocopy machines). You can connect with CPA at outreach@cpa.coop.
Watch the Community Purchasing Alliance webinar recording and feel free to share it with others (passcode: duir9&=%).
Stewardship Resources
Are you looking for stewardship resources to fuel your ministries and your imagination? This newsletter’s offerings are geared toward thinking through year-end giving.
As the year closes, remember that up to 30% of all gifts to nonprofits come in the month of December. This should be both an “aha!” — reminding you that if you’re behind on giving, you’re in good company — and a call to encourage folks to invest in your work. One such investment could come on a “Miracle Sunday” sometime in December, a day when you invite extra gifts over and above regular giving to close any gap and sustain your ministry’s excellence in 2026. You can read more about Miracle Sundays and some other ideas at the end of the ELCA’s wonderful resource “Stewards of God’s Love.” Download it for free!
Wondering how to write a year-end appeal letter? There are many ways to approach this generosity work, but you’ll miss the mark if you focus on the “ask” and fail to consider why someone might invest in your ministry at the end of the year or even the “what” of how your ministry changes lives. Though not an explicitly religious organization, DonorSnap offers a quick and digestible tutorial on writing a year-end letter. Make it personal, make it inspirational, make it honest and invite a response (through a “call to action”). You can see DonorSnap’s recommendations for a year-end appeal here. (If you get stuck, email us, and we’ll see if we can help.)
At a loss for what you and your community are about? As the year comes to a close, we might need a refresh to explain our mission and what God is calling us to do in the world. This guide can help you better articulate what you’re about and how God is using you to bless the world. Not just for year-end use, this resource can invite thoughtful reflection and increased investment any time of year. You can find “Messaging Your Mission,” available on the newly created Church Property Resource Hub site, which invites reflection and increased investment at any time of year. Check back for more resources as you ponder how God might be using you to change the world.
Have a great stewardship resource to share? Please send articles, books, movies and other media to Tim.Brown@elca.org. The best gifts are those that are shared!