The Abundance of Our Faith
Award-winning Sermons on Giving, Plus Suggestions for Group Discussion
Edited by Terry Sweetser and Susan Milnor
Nineteen winning sermons from the Annual Program Fund Sermon Contest demonstrate how to inspire while talking about money. Includes an introduction to each sermon and follow-up questions for discussions in congregational settings. Useful for stewardship sermons, retreats, workshops, canvass presentations and group study. Designed for ministers and lay leaders alike, these sermons move from practical matters into deeper issues of meaning and theology.
Terry Sweetser, a fifth-generation Unitarian Universalist, has been a minister for more than thirty years. A widely known fundraiser, Sweetser is the author and editor of six books, including The Art and Craft of Preaching (Rising Press). He is currently UUA vice president for Stewardship and Development. A minister for more than twenty years, Susan Milnor is a Borden Award–winning preacher and has led several preaching seminars. Milnor now devotes her efforts to speaking, writing and promoting liberal religion.
Praise for The Abundance of Our Faith:
"This collection of sermons is a fabulous
resource for our congregations. Although the focus is on money and the shift
from a culture of scarcity to one of abundance, the sermons and the observations
from Sweetser and Milnor invite the individual reader and the congregation into
reflection that can be transformative. This book is less about money than it is
about living a spiritually-grounded life."
—William Sinkford, UUA President
"Whoever said that ministry and fundraising have little to do with each other? Ministers are
fundraisers. They have to be. Their jobs and the health of their
institutions depend on it. And in a funny kind of way fundraisers are
ministers—people who need to be good listeners and to help unlock and guide the
sometimes hidden needs of their donors. Having been both a minister and a
fundraiser, I wish I'd had this book on hand years before this. Anyone who
raises money for a cause will relish it."
—William F. Schulz, Executive
Director, Amnesty International USA, 1994-2006; UUA President,
1985-1993
"Religious professionals and laypersons alike will find these sermons on stewardship both
inspiring and thought-provoking. Talking about money and understanding the ‘theology of abundance and generosity' are not particularly easy for Unitarian
Universalists, and there has been a gap in resources to assist us in doing so.
The Abundance of Our Faith helps fill that gap. The sermons in this
book were judged the most effective in addressing money and giving as they
relate to our Unitarian Universalist faith, values and vision. Sweetser and
Milnor enable us to explore what it means to be generous in both our personal
and collective lives as religious people and to articulate that more effectively."
—Mary L. Miles, former Director of the UUA Annual Program Fund
For more information contact skinnerhouseatuuadotorg.
Last updated on Thursday, April 5, 2007.
