Melissa Spas is the managing director of the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving, where she develops and leads educational programs and partnerships with religious organizations and the people who lead them. She has also worked for leadership education at Duke Divinity, where she contributed to the development, design, and delivery of strategic leadership programs and resources for Christian institutions.
Contributions From Melissa Spas
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Connect Community Service and Corporate Worship
Published by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, this article discusses the challenge...
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Friendship at the Margins: Discovering Mutuality in Service and Mission
This resource offers congregations various ways to reflect upon and reconsider how they...
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Congregational Tool Box for Prison Ministry
This article addresses reasons for congregations to become involved with outreach to prisoners...
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Insights Into: The Compassionate Congregation
This article provides concrete suggestions for congregations seeking to become more involved...
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Communities of Salt and Light: Reflections on the Social Mission of the Parish
On this site, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops provides a wide variety of...
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Disrupting Homelessness: Alternative Christian Approaches
This book looks at the structural causes of homelessness, examining the two common Christian...
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The New Parish: How Neighborhood Churches are Transforming Mission, Discipleship and Community
This resource identifies the church as a solution to cultural individualism, arguing that...
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Change the World: Recovering the Message and Mission of Jesus
This video details the story of how one congregation in Ohio has grown into a vital ministry...
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Publicly Engaged Church for Justice and Peace
This ELCA resource hub offers community organizing and advocacy tools for congregations.
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The Art of Neighboring: Building Genuine Relationships Right Outside Your Door
This compelling book discusses what it might be like if we actually loved our neighbors, as...
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Becoming A Justice Seeking Congregation: Responding to God's Justice Initiative
This book approaches social justice work with a balance of idealism and realism.
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Lott Carey
This organization offers leadership development and educational resources focused on learning...
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Doing Justice: Congregations and Community Organizing
This book explores community organizing at the congregational level, providing theological...
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Groundswell
Groundswell, a project of Auburn Theological Seminary, is an online community that provides...
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Dawnings: Welcoming a New Day In Your Church's Missional Journey
This retreat offers spaces for reflection and focus on visioning, forming, and engaging in the...
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Reconciliation Ministry
The Reconciliation Ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is an acknowledgment...
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Pillars of Faith: American Congregations and Their Partners
Based on a qualitative study of American congregations and their varied partnerships, this...
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Vital: Churches Changing Communities and the World
This resource shares the story of how one church in Florida was able to grow into a...
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Celebrating the Offering
Aimed at congregations seeking to make giving a central and joyful part of worship, this...
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Christians in an Age of Wealth: A Biblical Theology of Stewardship
Part of a series, this resource offers an evangelical theological framework for understanding...
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Center for Stewardship Leaders
This website includes Luther Seminary’ s extensive online database of stewardship...
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Christian Stewardship Network
This organization aims to connect stewardship pastors and congregational leaders through an...
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Church Growth Services
This consultant group assists congregations with fundraising and capital campaigns, with...
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empty tomb, inc.
This organization provides strategies for congregations to raise funds for missions. It shares...
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We Make a Life By What We Give
This collection of essays offers a distinctive approach to generosity through reflections from...
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Enough: Discovering Joy through Simplicity and Generosity
This personal finance book addresses generosity and faithful stewardship by beginning with...
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The Choice: The Christ-Centered Pursuit of Kingdom Outcomes
This resource proposes ways to grow and develop in ministry that are shaped by the gospel and...
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Horizons Stewardship Company
This fundraising company offers a range of strategic ministry and stewardship planning...
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Capital Campaigns: Strategies That Work
This book provides the nuts-and-bolts of creating a capital campaign, covering everything from...
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Crafting a Theology of Stewardship
This e-book offers a readable theological reflection on stewardship for small groups or...
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Stewardship Services
This resource contains helpful tools for congregations to integrate stewardship themes across...
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The Stewardship Companion: Lectionary Resources for Preaching
Designed for use as a reference, this book provides lectionary resources tied to stewardship...
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Transforming Stewardship
This resource analyzes the strengths and shortcomings of traditional stewardship patterns to...
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Stewardship for Vital Congregations
This resource connects purpose and vision with stewardship towards the goal of a thriving...
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The Steward Leader: Transforming People, Organizations and Communities
This resource provides a way for leaders to see everything they do as a stewardship of God's...
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Preaching and Stewardship: Proclaiming God's Invitation to Grow
This theological guide provides a positive framework through which to view church stewardship,...
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Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good
This book pushes the theological conversation about calling and work to a new level, focusing...
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More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity
This lifestyle guide explores the themes of excess and generosity present in daily habits, and...
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Stewardship Ministry
Offering a variety of studies, interactive lessons, and content for worship, the Lutheran...
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Equipping Leaders: Stewardship
This webpage for stewardship resources offers a steady flow of new reflections, articles, and...
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Stewardship Resources
The Church of the Nazarene provides a variety of resources for congregational stewardship...
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Life Stewardship
This web resource provided by The Evangelical Covenant Church takes a comprehensive approach...
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Catholics Come Home
This website provides resources for parishes or diocesan groups concerned with outreach to...
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ChristLife: Catholic Ministry for Evangelization
The ChristLife website provides a curriculum for evangelism training, seeking to equip and...
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Evangelism Connections
Available online or via email, this newsletter is for congregations interested in cultivating...
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Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving and Finding the Church
This book reflects on what it means to belong, leave, and rediscover the church, particularly...
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To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World
This book examines the complex relationship between culture, identity, belonging, and the role...
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"Nones" on the Rise
This research report on the religiously unaffiliated offers a measured view of what's changed,...
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The Millennials: Connecting to America's Largest Generation
Written from an evangelical perspective, this book outlines the results of a large-scale...
periodical
RELEVANT Magazine
Since 2002, RELEVANT Media Group has published RELEVANT magazine, intended to speak to...
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Meet the Nones: We Don't Need Your Labels
This web resource provides a series of thoughtful articles on different facets of life among...
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The Rise of the Nones: Understanding and Reaching the Religiously Unaffiliated
This book seeks to understand and to reach the religiously unaffiliated, relying on scripture...
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Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations
This research-based book helps congregations understand the origins and impact of change...
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The Little Book of Healthy Organizations: Tools for Understanding and Transforming Your Organization
This concise book offers advice and real-life examples of practical ways to improve leadership...
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C3 Conference
The Creative Church Culture Conference offers a network of evangelical resources for...
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Church Innovations Institute
This organization provides consulting focused on questions of church culture. Their...
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Leading Missional Change: Move Your Congregation from Resistant to Re-Energized
This book provides insight on why congregations don't want to change, how to utilize trust to...
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Love God, Love Your Neighbor
This article describes the story of Calvary Baptist Church in D.C., which implemented new...
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Lessons in Belonging from a Church-Going Commitment Phobe
This memoir recounts one millennial feminist's approach to life in the Christian community and...
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Look Before You Lead: How to Discern and Shape Your Church Culture
This book helps congregations lead cultural change by providing an overview, practical...
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Racial Diversity in a Changing Harlem Congregation
This video by PBS details the changes and growth of First Corinthian Church in Harlem, New...
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Journey in the Wilderness: New Life for Mainline Churches
Written by an experienced consultant with the Texas Methodist Foundation, this resource offers...
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Transforming Congregational Culture
This resource draws a connection between changes in American culture and congregational...
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The Acts of the Apostles and Thriving Communities
This series of articles focuses on six different features of community life in Acts and how...
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Structured for Mission: Renewing the Culture of the Church
This book argues that the American church is unraveling, and thus, provides congregations with...
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Creating a Culture of Renewal
This series of education events hosted by Rebekah Simon-Peter equips participants to lead...
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Vision: Lost and Found: The Story of a Church That Got Stuck but Didn't Stay There
Based off the experiences of megachurch Granger Community Church, this book details its...
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Church of Many Colors
This article details the story of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and...
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Changes Congregations Are Facing Today
This e-book uses research and observation to provide readers with information regarding a...
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Change and Conflict in Your Congregation (Even If You Hate Both)
This book frames conflict as a tool to move congregations forward if used positively. In this...
web resource
Social Justice & the Union for Reform Judaism
This web resource provided by The Union for Reformed Judaism has compiled a variety of...
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Evangelism Sunday Cultural Resources
This article looks at the unique challenges and opportunities in the African American faith...
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How to Shape Your Church's Culture
This article from LifeWay provides an introduction to understanding what defines church...
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Jewish Social Justice Roundtable
This coalition of organizations offers campaigns and learning opportunities for congregations...
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Presbyterian Foundation
This foundation offers support for congregations around all types of stewardship, including...
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Sojourners
These thought leaders advocate for faith-based social justice. They create thought-provoking...
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The Episcopal Network for Stewardship
This organization provides congregations with resources focused on stewardship, including...
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The Non-Attending Faithful
This article looks at the practice of young people "attending to what matters" without...
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Why Changing Your Church's Culture Rarely Works Out
This article reveals the pitfalls and errors that can be made when considering culture change...
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