Rev. Hannah Lovaglio If someone watched your congregation for a year, what would they conclude matters most? I’ve long wanted one of those signs to hang in our family’s kitchen that reads: In this house, we… *(insert inspiring values and rules)*. The Lovaglios might say, in this house, we stop to dance, laugh often, wash […]
Category: Capital Campaigns
Do We Really Need a Capital Campaign Consultant?
Sometimes, no. But for a major campaign, there are some things worth considering. Why would a church pay someone to help it raise money? It’s a fair question. After all, whatever you pay a consultant is money you don’t have available for the project. And churches are full of capable people. Why not just organize […]
Before We Fill the Calendar
Rev. Hannah Lovaglio Before the meetings begin and the programs return, there’s still a moment to ask what matters. My first child arrived a month early, on Labor Day. In my mind, we had a whole month to prepare – to pack a bag, build a crib, organize diapers, be showered with advice from loved […]
Tell Me About the Grandmother
Why stories inspire generosity more than statistics ever will. Imagine two church newsletters arriving in your inbox tomorrow morning. The first begins, “This month our food pantry served 1,200 people.” The second begins, “Last Thursday, a grandmother stood quietly in line at our food pantry. She apologized for being there. ‘I never imagined I’d need […]
The Story Becomes the Future
Rev. Hannah Lovaglio The narratives we repeat quietly shape what we believe God can still do among us. We live by stories. The story we tell ourselves becomes our narrative identity, a lens through which we know ourselves, and in turn present ourselves to the world. It shapes how we understand our past, how we […]
The Problem Isn’t What We Say
It’s That No One Can See It If people can’t picture what we’re talking about, they won’t feel connected to it. I listen closely to the way our clients talk about the work in their churches. And I’ve noticed a pattern. We tend to describe things in ways that sound meaningful, and often are meaningful […]
Every Church Has “The One Person”
Rev. Hannah Lovaglio It seems as though, in most churches, there is the one person. The one person who knows the building inside and out. The one who cares for all the nooks and crannies, having crawled every crawl space, climbed to the top of the tower, and mastered every workaround we’ve come to rely […]
We don’t have the big givers anymore…
“We don’t have the big givers we used to have.” Lately, in conversations with church leaders and members, I’ve been hearing a version of the same concern over and over again. Sometimes it’s a lament over those ancestors who have passed on. Or it’s: “The younger generation just isn’t as generous.” Sometimes it’s said with […]
Looking Up Toward Heaven
And other ways the church forgets to see what God has already given Rev. Hannah Lovaglio Many churches today are waiting for something. Waiting for younger families. Waiting for financial stability. Waiting for the right leader. Waiting for clarity. Waiting for the culture to shift back. Waiting for some sign that the future will be […]
Demystifying the Pastor’s Role in a Capital Campaign
How CCS partners with your pastor for the success of a campaign. Rev. Hannah Lovaglio A frequently asked question that deserves more than a one paragraph answer: What is the pastor’s role during a capital campaign? It’s neither an easy nor uniform answer. Each pastor deserves an individual conversation about how they can best support […]