Stewardship and Church Planting

I'm passing this along from the Church Planter Update I received from NAMB. It speaks to the significance of teaching "biblical stewardship" in church planting. Read this paragraph and then click on the link for the full article.

A study conducted by NAMB in 2007 to identify the factors that helped a church plant survive beyond five years found that church plants that have a proactive stewardship plan enjoy a 178% greater chance of surviving beyond five years than their non-proactive counterparts. The study also found that enacting a positive plan for engaging new members in stewardship is critical to helping a new congregation become financially independent. Finally, the study demonstrated that stewardship plans need to be in place early on in the life of the church plant in order to promote financial health and independence. To read more about the stewardship challenge for church plants, click here.