Crisis and Care

“This set of bold, compelling essays—written by smart, well-informed people—invites the church to take a big leap for the sake of the future. It is a huge leap out of the box of conventional assumptions into new modes of glad missional obedience. The focus is on the money resources of the church, and the invitation is to generosity that meets the needs of our society. Readers will find here a welcome practical, accessible invitation to fresh perception and fresh inventive action. It is all on point for the church, deciding yet again to be a faithful church engaged in transformative mission.”


—Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary





“In times of crisis, some people clench fists. Others open hands and arms and hearts. In this collection of warm, insightful, and engaging essays on Christian philanthropy, leaders at the intersection of crisis and care offer analysis and imagination, a powerful combination. We need to analyze what's working well and what's not, and we need to imagine how our philanthropy can be not only responsive to present needs but also transformative to build a better future. Thanks to the authors and editors for this important collection.”


—Brian D. McLaren, author of Faith after Doubt





“Jesus talked a lot about money, for good reason, as it often represents our values, priorities, and imagination. Editors Benac and Weber-Johnson understand this, and have gathered an impressive group of scholars to help us explore the interplay between what we face in crisis and what is possible when we who follow Jesus truly care.”


—Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and author of Love Is the Way and The Power of Love





“‘A collective, contextual imagination is rising to renew a broader ecclesial ecology.’ May it be so! This insightful collection examines the possibilities for renewal in philanthropy, stewardship, and faith in light of twenty-first-century reckonings with structural racism and environmental catastrophe, offering visions and strategies for a releasing of the commons, otherwise called the abundance of creation, to serve and equip movements for empowerment and social change. I’d give to that.”


—Winnie Varghese, priest, ministries and program coordination, Trinity Church Wall Street





“This beautiful book offers a wonderful antidote to our current ‘imagination deficit disorder.’ The compelling stories and images can stir us for new models of connecting faith and philanthropy. As we continue to navigate the effects of multiple pandemics—COVID, racial injustice, mental health needs, economic disruptions—a renewed imagination will help us navigate the future well.”


—L. Gregory Jones, president, Belmont University





“Our churches have been through a season of suffering and grief. What will our future be? Church leaders, givers of care, must now learn to be adaptive, courageous innovators. We can’t go back to what we had, but we’re uncertain how to move forward. Crisis and Care brings together a group of wise, experienced church leaders whose meditations will stoke, fund, and fuel your imagination. This book will give you the courage and confidence, as well as practical ideas you need to help God’s people not only to emerge from the present crisis but also to thrive in God’s promised future”


—Will Willimon, Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry, Duke Divinity School, and author of Leading with the Sermon: Preaching and Leadership





“With admirable wisdom, the editors resist a broad-sweep PowerPoint-slide ‘ten lessons’ approach: instead they invite friends and colleagues to sketch the same themes from fifteen diverse perspectives. The result is something humbler, and more elegant; deft, yet profound. The whole project is an exercise in turning our imaginations from the default of scarcity to the glory of abundance. What emerges is the discovery that a crisis isn’t simply a time for adapting strategies: it’s a time for re-educating the soul.”


—Sam Wells, vicar, St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, former dean, Duke University Chapel, and research professor of Christian Ethics, Duke Divinity School





“While the normal and understandable reaction to crisis is fear and pulling in, these inspiring essays promote a different response: the release of imagination and the belief in a new thing made possible by the passing of the old. Some pine species have developed thick hard cones that hang on a tree for years. Only when a fire sweeps through is the coating melted and these cones open up, releasing seeds that are then distributed by the wind. Our notions, institutions, and practices are the same and need the fires of crisis to open up the seeds of imagination.”


—Fred Smith, founder of The Gathering





“In the midst of syndemic crises, editors Benac and Weber-Johnson, alongside a brilliant cast of contributors, invite us to explore a delightful collection of provocative ideas, wisdom, and analyses regarding the church and philanthropy. They disrupt business as usual and call us to engage their imaginings and possibilities that compel us to care and act in new ways. Resist the urge to read this volume of wisdom alone. Instead, consider reading it in community, experiment with its ideas, and then get to work shaping an alternative vision of the church’s philanthropic vocation in service to diverse communities throughout the world!”


—Stephen Lewis, president of the Forum for Theological Exploration and coauthor of Another Way: Living and Leading Change on Purpose





“This is a challenging read in the very best sense, one that asks faith leaders to consider whether current congregational stewardship models are ethical, to explore the harsh realities of philanthropic redlining, and to ask ourselves who ‘the development consultant industrial complex’ is ultimately serving. Readers will leave with sharpened questions and an ignited moral imagination for addressing the complexities facing Christian communities now.”


—Miguel Angel Escobar, executive director, Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary





“In my judgment, there are far too many books about best practices of traditional stewardship. I was pleased to discover that this book is the antithesis of that. It is a series of thoughtful reflections and well-chosen examples of the ways in which we must be jarred loose from our traditional thinking about both the nature of church and the purpose of fundraising. It offers fresh insights from authors who are aware of the hurtful and negative ways in which our churches have been captivated by the dominant culture and systems of white supremacy. So, if you're wondering about how we will create sustainable and grounded expressions of faithful community in the future, this is the book for you!”


—Rick Ufford-Chas, Institutional Advancement, Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary, and former moderator, 216th General Assembly, PC(USA)





“‘What are your money stories? What role do ancestors and future generations play? Can you trace lines of dreams, data, and disruptions through histories and imagined futures of giving and receiving in organizations you love and support and that love and support you?’ In Crisis and Care, Dustin Benac and Erin Weber-Johnson have assembled a remarkable group of faith leaders, foundation administrators, scholars, artists, and activists. Through brief evocative meditations, seventeen authors engage philanthropic practices with stories, rituals, theologies, imaginative resources, and practical strategies. With so many people, families, institutions, and communities navigating tenuous intersections of grief and longing, Crisis and Care will resource your practices of stewardship, religious education, strategic planning, and even personal finances and reflection. As a practical theologian, I have been waiting for a resource that offers theologies of money that shift from transactional to transformational practices, embedding each and every fundraising campaign and charitable donation in a larger network of meaning-making words of faith, love, and justice.”


—Mindy McGarrah Sharp, Associate Professor of Practical Theology and Pastoral Care, Columbia Theological Seminary





“Leadership, especially these days, is not about heroes and their dogged commitment to a vision. It is about listening, community, mutuality, flexibility, imagination, and taking risks. This wonderful collection of mediations demonstrates how the current social crisis can completely change the conceptions we have about philanthropy, and even change our understanding of what the word means. It dives deep into our biblical and theological tradition to redeem the understanding of giving and receiving for a new day.”


—M. Craig Barnes, president, Princeton Theological Seminary





“Crisis and Care is a real treasure for this season, and I suspect will be for a long time to come. Deeply grounded in their belief in the role of the church, these brilliant thinkers stretch the edges of possibilities; they wonder aloud with us and invite us to lean into an imagination for what can be. It’s like the best kind of evening with friends, sharing stories and meaningful conversation, and walking away feeling both encouraged and challenged.”


—Lisa Greenwood, Vice President for Leadership Ministry, Wesleyan Investive and Texas Methodist Foundation





“The disruptions of pandemic, bitter political division, and a new awakening to the depth of systemic racism in our country have all heightened our awareness of the changing landscape in which the church is situated, and the urgent need for adaptation and innovation. For all that has been painful, this moment offers an invitation to consider how together we construct a more just, loving, vital, and sustainable church and society going forward. This magnificent volume rightly identifies that the most important challenge facing us is one of imagination: can we discover new ways of forming, sustaining, and renewing Christian community in the world that is now emerging? These wide-reaching and diverse meditations offer both a framework and concrete tools to guide us in this journey of discovery. By using the lens of philanthropy and focusing on the role of money, they pinpoint a critical lever to help reshape our institutions in a more loving, just, and sustainable direction. This is an invaluable contribution to the imaginative work before us. I cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone who leads, or simply loves, churches and other faith-based institutions.”


—Craig Loya, Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota





“History is messy when one is making it. So many times I have longed to see the end of the story when I am in the midst of the present drama that will one day become a full story. Alas, I must stumble through the confusion and chaos of the moment in the hope that clarity will come. Dustin Benac and Erin Weber-Johnson show up at just the right time to bring helpful and hopeful wisdom to those who seek to offer fiscal and spiritual vitality to churches and other organizations as they navigate through the fog of today. The authors they have assembled represent some of our best navigators and prophets, and they deliver thoughtful and pointed insights that will benefit anyone wrestling to make sense of the new economic realities we must manage. We are indebted to them all for these wise words of guidance and hope.”


—Bill Wilson, founder and director, Center for Healthy Churches





“These timely and insightful reflections about faith and philanthropy call us to join creative, imaginative, collaborative work in the world in the context of multiple worldwide calamities. Crisis and Care shuns narrow, self-centered, and ineffective concepts about faith and giving, and invites us to reimagine philanthropy as a shared calling that expresses Christian love in action that helps all to live into the reality of life together through new visions of contextual Christian leadership and ministries.”


—Edwin David Aponte, executive director, Louisville Institute