Gratitude and Generosity: Engaging Your Church in the Season of Thanks
November 2024 - As the calendar turns to November, hearts and minds naturally gravitate toward themes of gratitude, generosity, and reflection. Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) is around the corner, and the holiday season begins to make its presence felt. For churches, November offers a beautiful chance to cultivate a spirit of thankfulness within the congregation and to reach out with love and care to the community. By focusing on gratitude and encouraging generous living - both through service and giving - your church can make this month profoundly meaningful. Let's dive into strategies for November that will encourage hearts and impact lives.
Cultivate a Culture of Gratitude
November is the perfect time to lead your church in intentionally practicing thankfulness. This can be both an inward and outward focus:
- - Testimony Services or Segments: Consider dedicating a Sunday service (or a portion of each November service) to testimonies of gratitude. Invite a few members to share short stories of what they're thankful for this year or how they've seen God's faithfulness. These authentic accounts can inspire everyone. If doing a full "Thanksgiving service," incorporate congregational sharing
- even an open mic for brief thank-yous (with guidance to keep it focused and succinct). For those who can't attend or are more introverted, you could set up an online gratitude wall: a page on your website or a Facebook post where people comment with what they're thankful for. Then you can read some of those responses on Sunday (which also integrates those participating online).
- Thankfulness Challenges: Building on October's idea, you can launch a church-wide "30 Days of Thankfulness" challenge for November leading up to Thanksgiving. Provide a printable or digital calendar with a prompt each day (e.g., Day 1: Thank God for a family member; Day 2: Thank God for a lesson learned from a hardship; etc.). Encourage members to journal, share on social media, or discuss in small groups. The Church of England's digital campaign for Christmas 2024 included daily resources; similarly, a daily gratitude practice keeps people spiritually engaged. Use your church app or email list to send out the prompt and a short related scripture each morning. This leverages technology for discipleship.
- Expressing Gratitude to Others: As a community, identify groups or individuals to thank publicly this month. Perhaps one Sunday you call up all volunteers and simply pray over them and cheer for them. Or deliver cookies to the local police or hospital staff with thank-you notes (like we touched on in October). Galatians 6:10 says to do good to all, especially to the household of faith
- so both internal (members) and external expressions are valuable. Highlight these efforts in your announcements or social feed, not to boast, but to model gratitude-in-action. It might inspire members to personally thank people in their lives too.
Encourage Generosity and Giving
November also kicks off the year-end giving season. People are often most inclined to charitable giving now - spurred by the holidays and tax-year's end. It's a crucial time to speak vision and provide opportunities:
- - Stewardship Emphasis: Without turning it into a dry financial talk, use November sermons or communications to share how generosity is part of our worship. Cite encouraging trends or needs: e.g., "70% of church leaders say technology has increased generosity in their congregation
- we're thankful for tools like online giving that allow us to support missions and ministry easily." Connect giving to impact, not just obligation. Share a story of how donations changed someone's life (maybe a benevolence fund helped a family, or giving enabled a powerful ministry this year). When people see the difference their gifts make, it fuels cheerful giving.
- Giving Tuesday Campaign: The Tuesday after Thanksgiving (GivingTuesday) is a global generosity movement. Many churches now participate by highlighting specific projects. If you choose to, plan a targeted campaign: perhaps raise funds for a new outreach initiative or to bless a partner charity. Pushpay notes that creating a clear cause for Giving Tuesday can boost participation. Announce it early November: "This Giving Tuesday we're raising $X for [Project]." Use a thermometer graphic online to show progress, and celebrate every milestone ("We're 50% to goal!"). Since more than $500 million is raised on Giving Tuesday globally now, tapping into that spirit can be fruitful. Make sure your online giving page is updated, easy, and explicitly mentions the campaign for that day.
- Thanksgiving Offering or Drive: Some churches collect a special Thanksgiving offering designated entirely for local outreach or a sister church in need. Alternatively, do a food drive or coat drive for those facing winter hardships. Mobilize small groups or the youth to lead it. Use Facebook Events and community boards to invite neighbors to donate too
- many non-churchgoers are happy to drop off canned goods for a good cause. Show the results: "Our church collected 2,000 pounds of food for the shelter
- thank you!" This both thanks your members and demonstrates to the community that faith results in tangible care.
Remember to tie generosity to spiritual formation. Jesus said it's more blessed to give than receive. Perhaps create a short devotional or video series in November, "The Joy of Giving," where each episode (shared on social media) covers an aspect of generosity - time, talents, treasure, hospitality, etc. It teaches and motivates without a heavy "give now" push. One stat you might include: recurring givers donate twice as much as one-time givers, so encouraging regular generosity (like setting up recurring gifts or habitual volunteering) is building a healthy discipline.
Thanksgiving Outreach and Connections
Thanksgiving itself is a prime moment for outreach and inclusion:
- - Friendsgiving and Table Hospitality: Encourage members to practice hospitality by inviting those who might be alone to their Thanksgiving meal. Perhaps there are singles, international students, or elderly folks in the church or neighborhood with no family around
- connect them. The early church was known for its open tables; we can emulate that. Consider organizing a "Friendsgiving" potluck at church either on Thanksgiving or the week before for those without family nearby. Promote it in local Facebook groups ("No plans for Turkey Day? You're invited to our Friendsgiving
- all welcome!"). A warm meal and conversation can be a powerful witness of Christ-like love.
- Thanksgiving Service (Ecumenical or Online): Some churches do a brief Thanksgiving morning service or eve-of-Thanksgiving service. Attendance might be modest, but it can be a sweet time of worship and gratitude. If not many can come in person, consider doing a livestream-only service from the pastor's living room
- informal, short, but meaningful for those who tune in (perhaps those traveling or home cooking). It could include a couple of acoustic worship songs and a devotional thought on thankfulness. For something more community-wide, see if other local churches would join for an ecumenical thanksgiving prayer service. The unity displayed can speak volumes to the world (John 17: 23). Share about any joint service in the press or online to maximize reach.
- Expressing Thanks to God Publicly: A unique outreach could be a social media advertisement or local newspaper ad around Thanksgiving simply titled "We Thank God For You, [Town Name]!" and a short message from your church expressing gratitude for the community and offering blessings for the holiday. It's not pushing an event or agenda
- just a public note of positivity and prayer. That can cut through the noise and touch hearts, especially those who might normally ignore "church stuff." It positions your church as a blesser, not just an asker.
Transition Toward Advent
Late November, Advent begins. Use the thankful atmosphere to pivot into anticipation:
- - End of November, maybe the Sunday after Thanksgiving, have a moment where the congregation writes down one thing they're thankful for from the past year and one hope/prayer for the coming Advent/Christmas season. Collect these (could be anonymous or not). You might use them to literally create a paper chain or garland that decorates the sanctuary in December
- a visual representation of thankfulness and hope linked together. It's a simple, participatory way to carry the gratitude forward.
- In communications, start hinting at Christmas events but frame them as something to be thankful for: "We are so grateful we get to celebrate Christmas together soon! Here's what's coming...". Gratitude can be the bridge between Thanksgiving and the joy of Advent.
Through all this, keep the tone relational and genuine. November is not about flashy programs as much as it is about heart and home. People will remember the sincerity of a thank-you, the warmth of being invited in, the feeling of being part of something that cares. These experiences prepare the soil of their hearts for the gospel message that underpins our gratitude.
Looking Ahead
In a world rife with complaints and cynicism, a church that radiates gratitude and generosity shines brightly. By engaging your congregation in thanks and giving, you not only honor God and uplift spirits, but also make your community sit up and take notice: "There's something different there." As Scripture says, giving thanks is God's will for us (1 Thess. 5:18), and generosity results in thanksgiving to God (2 Cor. 9:11-12). It's a virtuous cycle that your church can exemplify this month.
In a world rife with complaints and cynicism, a church that radiates gratitude and generosity shines brightly. By engaging your congregation in thanks and giving, you not only honor God and uplift spirits, but also make your community sit up and take notice: "There's something different there." As Scripture says, giving thanks is God's will for us (1 Thess. 5:18), and generosity results in thanksgiving to God (2 Cor. 9:11-12). It's a virtuous cycle that your church can exemplify this month.
Ready to strengthen your digital ministry?
At Intent.church, we're thankful for churches like yours striving to make a positive impact. We'd be delighted to help you implement any of these ideas - whether it's setting up an online giving campaign or designing an engaging Thanksgiving social media push. Research affirms the power of digital tools in fostering connection and generosity, and we can assist you in using them to full effect. May your November be filled with genuine gratitude, overflowing generosity, and the deep joy that comes from both. Happy Thanksgiving!