Henri Nouwen on A Spirituality of Fundraising
“As a form of ministry, fundraising is as spiritual as giving a sermon,
entering a time of prayer, visiting the sick, or feeding the hungry.”
-Henri Nouwen
Creating new and lasting relationships with one another and with Jesus is at the very heart of raising money for ministry. This insight, better stated than my simple sentence, is at the heart of an engaging little book with an unlikely title and author. The Spirituality of Fundraising (ISBN 978-0-8358-1044-9) is by Henri Nouwen, the beloved author of more than 40 books on spirituality including The Wounded Healer and the Life of the Beloved.
The 64-page book, published by Upper Room Books in conjunction with the Henri Nouwen Society, was created from a 1992 talk Nouwen gave to a foundation interested in hearing about fundraising. So let’s be clear, while there is much good to be said about stewardship and how our care for things held in trust extends beyond just money, and so on, this text is really about raising money.
Nouwen distinguishes fundraising from begging for money in emphasizing that we should create a vision and mission which are so amazing and exciting that others will genuinely be blessed to be a part of what is happening. Nouwen argues that we are to ask for money from a place of prayer and gratitude and a genuine desire to be in deep relationship with those who support the ministry. For if we are going about this work as Christians, raising funds will do much more than amass financial resources, it will create community and take part in building up God’s kingdom.
Along the way, Nouwen (pictured at right) discusses our relationship with money and with the wealthy. It becomes evident as one reads that to follow the path Nouwen sets will convert the one who asks as surely as the one who gives if we get fundraising right. If raising money for Christian work doesn’t bring all closer into relationship with one another and with God, then we have short-changed the process.
His words on fundraising are not secular tricks for getting money. Instead, he speaks grounded in the love of God and a life of prayer so that his words convincingly connection the task of raising money to conversion of life and the building up the Kingdom of God. Raising money from this perspective is deeply spiritual act. I commend this book to your reading.
The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon to the Ordinary
Remembering September 11
On this anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001, I also offer a reflection on the hidden heights of bravery and goodness revealed on a day filled with evil which I first wrote on the eighth anniversary: The Heroes of 911
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