Pastor Jonathan Bull at St. Paul Lutheran in Westerville was looking for help and resources to improve giving to the congregation. “Coming off the pandemic, I knew we needed to tell our stories, but we needed help,” he shared. The congregation has a limited ability to show videos, so Pastor Jonathan wants to begin sharing the congregation’s stories in print.

St. Paul will be welcoming a new couple into the congregation who found them through their online services. “They liked that we were being safe and that we were online,” he shared. “This is a great story we need to be telling.” The congregation has so many wonderful things happening, but like a lot of congregations they go unseen, and the stories go untold. The congregation needs to expand their digital footprint while reaching people at home, but they needed help knowing how best to tell the stories and where to tell them.

St. Paul subscribed for a membership to the new GSB Center for Generosity. “I found the video on CAGA storytelling very helpful for getting us started on telling our stories,” he shared. In addition to the storytelling resources found in the Center, he has also been reviewing endowment resources that will be helpful in the near future and attending as many Roundtable discussions as possible. “Access to this resource is positively affecting my congregation. In a lot of ways, the church needs to function more like a nonprofit, and the Center is helping me know how to lead in that way.”

Pastor Jonathan already has 3 stories planned to go out in print during the fall stewardship appeal with plans for getting them on their new website.