Several years ago Ron Blue was speaking at a church in South Florida and made a big, bold, and true statement. “God’s Word speaks to every financial decision anyone makes at any time, under any set of circumstances.”

When you couple that with the other truth, that there are more verses and scripture references concerning money and possessions than any other singular topic, it led the pastor of the church in Florida to ask Ron, “If that’s true, why isn’t the Church seen as a center of financial wisdom?”

That question has stuck with Ron for a long time. And it remains the singular reason for the creation of the Financial Wisdom Network.

Putting the Church at the Center

The Financial Wisdom Network has been created to advance the mission of Ron Blue Institute and help churches become a center of financial wisdom.

Creating a financial wisdom ministry can begin with a series of simple steps and a variety of possible starter resources. In dialogue with pastors and lay champions, we will work together to identify each church’s next step in creating a comprehensive ministry strategy.

• Integrating biblical financial wisdom into the discipleship ministries of a church
• Exploring and understanding what the Bible says about money and possessions
• Helping Christians move into financial health, stability, stewardship, and generosity
• Applying biblical financial wisdom across a person’s lifespan and through common life events

Pilot Churches Leading the Way

So far, we have rolled out this financial ministry to Pilot Churches in three cohorts. Each cohort begins the journey together, learning from and building on the experiences of those who came before.

Cohort 1

Perimeter Church – Atlanta, GA

Christ Fellowship – Palm Beach Gardens, FL

Heartland Church – Fishers, IN 

“As part of the ‘Abide in Me’ sermon series, Pastor Darryn taught for six weeks on biblical finances using material from Ron Blue. We began by emphasizing that God’s ways are different from ours and then taught biblical principles on contentment, managing debt, setting long-term goals, and becoming generous givers. This series wasn’t focused on giving but aimed to help our congregation develop a biblical perspective on personal finances, surrendering to the Lordship of Christ in this area to live a life of abundance and joy and leave an eternal legacy. In my nine years at Heartland, this was one of the most impactful sermon series for our congregation.” — Clay Clement, Heartland, Legacy Pastor

Cohort 2

Sherwood Oaks Christian Church – Bloomington, IN

Grace Church – Noblesville, IN

College Park Church – Indianapolis, IN

Cohort 3

Scottsdale Bible Church – Scottsdale, AZ

Northview Church – Carmel, IN

What God Is Asking RBI to Do

We believe God is asking us to help the big “C” Church become a center of financial wisdom by helping churches integrate biblical financial wisdom across the life span, at any level of financial health, and through key life events. 

RBI is re-introducing and creating key resources around biblical financial wisdom thinking and practices to help churches on this journey. We are also engaging in collaborative partnerships with other leading organizations in the financial wisdom space, introducing churches to their special expertise to help their parishioners increase their financial health, stewardship, and generosity. 

Through these Pilot Churches, our mission is to change the way Christians think, act, and communicate about money and possessions.

Pilot Churches Encouraged that “God Owns It All”

Our first three cohorts have experienced life-changing blessings from this financial ministry. This quote is just one example of what God is doing through these pilot partnerships.

“Immediately following Pastor Darryn’s six-week sermon series on biblical finances, we launched 20 small groups, hosting 300 participants using Ron Blue’s ‘God Owns It All’ study. This was the largest initial small group launch in Heartland’s history, both in the number of groups and participants. During these six weeks, participants gained a deeper understanding of God’s plan for personal finance, and we continue to hear and see stories of life change, such as taking steps to get finances in order, building budgets, paying off debt, and baptisms! We will continue this small group study each semester so that every member of Heartland can learn and apply God’s principles, and live a life of joy, abundance, and legacy.” — Kelly Camp, Heartland, Executive Pastor

We look forward to expanding this ministry to share the Lord’s joy and freedom in finances that can only come from biblical wisdom—through the best possible source, His Church.

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