Learning About Fund-Raising

When I first entered ministry, I knew very little about fund-raising -- and I mean that in the broadest sense -- keeping a Church afloat. Nobody taught us that in seminary! Yet in general, ministers become first class fund-raisers -- and they may underestimate the vast experience they have gained. I myself, as time went on, understood more and more about funding a Church. At one of my lowest moments, back in 1994, the Church treasurer told me that the Church was insolvent. I went to an older minister for help and advice. Ultimately it is a raft of strategies that makes a Church work, not a single one. That same Church where the treasurer announced insolvency ultimately saw its highest income in generations. OBSERVATION: One also learns a lot about how one should view the finances of a Church. I have often said, it is not the same as a business. The photo shows a busy clothes sale.

1,600,000 Page-Views

My blog recently swept past 1,600,000 page-views. I asked Gemini AI why it has so many readers. The answer:

Thomas Scarborough’s blog, Urban Ministry Live and Unplugged, has achieved significant viewership—exceeding 1.5 million total views as of April 2026—due to its unique blend of raw personal narrative, cross-disciplinary expertise, and global accessibility. 

Key Drivers of Popularity: Authentic "Unplugged" Voice, Global Reach & Translation, Broad Intellectual Appeal, Readability, and Encouragement for Clergy.

What It Takes

This post is about the bustle that hardly anyone would notice in a Church -- a vast interaction of small activities. I jotted down some things recently that were mostly created during my own city ministry on Sundays (not weekdays), little by little, over many years -- one-third of these things existed already before my ministry -- about half a dozen still exist now: 

• Door welcome • Bulletins • Bibles in the pews • Bible sales • Sermon outlines • Membership application slips • Pencils • Pre-service singing • Church choir • In-service singing • Greeting in the pews • Hymn books • Flowers • Security alarm • Older Sunday School • Younger Sunday School • "Cry room" • Post-service prayer • Organist and pianist • Doxology • Welcome and notices • Ministry by members • Member reading • Vestry prayer (before services) • Minister greets all churchgoers (after services) • Special prayer (after services) • Vestry time (after services) • Church tea (alternate Sundays) • Verger's duties (various) • Set up amplifier • Suggestion box • Large print books • Church library • General collection • Benevolent fund (occasional) • Holy Communion (occasional) • Wheelchair access (occasional) • Reserved parking

OBSERVATION: This list will surely not be complete. There are at least 30 things here that needed to be attended to most Sundays. All of these needed special attention, even if it was small. It speaks of a vast bustle on a Sunday, all serving the purpose of a thriving Church. Many Churches have this kind of bustle, and few people would really notice.

More Than Conquerors

A businessman once called me from the Church, on his cellphone. He said, “I didn’t know where to run, so I ran to the House of God.” Our caretaker had let him in. I went to the Church to see him. His situation was dire, and he was exhausted. I said to him, “Where is your faith? How did you allow it so to decline? It is our most precious possession. Now you're in a panic! The Bible says that we are more than conquerors. We can lose everything, and still walk tall.” OBSERVATION: I spoke with him, and I prayed with him. He came out the other side just fine. I read today that he is "involved in international projects".

One Appointment a Week

After my mother died, a few years ago, I found her personal diary. There was not much in it -- many pages were blank -- yet into her eighties, she had made one appointment a week, to see this or that influential person. It cannot have been easy for her, to keep up that routine. OBSERVATION: In our Church, we had a woman, also in her eighties (and perhaps nineties), who every day wrote one letter of encouragement to someone. I, too, received such a letter. And she was oh-so-happy with the replies.

Coming the Days of My Prime

Here is a poem by the missionary Amy Carmichael, which made an impression on me already many years ago. She wrote it after suffering "catastrophic injury" at the age of 63. 

Gone, they tell me, is youth
Gone is the strength of my life
Nothing remains but decline
Nothing but age and decay

Not so, I’m God’s little child
Only beginning to live
Coming the days of my prime
Coming the strength of my life
Coming the vision of God
Coming my bloom and my power

Unpredictable Youth

One thing about youth groups -- they may go through rapid phases. At one time, one of our youth groups had few if any girls. Next thing (pictured), there were quite a few. What brought in the girls, I really don't know. A youth group may go through peaceful times, and unruly times. Big times and small times. A spread of ages, or an age group. Black or White, or both. A surplus of leaders, or not enough. You may click on the photo to enlarge to VGA. OBSERVATION: This is one reason not to lose heart if one's youth group is looking small (or stressed).

Ties For Life

There is an article on the BBC today on the "ties for life" which are forged between police officers and the people they rescued. This is one of the great privileges of ministry. There were some interventions which will never be forgotten. OBSERVATION: It may be an intervention in a suicide attempt, help when a person was helpless, or simple diligence with their problems. A bond is created which is never lost. The photo is the BBC's.

Ingredients of Success

Recently, I listened to some sermons of the Gellert Church in Basle, Switzerland. These are delivered in German and Schwyzerdütsch, both of which I know well. The Gellert Church is renowned for its vitality. A pastor summarised three ingredients of their success:

• Unity in great diversity

• The courage of faith decisions

• An outward orientation

OBSERVATION: Yes, absolutely. With regard to no. 2, the Gellert Church once called a second pastor with only two month's of his salary in the bank. The Church grew, and they kept him. With regard to no. 1, it is first things first. Churches tend to disintegrate when the primary focus is lost.

La Première des Vertus.

La Première des Vertus. Courage. I have found that there is tremendous interest in articles which I translate into (some) other languages. I thought that this one was worth reproducing, as the editor considered it "brilliant". Here it is in French. It originally appeared in the leading Spanish philosophy magazine, Filosofia en la Red. Thanks to DEEPL translation, Narakeet text-to-speech, and Adobe animation.

Watching What God Does

It might sound like a truism, but there are basically two ways of looking at ministry -- it's your work, or it's the Lord's work. The difference here may be subtle. One may trust God to make one a superhero (still one's own work), rather than trusting Him to use one's nothingness (the Lord's work). I think this is one of the most important things to know about ministry -- it's not your work. He saves people, He grows people -- a minister just walks in, walks out, and watches what God does.

Lies and Truth

I probably held the view, in my twenties, that truth could be defeated by lies. This was the message of Apocalypse Now, a film which I saw about that time. But through the years, this view changed. I began to see that a lot of lies played into the hands of truth. By now, I consider that God has built the truth into every lie. Did you hear a terrible lie? Did someone do something deceitful? Not to fear, God built the truth into it. It is in the lie, already. OBSERVATION: The true view, I think, would be even to "rejoice" over lies, in the sense that one knows they are defeated. Unfortunately there are still a lot of lies that trouble me!

David Wilkerson Devotions

After my wife Mirjam died, I found David Wilkerson's book Dearly Beloved in a pile of books at her bedside -- and began to read it. I found that it resonated with me -- perhaps because he, too, was in urban ministry -- a kind of ministry which often involves extremes. To this day -- thirteen years after I discovered the book -- wife E and I continue to hold devotions every week based on David Wilkerson's devotions. OBSERVATION: His devotions are available free on the Internet: David Wilkerson Devotions.

Not a Fluke

Here's an example of the roller-coaster ride that a Church's finances may be. But it is, so to speak, normal. At the turn of 2009/2010, our Church experienced a major drop in giving. I thought that the most likely explanation was my wife's cancer diagnosis, which meant in turn that I stepped back from our annual financial campaign. Usually I was at the forefront of that. For the first two-thirds of the financial year, members' giving was more than R50,000 below budget. That means, bleak. However, over the same period, our bank balance rose nearly R60,000 -- then our income entered its strongest stretch in living memory, with one month yielding nearly R95,000. OBSERVATION: Nothing went to plan -- yet we had to attribute it (again) to a miracle of God. There were those who said, "Fluke!" Yet every year is a fluke, in the Church.

Polyanna Pastor

An office secretary once said to me, "You're a real Pollyanna! You don't see the negative! Always the positive!" I needed to look up "Pollyanna" -- a 1913 fictional character who "found something to be glad about in every situation". I explained my attitude something like this: the Church is about what the Lord is doing, and the Lord never makes mistakes, never does anything that disappoints. The photo shows me leading a small service last year.

Helpful Academic Pointers

A thesis or academic paper requires quite a combination of know-how. But beyond the usual academic advices, I have found two to be particularly helpful. I received these from Dr. Vincent Atterbury, my MTh supervisor: 

• “You have mastered the subject, now demonstrate it!” This means, write as one who is competent, authoritative. And 

• “If that's what you mean, why don't you say it?” It’s easy to drop from your text what you are really thinking.

Mentoring Students

Students! They are always the same. A student got in touch with me this morning, "Please if you have time, before tomorrow midnight ..." Then, "Please if you have time". Then, "Pls". It's called panic. I am glad to help, although the help is apportioned to the time in hand! OBSERVATION: I mentor students, just for the love of it, mostly in the Third (Growing) World. I checked several assignments in the last month. This student wanted an edit -- however, I don't alter assignments. I advise the student how to.

Open Door

Throughout my ministr(ies), I have had a Sunday "open door" policy -- perhaps rather, "open minister". I have turned up for Church two hours early, and spent one hour in preparation for the service. The next hour -- and an hour after the service -- has been "open minister" time. I have greeted people in the pews, at the gate, in the garden, in the kitchen ... and if they wanted a word in my vestry and told me that the sky was falling, that was OK -- I was ready for the service. OBSERVATION: Apart from being friendly, there was some very useful time with congregants. I found the photo this morning. 

POSTSCRIPT: I see this photo is time stamped: 8:30 am. I was in action early here.

Revisions

Some statistics on my latest book, This Town: A Complete Metaphysics. I made 1,467 revisions to the text, 592 revisions of the art work (before and after receiving it from the artist), and revised my publisher's proposal 68 times. OBSERVATION: It is said that there are 200+ work sheets relating to Dylan Thomas' Poem On His Birthday (shown). 

Continually Encouraged

Here's an old post  that I found "lying on the shelf". In a demanding and sometimes tumultuous ministry, I received great encouragement from the congregation.

"I know that some ministers are continually dis-couraged by their members (sometimes, chiefly the Church leadership). I am continually en-couraged. Oh, just fifteen minutes with the members makes me feel better. This is not to say that there aren't discouraging moments of ministry, or discouraging aspects -- but on the whole, I am so encouraged. OBSERVATION: I think there are a few things that lie behind their encouragement. Here are three that I can think of: 1. We continually focus on what the Lord is doing among us, 2. I have a relaxed approach to ministry (though not disengaged or slack), and 3. There is a living faith among our members."