Many thanks to Henry Freeman, Jaree Weeks and all who participated in our discussion on Henri Nouwen’s The Spirituality of Fund-Raising. No doubt this discussion will bear fruit for all of us and we hope you will come back to this blog in the weeks and months to come to share how Henri’s vision of […]
Henri Nouwen has long been known for his poignant, insightful books that are short, easy-to-read yet full of content. I would describe Henri Nouwen as a person who has a gift for sharing brief yet powerful “nuggets” of information and words of wisdom that, for many people, last a lifetime.
One obvious example of Henri […]
Jaree Weeks has agreed to serve as moderator for this week’s discussion regarding prayer and gratitude.
To start us off, Jaree offered the following reflection regarding Chapter 6.–Henry
In the previous chapter, Henri may have reached the “core” of his teachings by making the connection between “spirituality” and “community” but in this chapter he explains to us […]
Perhaps no other chapter in this little book is “closer to the core” of where the author connects with his readers. Whenever you hear a reference to Henri Nouwen, two words almost invariably come to mind: “spirituality” and “community”. Indeed, Henri’s understanding of God’s Calling as a theologian and author cannot easily be […]
As we enter the second half of our six-week discussion of Henri Nouwen’s The Spirituality of Fund-Raising, I took a few minutes to review the long, extensive, and “rich” list of comments so many of you provided in the “Getting Started—About You” section several weeks ago. What impressed me is that many of you—from […]
It is difficult to read Chapter 4 without asking the question: “Why (for most people) is asking for money so hard?” Or, for some people, the question might be “Why is asking, ‘easy for me’ but so hard for others?”
Given the range of experiences we all bring to the table, this should be […]
The Bible is filled with passages about God’s concern for the poor. Henri, however, takes us in what appears to be the opposite direction. He confronts us with the challenge of opening our hearts to those who are rich!
While this chapter includes many jewels of wisdom, one of the most striking is on […]
In the first chapter Henri introduced us to the concept of fund-raising as a spiritual act—a process that nurtures the souls and lives of people. It is, in Henri’s eyes, an act that brings us together as a community undertaking the joyful task of serving as a vessel for enabling us to do […]
In Chapter 1 Henri offered many jewels of wisdom regarding his understanding of fund-raising as ministry and the act of asking as an “invitation” to join others on a journey toward fulfilling a mission, building the Kingdom and/or “doing good” in a world with great need.
I hope everyone will continue the conversation on “Fund-Raising as […]
First of all, welcome to what I am sure will be a living and spirited conversation! Second, if you haven’t already done so, please take a moment to introduce yourself on the “Getting Started” post below where you will find very insightful words of introduction provided by the other blog participants. And finally, […]