{"product_id":"the-black-church-s-economic-challenge-stewardship-leadership-and-the-cost-of-what-we-avoid","title":"The Black Church’s Economic Challenge","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor more than twenty-five years, I served as an assistant pastor before stepping into the role of senior pastor. Those years shaped me, tested me, and humbled me. \u003cstrong\u003eThey gave me a front row seat to both the beauty and the brokenness of the Black church.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis book is not written from a place of judgment. I have failed more times than I care to admit. I have made decisions that did not always reflect the heart of Christ. I have lived through seasons where my priorities were misplaced and my stewardship was weak.\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYet it was in those failures that God taught me lessons I could never have learned in a classroom\u003cbr\u003eor seminary. \u003cstrong\u003ePain became my instructor, and humility became my companion.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat you are holding is not a book of condemnation. It is a wakeup call\u003c\/strong\u003e. A call to examine the subjects we often avoid, money, stewardship, consumerism, bankruptcy, and the quiet but powerful ways leadership practices shape the people who trust us. \u003cstrong\u003eIt is an invitation to\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003econfront an uncomfortable truth.\u003c\/strong\u003e While the Black church has been one of the most influential institutions in Black America, it has also been one of the most fragile when it comes to economic sustainability.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI write with both gratitude and grief. \u003cstrong\u003eGratitude for the generations before us who built schools, hospitals, businesses, and neighborhoods through faith, discipline, and collective sacrifice.\u003c\/strong\u003e Grief for the ways we have mismanaged resources, normalized financial strain, funded systems that quietly enslave us, and in some cases lost the trust of our own people.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMy prayer is that this book opens eyes, stirs honest conversations, and inspires change at the local leve\u003c\/strong\u003el. Not global movements. Not celebrity pastors. Not megachurch spectacles.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBut faithful, grounded communities of believers who choose to live differently, steward wisely, and lead with integrity\u003c\/strong\u003e. If that work begins in small rooms and humble places, it will still be worth it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Christian Outreach Center","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50807066984681,"sku":null,"price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0756\/9961\/8025\/files\/IMG_2997.png?v=1775666991","url":"https:\/\/christianoutreachcenter.org\/products\/the-black-church-s-economic-challenge-stewardship-leadership-and-the-cost-of-what-we-avoid","provider":"Christian Outreach Center","version":"1.0","type":"link"}