Does your church use Financial Peace University for a personal finance program? Now, there is a better option. Switch to Saving Grace: A Guide to Financial Well-Being. It provides all that participants need to plan for and reach their financial goals, but more than that, it is grounded in Wesleyan values. And it will cost your church less money to implement.
Wespath, the pension and benefits agency of The United Methodist Church, and Abingdon Press, of The United Methodist Publishing House, have teamed up to produce Saving Grace. It is a video-based curriculum that provides the text and tools you need to address the topics of saving, earning, giving, spending, and debt, along with helpful strategies for achieving a sustainable financial life.
Save Your Church Money, Too
The full curriculum can be purchased in a kit for only $79.99 when you buy from Cokesbury. The kit includes the DVD, leader guide, participant workbook, clergy workbook, and devotional book. Additional workbooks are only $15.49 each. The videos are also available online with an Amplify subscription, or you can purchase the streaming videos from Cokesbury.
The full kit can also be borrowed from the NC Conference Media Center. That means you can implement this entire program in your church, and it will cost you absolutely nothing if participants purchase their own workbooks.
The NC Conference Media Center is free to anyone involved with a United Methodist Church in the North Carolina Conference. We will mail the kit to your church, and you return it when you are finished with the program. All you need to do is fill out the Resource Request Form.
For Clergy, Too
Saving Grace includes a special clergy module that addresses financial issues unique to pastors. This three-week study brings together faith and vocation while attending to the unique financial details of living as a pastor and being employed by the church. The clergy workbook contains worksheets and downloadable planners.
Only interested in the clergy materials? You can watch the clergy videos for free on Amplify without a subscription! Then, all you need to do is order the clergy workbook. Download a free sample of the clergy workbook. See what Alex Joyner has to say about how Saving Grace will help clergy in this short video.
More about the Program
The participant videos are hosted by United Methodist Pastors Tom Berlin and Anna Guillozet and they feature several money management experts. The clergy videos are hosted by Janet and Philip Jamieson. Watch the short video below to hear Tom Berlin introduce Saving Grace and explain why it is needed at your church.
You can also download samples of each of the books:
Saving Grace includes lots of worksheets and forms to help participants implement the lessons. You can download zip files of the printable forms and interactive calculation forms.
Borrow Saving Grace
Whether you just want to take a look at it, or if you are ready to provide the curriculum for your church (or yourself), you can borrow the full kit or its parts from the NC Conference Media Center if you are involved in a United Methodist Church in the North Carolina Conference. There is no charge, and the kit can be mailed to you. You just return it when you are finished using it. All you need to do is fill out the Resource Request Form. View the kit components in our online catalog for more details on each item:
Additional Resources
If Saving Grace is not what you’re looking for, the Media Center also carries many other stewardship campaigns, small-group studies, and curricula for youth and children. View our complete lists of stewardship resources in these pathfinders: