Tending the Money Wound: A Performative Autoethnography of Testimony

Abstract

As churches and other ministries struggle with financial shortfalls due to COVID-19 and other socio-religious reasons, many church leaders are anxious about becoming under-resourced. Funding is quickly becoming an urgent challenge, and many churches and ministries are either restructuring to soften the crisis or closing altogether. To explore this challenge from a personal and professional lens, I wrote and preached a sermon series using first-person testimonial preaching through the performative autoethnography method. In the series I explored the concept of the “money wound” as it pertains to revenue generation among church leaders, particularly within my own narrative. Data was collected through the sermon series. Reflections on the sermon series expanded the narrative of the series while also self-consciously examining the quality of the sermon, discussing whether the stories in the series met their intent. Implications for further research and practice are for first-person narrative preaching and sermons about money, as well as stewardship conversation and planning, ecclesial structural renewal, and further reflection on the spirituality of money.