Campaign Consulting is Now a part of the TENS Family of Services

Since 1996 TENS has been partnering with The Episcopal Church through dioceses and congregations to offer training and education, quality campaign resources, and to host a resource library compiled over decades by faithful lay and clergy church leaders. 

Now, employing the same values that drive our annual campaign materials of affordability, accessibility, and inclusivity, we are proud to offer a full suite of campaign consulting for dioceses and congregations in virtual, hybrid, and full models.

TENS Consulting follows four core principles:

Transparency

Equal Accessibility

Need-Responsiveness

Sustainability

These values inform everything from our pricing ranges to our commitment to customize services for congregations with fewer resources. Our goal is to make campaign consulting affordable, accessible, and theologically grounded for Episcopal congregations of all sizes and budgets.

TENS Offers consulting to congregations, to institutions (schools, camps, special ministries), and to dioceses. Our experienced consultant team has completed successful campaigns across the Church.

We invite you to learn more on our website, and, as you imagine your program growth and capital needs for this year, to reach out to us for more information on how we can create a scalable, affordable initiative for your congregation or diocese.

Be sure to ask about Member Discounts

A Lenten Reflection

Lent is a season of turning – turning back to God, turning away from fear, scarcity, and selfishness, and opening our hearts to be remade in love. Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, the Church invites us to remember that we are dust, yes, but dust that God has shaped for holy purposes.

The spiritual Plenty Good Room reminds us that God’s kingdom is wide and welcoming: “plenty good room in my Father’s kingdom, just choose your seat and sit down.” Lent asks us: what keeps us from taking our place at God’s table? What burdens, anxieties, or false stories of scarcity do we need to lay down in order to sit freely in God’s grace?

We live in a world that tells us constantly there is not enough. Not enough money to go around. Not enough time to spare. Not enough compassion to share. Lent unmasks this lie and offers a radical truth: with God, there is always enough. The discipline of Lent – simplifying, giving, praying – is not meant to reduce us, but to remind us that abundance flows from God, not from hoarding or fear.

Each act of generosity we make – whether giving to the poor, serving our neighbor, or pledging support for the mission of the church – becomes a way of dismantling the systems of scarcity. Generosity begets generosity. When we share what we have, no matter how small it may seem, God multiplies it for the sake of the kingdom.

During Lent, we journey with Christ into the wilderness, where he resists the temptation to grasp for power and instead embraces trust in God’s abundance. We walk the road to the cross, where Jesus gives everything for the sake of love. And in that sacrifice, we discover once again that God has already made plenty good room for each of us.

This Lent, may we give generously, pray fervently, and live boldly into the abundance of God’s kingdom. There is plenty good room – for repentance, for transformation, for new life.

“And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.” — 2 Corinthians 9:8

For Reflection: What most often stands in your way to sharing your gifts more freely and abundantly?

J. Davey Gerhard is the Executive Director of TENS and believes in God’s all-inclusive invitation to find Love when we are gathered together. He lives, works, and worships in San Francisco, California.

This reflection is a part of the Plenty Good Room Seasonal Reflections, which you may download from our website.

TENS Board visits Kansas City for the Annual Retreat

TENS was invited by the Stewardship Commission of the Diocese of West Missouri and Bishop Amy Meaux to gather in Kansas City for the annual board and staff retreat and to host a regional conference while there. Kansas City is one of a few Crossroads Cities in the United States where population passed through on the northern and westward expansion of the early 19th Century.

Famous for Jazz and for its own version of Barbeque, we used those very American crafts as inspiration for our work. Both jazz and bbq take elements from other places and people and combine them into something new, much like the Body of Christ gathered, blessed, and shared with the world. While we were in Kansas City we visited the American Jazz Museum and had a fantastic guided tour of the history of this melting pot of music and rhythm. What a blessing to be in this part of the country!

Download the 2026/27 Annual Campaign Materials and prepare for a successful Pledge Campaign!

In God’s house there is always room for more: more ideas, more people, more ways to share, more stories to tell. And in the world that God created, there is more needed: more love, more connection, more peace, more creativity. Plenty Good Room reminds us that there is always room in God’s house; we just need to make ourselves at home and invite others to join us. The ways we steward our relationships, resources, and responses to grow ministry and serve our neighbors are the ways we connect our gratitude to our generosity. There’s Plenty Good Room in God’s House; pull up a chair and sit down. Want to know the inspiration behind this year's theme: here's the talented Lynda Randle singing the spiritual Plenty Good Room

Our theme for the annual campaign this year focuses on our hospitality and how, if we ask members to be generous, we can always find a way to increase our work in God's kingdom.

Our 2026/27 campaign materials are ready for download now.. As always, we offer our campaign materials in English and Spanish. This year's package includes:

• Seasonal Reflections and Questions - Advent through Christ the King
• Sample letters from clergy, wardens, and committee members
• Sample thank-you letter
• Logos and artwork for the Plenty Good Room / Invitados a la Mesa campaign
• Liturgical resources - Prayers of the People and Offertory blessings
• Pledge cards in Word and .pdf
• Campaign timeline for ideal implementation

Preaching and Teaching Tips for February

February 1, Epiphany 4 - Year A

Matthew 5: 1-12

The Beatitudes are the foundational teaching of Jesus, appearing at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. Can you imagine showing up to this weekend seminar, sitting on the grass with your family and neighbors to listen to this prophet and teaching you’ve been hearing about? Life is hard, the Romans are oppressive, the Temple authorities are relentless in their taxes and demands, and all around you, the people of God seem to be falling away from their core. You’re looking for a savior, a visionary, a leader. And then Jesus begins his teaching. And everything is unsteady, turned upside down, this doesn’t sound like the easy revolution you had been hoping for.

Instead, Jesus tells us that in order to seek the Kingdom of God we will have to do the opposite of what power, money, culture, tradition teaches us to do - we’re going to have to break the rules. This message is for us as faithful stewards engaged in the countercultural work of breaking the convention to safeguard resources in favor of sharing them generously with our community and our neighbors. As you find your way into Jesus’ teachings this season, remember that he called us to break the rules in order to bring justice.

February 8, Epiphany 5 - Year A

Matthew 5: 13-20

You are the light. Christmas and Epiphany are celebrations of light and its distinction from darkness. In Christmas we witness the birth of the light and throughout Epiphany we participate in the shining of that light into dark places, places that need purification, exposure, healing. As we follow Jesus through the first steps of his teaching ministry, we are called to help God manifest the light into the world through our actions, our works, our faith. 

In these readings, taken from the Sermon on the Mount, we are reminded that we are the light of the world. Co-creators, participants with God through our faith in Jesus in healing a world in need. As you engage your ministry this year, imagine what your light looks like, how you might shine in the world, where you can be aimed and directed to shed warmth and love in your community. 

February 15, Epiphany 6 - Year A

Matthew 17: 1-9

The Transfiguration is, to me, one of those weird stories in the Bible. I understand that it’s placement is to mirror Moses on the Mountain, bringing God’s law to God’s exiled people, but of all the miracles mentioned in Scripture, on a cursory reading this could feel like magic rather than miracle. But that’s the point - we are called to look deeper into the moment and find its meaning.

When we encounter someone in need - perhaps someone without a home on the street, or someone who is suffering, or a person who is at their bottom - we are asked to look behind the face we see and find the face of Jesus transfigured, radiant, filled with love. When we truly see the face of Christ in those we meet - those with whom we disagree, those whom we love, those whom we have only just met - we find the transparent connection mentioned in this moment between Jesus, Peter, and James. Everyone we meet has the same breath of God flowing through their lungs and the same blood God created flowing in their veins. We are invited to treat our neighbors as kin, for in the Transfiguration we are all related. That is a miracle indeed!

February 22, Lent 1 - Year A

Matthew 4: 1-11

Have you ever been tempted by Satan? The powers of darkness don’t always take a form we can easily recognize, they call to us in subtle ways, in sweet ways. “That person who hurt you deserves to hurt, don’t forgive them,” Satan says. “Should you be giving that money to the Church? In this economy?” Darkness whispers. “It’s just a little reimbursement receipt, hardly grand larceny, a rounding error for a big company,” the temptation to acquire more makes it sound logical and easy. But that’s just it, darkness is often the easy choice, the one that feels justified, the one that culture says is ok. 

Stewardship is about discernment. Relationships matter, so we are called to forgive. Resources are freely given, therefore we are called to share. Responses show our true motives, and so thinking twice and making the right choice is how we are called to be in the world. When we take that moment to discern what God calls us to do with our time, talent, and treasure, we find that putting Satan behind us and finding the path in the light might not be easiest, but it’s the one that feels most joyful. That feeling - that warmth, lightness, the way your soul smiles - that’s the sign that your discernment is wise.

Time to Register - Beginning or Reinvigorating Your Planned Giving - Feb 14, 9AM PST

Planned Gifts are the way to create and build an Endowment that will provide perpetual operating support for your congregation and create a reserve for emergency repairs. But more than a revenue stream, a robust planned giving program in your church inspires people to think about their legacy and about the ways they want to be remembered. Learn how to create or reinvigorate this critical ministry at our webinar on February 14.

Look at our upcoming webinars for more opportunities to learn together in 2026!

March is the perfect time to recruit and train your Stewardship Committee! March 21, 9AM PST

Give yourself and your campaign a head start by identifying and recruiting a stewardship team early in the year. With more time to imagine and plan for your stewardship campaign, this group can create great ideas for outreach, propose adult education opportunities, and tell the story of our mission and ministry all year long.

Look at our upcoming webinars for more opportunities to learn together in 2026!

Check out our resources and training slide decks from the Midwest Regional Conference held at St. Paul's, Kansas City on Friday, January 30. We welcomed fifty folks from Missouri and Kansas to join us in a day of learning, teaching, and training. You can download the slide decks here.

Looking for an upgrade to your Church donation software?

TENS has a partnership with Vanco, the leading provider of church stewardship and communication software! TENS members get half-off their monthly fee, and greatly reduced transaction rates. Sign up for a free demo today and level-up your stewardship communications and pledge campaigns!

As a TENS member, new Vanco customers get special pricing with up to:

• 49% off of the monthly rate (from $49/mo to $25/mo.)
• 23% off of ACH processing fees (from 39 to 30 cents/transaction) and a 44% discount on ACH processing rates (from .90%/transaction to .50%/transaction)
• 23% off of credit/debit card processing fees (from 39 to 30 cents/transaction) and 15% off of credit card processing rates (from 2.65% to 2.25%/transaction)*
• A text-to-give add-on reduced from $10/month to $5/month