Who We Are - Faith and Money Network

Mike Little

Mike Little leads the inward and outward work of Faith and Money Network as director. Within the network, Mike fosters relationships with individuals and churches, leading reflections and discussions on the role of money in our lives as people of faith and in our work as the community of faith. He is building a range of resources that individuals and churches can use to explore spirituality and money.

Mike serves as the lead money mentor, listening to and accompanying individuals who want to deepen their understanding of how money shapes their lives and take actions consistent with that depth of understanding. His regular Facebook posts and e-mail newsletters keep members up- to-date on relevant news and what he and other people are writing and thinking about faith and money issues. Mike also broadens the discussion into new places. He preaches and teaches in churches throughout the US and Canada, helping them figure out a new definition of stewardship— stewardship not as a fundraising campaign but as a way of life.

Since he began as director in 2007, Mike has led trips of perspective in Haiti, India, Nicaragua, South Africa, and the US. Mike has consulted extensively with nonprofits to help them clarify the role of money in their personal and organizational lives and develop the spiritual grounding to raise money to fund their missions. Serving on several boards of directors over the past 25 years, Mike is currently on the board for Life Asset Financial Center, an emerging Church of the Saviour ministry that provides access to financial services for people who face barriers to using traditional financial institutions. He’s also a skilled and sought-after group facilitator, with decades of experience helping groups learn, grow and work together. He was recently chosen as an online small group leader for a project initiated by OnBeing and the Fetzer Institute.

Mike has spent more than two decades working with Church of the Saviour ministries in Washington, DC, in the areas of homelessness, addictions, affordable housing, and job services.

Mike has a life-long commitment to Christ-centered, justice-seeking movements for social change. He lives in the DC area with his wife and two children.

History

Faith and Money Network began its work more than 35 years ago as Ministry of Money. Founder Don McClanen recognized the relationship between money and fear and anger, and he realized that few people addressed these problems from the perspective of their faith. As a first step, Don recruited his mission group within the Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC, to spend a year working with money. The mission group members reported becoming freer from anxiety about their financial situations and freer to use their money creatively. Based on this experience, the first Ministry of Money workshop was held in 1976.

Hundreds of faith and money workshops have been held since then, providing time, community and resources for thousands of people of faith to explore their relationship with money from the roots of their spiritual beliefs and values.

Pilgrimages of reverse mission began in the late 1980s, taking small groups of people to places of economic poverty from India to Palestine to Haiti to experience how some communities live in great faith though in few financial resources.

At least two groups have spun off from Ministry of Money. Don McClanen formed Harvest Time, answering a call to work specifically with the very wealthy. The Women’s Perspective began within Ministry of Money in the late 1980s, and in early 2001 became an independent nonprofit to provide education for women seeking to understand their spiritual and economic power.

After more than 30 years of faithful work, Ministry of Money changed its name to Faith and Money Network. This new name inspires and guides our vision to equip people to transform their relationship with money, to live with integrity and intentionality, and to participate in creating a more equitable world.