So, how’s your church budget doing this year? It’s March now, which means it’s also a good time to look at church finances. You can probably already tell what kind of start the church is off too. Granted, January and February are not strong months for offerings, historically. However, you can take this into account as you look at what kind of January and February the church has had–and make some adjustments. If you’re off to a better year than anticipated, praise God. If you aren’t, praise God anyway, and make a small tweak or two now. It will save you much greater pain down the road.
Continue Reading...Archives For money
Recently, the Chronicle of Philanthropy published it’s study on charitable giving. As is often the case, data beats stereotypes when it comes to generosity. Here are some quotes from their study:
- “Religion has a big influence on giving patterns. Regions of the country that are deeply religious are more generous than those that are not. Two of the top nine states—Utah and Idaho—have high numbers of Mormon residents, who have a tradition of tithing at least 10 percent of their income to the church. The remaining states in the top nine are all in the Bible Belt.”
- “When religious giving isn’t counted, the geography of giving is very different. Some states in the Northeast jump into the top 10 when secular gifts alone are counted. New York would vault from No. 18 to No. 2, and Pennsylvania would climb from No. 40 to No. 4.”
- “The reasons for the discrepancies among states, cities, neighborhoods are rooted in part in each area’s political philosophy about the role of government versus charity.”
One other point of interest was that middle class and upper middle class families give a proportionately larger percentage of their income than the wealthy or poor. The Chronicle’s analysis suggests the poor can’t do more, and the rich don’t know the stories behind charitable causes because they often are in proximity to real stories of poverty, etc.
Here’s something we all need to think about:
“And as the nation seeks to recover from the worst economic slide since the Great Depression, the cities and states with the most-generous residents may be in a better position to help the millions of people still suffering from joblessness and other financial setbacks, say experts.
“There’s a storm coming,” says Bruce Katz, vice president at the Brookings Institution and an expert on the nation’s cities. “Which places are prepared?”
Mr. Katz says local governments should be thinking hard about how to encourage giving because “we don’t have the welfare programs that we have had in the past. The need for individual giving is greater than it has been in modern memory.”
Hopefully, we are prepared to help. We will be better equipped if we cultivate generosity in our congregations now. Not only will facilitate ministry that helps lead people to Jesus, it will equip the church to serve the less fortunate in ways the government cannot or will not.
One last thought: there is no correlation between wealth, employment rate, etc. and proportion of income given–other than a slightly negative correlation. People don’t give based on income size. They give based on worldview. This is a lesson the church should learn from the story of the Widow’s Mite, but it’s good to see it played out modern-day as well. Generosity is expected of all followers of Jesus (rich or poor), and it flows not from a full wallet–but from a full heart (rich or poor).
The economy is tough. I know–we just planted a church in a town with double-digit unemployment, and remains over 9%. Nevertheless, I’ve seen amazing acts of insane generosity from people with both little and much–and ungodly greed from both rich and poor. It’s not about size of the wallet. It’s about the size of the Gospel in a person. Or, better put by a far better teacher: Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Click here to explore the giving in your neighborhood or any place you want. For instance, on average, people in New Vintage Church’s zip code give 4.4% of their income to charity. An interesting question is, are Christians any more/less generous than the average person?
Question: Did anything in the study surprise you? Why do you think Bible-belters and the middle-class/upper-middle class give a higher percentage of their income?
And now, for our controversial post of the week 
The subject of money is inappropriately taboo in some churches. Preachers feel awkward talking about it, Christians feel awkward listening to it, and often the result is a lack of teaching on this vital aspect of discipleship.
Jesus obviously speaks of it often. He says our heart will be where our treasure is and that we can’t serve both God and money. He praises the widow for her mite-size offering and warns the rich of the dangers of wealth. This is just the beginning. To sum it up, how a person handles what God entrusts to them matters a great deal to God. More important than supporting the ministry of the church (though that’s important) is opening ourselves to Jesus’ conforming of our greed, materialism, need to possess, and selfishness to the cross.
Yet, when choosing elders, ministry leaders, hiring staff, many churches find it offensive to suggest one’s giving be examined in a discussion of spiritual maturity. I believe it should. At New Vintage Church, staff is required to tithe, and any future elders we have probably will as well. This doesn’t mean they’ve reached the summit in this important area of discipleship. However, it does:
- Insure we can ask the church to tithe with integrity and without hypocrisy.
- Increase authentic investment of one’s whole life in the church–avoiding compartmentalization of physical and spiritual.
- While tithing doesn’t represent a summit, it creates a place-holder in our lives for the vital spiritual discipline of giving. Research shows tithers tend to be the most generous to causes outside the church as well.
- Regular giving is a sign of spiritual maturity. A person who claims spiritual maturity and doesn’t practice generosity toward their church is similar to a person who claims spiritual maturity and doesn’t show up on Sundays. Giving isn’t the complete measure. It is one measurement. Regular giving to the church is a sign that one understands the reign of God over their finances.
There are other reasons, as well.
Creating a culture of generosity in your church begins with cultivating generous leadership. Ask your elders to commit to it and be held accountable for it and do the same with staff. If you are paying staff so little it becomes a back-breaking burden–consider practicing generosity toward your staff by raising pay. Paying little and not expecting them to give holds back everyone involved. It’s better to pay them generously and expect them to give generously.
If Jesus where our treasure is, there our hearts will be, how can we ignore treasure in our efforts to touch and shape the heart into the likeness of Christ?
Thoughts?
Generosity isn’t just for the rich. Preachers who encourage those who have less not to give do a a great disservice to the Kingdom. Of course God commands those who are rich to radical generosity. He does the same for those who have less. Generosity is the call of every Christian, and God uses it to transform every Christian.
Sacrificial generosity is that which is most pleasing to God. Jesus said as much in the story of the widow’s mite. Paul echoed it in his affirmation of the Macedonian churches.
Here is a modern-day example: The inspiring story of how generosity transformed this village in Uganda. Well, well worth the 6 minutes.
Sacrificial generosity transforms the giver, whether rich or poor.
The Barna Group has released a new study of the impact of recent economic events on giving and other behaviors. Click here to read the report. In summary, it says people have dramatically downsized their giving throughout the recent economic events–in some cases regardless of any real economic impact to them personally.
In their interpretation of the study, David Kinnaman writes:
“It is true that many Americans are living on less due to salary reductions, furlows, loss of jobs, or the inability to get a position that matched a previous salary. These are difficult circumstances for anyone to face and could have legitimate influence on donations. However, most of the Barna indicators focus less on the amount of dollars donated and more on the underlying attitudes and generosity of Americans. Most Americans think of their giving as secondary to their survival. Yet, from a biblical perspective, generosity should be part of Christians’ fundamental response to the downturn.”
Do you agree with him? If not, why?
