LET’S START UP THAT LADDER!

            I was recently reading an article that talked about charity (Tzedakah in Hebrew). In his teaching on charity, Moses Maimonides, a Jewish scholar from the 12^th century, defined eight levels of giving (Maimonides’ ladder). So…picture a ladder.

            Because there are eight rungs on Maimonides’ ladder, I am splitting it between two blogs. Instead of top to bottom I am going from the bottom rung up to the top. By this, let’s approach a ladder that is leaning against a building. I want to get from the ground where I am to the roof. I put my foot on the bottom rung and work my way up, each rung building on the next. I can’t get to the roof unless I’ve stepped on all the rungs along the way. The four bottom rungs on Maimonides’ ladder would look like this.

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   ------------                   Giving to the poor without being asked.

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   -------------                 Giving directly to the poor upon being asked.

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   -------------                 Giving less than one should but doing so cheerfully.

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   -------------                 Giving donations grudgingly.

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            At the bottom, I have to step on the first rung of that ladder called charity. The ground I’m standing on is a place where I don’t give at all. But then I step on that first rung, and I do give. I’m not doing it happily, but I am giving. It’s one little step.

            The next rung moves me a little further. I’m still giving, but now I’m doing it cheerfully! “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor 9:7) And with that rung, I’m definitely moving up!

            So I’m giving and I’m giving cheerfully, what’s the next step? Now I’m giving directly to the poor when I’m asked. That’s good. I’m asked to give, and I give. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:42)

            And then the next step says I’m going to give without even being asked! Now that’s impressive. No one has asked me to give, but I see a need and I give to help alleviate that need.  If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? (1 John 3:17)

            These are some pretty impressive steps, just four steps that start up the ladder of charity. In just four steps, I WILL move from not giving at all to giving when I become aware of a need!

            Seemingly four simple steps on a ladder of charity, but some pretty significant steps. How does someone move from not giving at all to giving without being asked, simply because I perceive a need?

            Charity happens because we are generous. The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor. (Proverbs 22:9)

            We are generous because God was first generous with us. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15)

            We are loved because God first loved us. We love because we are loved!

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)          

            CALL: God is good…

            RESPONSE:  All the time!

            CALL: All the time….

            RESPONSE: God is good!

            ALL: AMEN!

HOW AND WHY DO PEOPLE GIVE?

 

HOW AND WHY DO PEOPLE GIVE?

 

I recently took a webinar that suggested that each of us should start a generosity journal. I have to admit, journaling is not my “thing.” For me, it’s just one more thing that I feel guilty about not doing. When I’ve journaled in the past, it’s been for a short-term specific reason. It may have been helpful, but long-term journaling doesn’t work for me. You will not find a box of diaries for the last 50 years in a box under my bed. It’s just not going to happen!

 

But the questions to consider when doing the generosity journal did intrigue me. There are multiple questions to consider, but some of them are:

·            What does being generous mean to me?

·            When I think of someone who’s generous, who do I think of?

·            Who taught me how to be generous?

·            How do I feel about money?

·            What is my earliest memory of money?

·            Do I remember feeling poor or stressed about money when I was younger?

·            Do I feel like I have enough today that will allow me to be generous?

Generosity is one of the most important parts of being a disciple, of being a good steward of the gifts that God has entrusted to us. It’s as important as worship and service.

So, what happens when we feel that we are generous, that the persons that are part of our congregation are generous? How do we approach them to ask them to grow in their faith journey by becoming more generous? Do we approach everyone the same?

No, I don’t think we do. I’ve worked on enough stewardship campaigns, also known as the fall financial campaign(!) to know that it’s easy to send the same letter to everyone. Everyone hears the same sermon series, and everyone is asked to consider increasing their current level of giving. Not bad on the face of it.

But not everyone gives the same way. Some are further along on their faith journey so that generosity is already part of their being; some have never been taught how to give to the church at all; some are no longer working and have retired; some have just graduated with large student loan debt; some are members of two income families; some have kids in college. Every one of these scenarios is different, and each one of these scenarios will mean that a different response to an “ask”. There are other reasons why people would react differently to the same request. Some are very generalized and some have been borne out by research.

Demographics is one way that trends for giving are different. One research report that I came across broke down giving this way:

·            Ages 24 -34 are The Card Crowd. These churchgoers want to use cards and electronic payment tools—for giving, for paying for books, for fundraisers

·            Ages 35 – 44 are The Core: The Most Frequent Attendees. These are the folks that are regulars at church, on Sundays and throughout the week. They like electronic giving as well

·            Ages 45-54 are The Committed: The Credit & Debit Donors. They are very comfortable using credit and debt cards for all kinds of purchases online.

·            Ages 55-65 are The Established: The 10% Tithers. These are the folks that are more likely to tithe than any other demographic. They are also becoming more interested in electronic giving tools

·           Ages 66-72 are The Sustainers: The eGiving Explorers. Their reputation is for more traditional giving methods, but many are willing to learn.

Of course, this research was to assist churches in determining how to approach electronic giving with folks.

Well, I hate to break it to you; whether we really like it or not, online giving is important and is probably here to stay. If your church hasn’t considered online giving before, you absolutely have to consider it now.

There are fewer folks in our pews than prior to the building closures that started in March. We’re not passing offering plates any more, and giving is different for everyone! It’s different because we’re different as people, but it’s different because everything is different!

There are multiple online giving platforms. If you don’t have one, start researching. Don’t wait any longer. Whatever you choose needs to be simple for someone to navigate, give you good reports, and respond with thanks to a donation. The Upper New York Conference website has an article with a list of various online platforms to consider.

Each of us gives differently and each of us gives for different reasons. Don’t lump everyone one together and assume that everyone will respond the same!

 

WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE?

 

How do you define success? The internet says it’s “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose;” “the attainment of fame, wealth, or social status,” or “a person or thing that achieves desired aims or attains fame, wealth, etc.”

If we look at these definitions and consider how they relate to the church, what do you think? The first seems a little more church than the others—at first glance. We do like to achieve a purpose, even as a church. We like to be able to start a ministry or help someone, or worship as a congregation.

I attended a webinar yesterday led by Michael Batts, and have started reading his book, Church Finance. Sounds terribly exciting doesn’t it? Well, the first thing the book talks about is determining the mission and purpose of your church. What is your specific church called to do? This is more than the mission statement that appears on the front of your bulletin (when we can have them again), or on your church’s website or in the monthly newsletter. Because none of us can do everything, we have to figure out:

·         What is it that God is calling your specific church to do and to be?

·         What are your assets—people, money, building, talents, etc.?

·         What are you good at?

Then the webinar and the book goes on to talk about building your budget (a/k/a ministry plan) around that mission and purpose. In other words, when you have figured out your mission and purpose (not an easy or quick task), then look at each program, etc. that you currently have and compare it to that mission and purpose. Does it support it? If so, keep it. If not, let it go. Then look at other needs in your community, in the church and in the world. What of those fit your mission and purpose? Once you have all of those programs narrowed down, figure out what you can do. That will depend on your dream, but also the money, the people, staff, volunteers, property, etc.

Then build your budget to support those programs that support your mission.

For me, as an accountant, this is exciting stuff! It may not seem exciting to you, but let’s leave the whole concept of budgeting out of the discussion and look at mission and purpose.

Do you know what the mission and purpose of your church actually is? This takes conversation and study. Look at the history of the church and the community. Look at the gifts and graces of the people in your congregation, both volunteer and paid. We won’t all have the same mission. Maybe your mission is helping the poor in the community, or it’s evangelism, or it’s foreign aid, or something else. Keep in mind that once you figure out the “big” idea, then you can figure out HOW you’ll accomplish it.

As a basic example, helping the poor in your community can involve free meals, backpacks with school supplies for children, tutoring children, child care or senior care, or using land to build affordable housing, or allowing space in your building to be used by new start-ups in the community that can’t afford normal commercial rent, but could afford a more nominal rent. HOW can you accomplish your purpose?

Those are just a few ideas that I came up with off the top of my head. Another book that I just finished is The Coming Revolution in Church Economics – Why Tithes and Offerings Are No Longer Enough, and What You Can Do About It, by Mark Deymaz with Harry Li. That book contained a lot of ideas about ways churches can leverage the assets they have to support their budget, certainly, but, more importantly, to accomplish their mission. I am working on a workshop to study his book, his ideas and look at how it can help each church.

We need to open our minds to whole new ways of “doing” church. But before we can do that, we need to look at what we have, figure out what God is calling us to do specifically, and then DO the ministry that will fulfill our God-given purpose. Amen? Amen!