GENEROSITY AUDIT

           I’m going to start this blog with a “simple” question: Has your church ever done a generosity audit? Now, don’t panic when you read the word audit. I know, for some, it’s a “bad” word. After all, among the definitions of the word audit are “a formal examination of an organization's or individual's accounts or financial situation The audit showed that the company had misled investors,” or “a methodical examination and review.”

          The Book of Discipline and the Conference tell every church that they have to do an audit every year! For some, understanding why is difficult.

·        After all, we know our treasurer is responsible and wouldn’t do anything wrong.

·        We don’t need an audit if there’s nothing wrong.

·        It’s just so much work to pull all the documents together.

          I do appreciate the idea, but we’re not doing church financial audits because we thing there is something wrong or we don’t trust someone. Actually, conducting an audit isn’t a symbol of distrust! It’s a mark of responsibility; it’s good stewardship demonstrated for all to see; and it’s a message to local church donors that you care about their gifts!

          And those same reasons that we have for doing a financial audit are the reasons for doing a generosity audit. Why? Because the idea of a generosity audit is to do a deep dive into how a donor perceives the churches and to understand how the church communicates to the donors from the donor perspective. Using this generosity audit as part of a stewardship and generosity plan will how elevate the cultures and theology of generosity that exists in the church, with the objective of increasing the operating income by engaging the heart and passion of the donor.

          Did you catch that? It doesn’t talk about increasing operating income by getting new members, or talking about meeting the budget or engaging pocketbooks and wallets. It talks about heart and passion. How we “do” stewardship has to change in the local church. We are well past the point when focusing on the need of the church to give is effective. We are well past the point when focusing on the need of the giver to giver has to start.

          What are some questions that are answered as part of a generosity audit? Some examples are:[1]

1.   Does your pastor know who gives and how much?

a.   Knows nothing, wants to know nothing

b.   Wants to know but is denied access

c.   Has some idea and is given some information

d.   Has full access

2.   When a person is asked to serve in a leadership role, is how or her giving taken into consideration?

a.   We would never do something like that

b.   Our pastor might make reference to it

c.   Yes, we take seriously a person’s generosity and giving when filling leadership positions in our church.

3.   Do you regularly tell stories of how your ministries change lives?

a.   In worship _____ yes _____no

b.   In newsletters _____yes _____no

c.   In giving statements _____yes _____no

d.   In email blasts _____yes _____no

4.   Does your church have a unique vision for ministry that unites your congregation and sets you apart from our churches?

a.   No

b.   Our pastor might

c.   Yes, but we really aren’t united around it

d.   Yes, and it drives everything we do as a church

5.   Do you regularly thank your pledgers and your givers? _____yes _____no

          There are many other questions in an audit that will help you understand now church donors interact with the church; how to encourage and cultivate increased giving by more intentional connection to the vision and mission; and determine specific steps in engaging giving.

          If this is something that your church would benefit from (and everyone would), please let me know, and I’d be happy to work with your church and share some resources. (susanranous@unyumc.org)

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[1] Generosity Rising: Lead a Stewardship Revolution in Your Church, Scott McKenzie (Abingdon Press, 2016)

 

                   HAPPY TIMES VS GOOD NEWS

          Just the other day, I was reading a few lines from an article online that had a title of “good news.” I talked to my husband about it, and then didn’t think much more about it until the next day, he mentioned about the article about happy times. I looked at him questioningly for a few moments before I figured out that “good news” had become “happy times.”

          I laughed for a bit, although I thought it was a very interesting concept, and then said, “hey, that’s a great title for a blog!” And here we are!

          Jesus never promised us happy times, but the Gospels do bring us good news. Those are not the same thing, although we do sometimes get caught up in wondering why something is happening to us if we’ve done what we’re supposed to. Why are we suffering? Why are we hurting? Why?

          The term happy times reminded me of the song “happy days are here again” which I heard not that long ago in my car on Sirius XM – The Broadway Channel, sung by Barbra Streisand:

Happy Days Are Here Again

So long sad times
Go long bad times
We are rid of you at last
Howdy gay times
Cloudy gray times
You are now a thing of the past

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clearer again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again

Altogether shout it now
There's no one
Who can doubt it now

So let's tell the world about it now
Happy days are here again
Your cares and troubles are gone
There'll be no more from now on
From now on

 Happy days are here again

The skies above are so clear again
So, let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy times
Happy nights
Happy days
Are here again

        Songwriters: Jack Yellen, Milton Ager

           This song implies that once something happens, then I won’t be sad anymore, there won’t be cloudy skies and that all our cares and troubles are gone.

          Well, something certainly happened: our Messiah was born, an event we recently just celebrated, and, more importantly, that same Messiah: the Prince of Peace, came to save our souls and was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God—an event we will celebrate in a few months on Easter.

          That is Good News. We have four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. “Gospel” comes “from the Latin evangelium, meaning good tale or good news. Gospel has a number of distinct meanings. It refers to the Good News concerning Christ, the Kingdom of God, and salvation. It also refers to the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. The word is used in connection with the first four books of the New Testament. For example, the Gospel of Mark or the Gospel according to Mark refers to the New Testament book ascribed to Mark in which the life and teachings of Jesus are described. In services of worship, the Reading from the Gospel or the Gospel Reading refers to the Scripture reading from one of the four Gospels.”[1]

          So, the Gospels bring us the good news, of course, but there are no promises that everything will be sunshine and roses, or no clouds or sad times. Of the twelve men that followed Jesus and were called his disciples, one betrayed him and killed himself; ten were killed because of their beliefs and their teaching of the good news, and only one lived into old age (John), although he lived in seclusion on an island. None of that sounds like happy and care-free, but they believed in and taught the good news. The stories of those disciples and how they spent their time after Jesus is interesting in and of itself, of course.

          Let’s not, even in these times of racism, violence, pain and fear, complain that “this isn’t what I signed up for.” What I signed up for was to follow Jesus and to show his love to my neighbors in all places. What did you sign up for?

     

 

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[1] A Dictionary for United Methodists, Alan K. Waltz, Copyright 1991, Abingdon Press, via umc.org.

 

                        WESLEY COVENANT PRAYER

          Happy New Year to everyone! I hope your Christmas was a blessed one. I at still recovering from COVID which I tested positive for (with symptoms) mid-December. It is now the first full week of January, and while I am in the office for a few hours a day, my level of fatigue is quite high. I think it’s going to take a while to get back to “normal”. So now I have the “new normal” of a pandemic and my “new normal” of health and my body recovering. I can’t say I’m terribly fond of this “new normal”!

          This is my first blog of the new year (after taking a couple of weeks off at the end of 2020 to recover), and I thought I’d share the Wesley Covenant Prayer. This prayer is often used in United Methodist Churches in their first service of the year, to renew people’s covenant between them and God. The easily recognized traditional version is this:

I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”  (UM Hymnal, No. 607)

          As a participant with DOTAC’s (Diakonia of the Americas and the Caribbean) monthly prayer time, I received a modern “translation” of this Covenant Prayer. I loved these more modern words:

I am not my own self-made, self-reliant human being.
In truth, O God, I am Yours.
Make me into what You will.
Make me a neighbor with those whom You will.
Guide me on the easy path for You.
Guide me on the rocky road for You.
Whether I am to step up for You or step aside for You;
Whether I am to be lifted high for You or brought low for You;
Whether I become full or empty, with all things or with nothing;
I give all that I have and all that I am for You.
So be it.
And may I always remember that you, O God, and I belong to each other. Amen. (Jeremy Smith

https://hackingchristianity.net/2016/12/wesleys-covenant-prayer-in-a-post-christian-context.html)

 

          As disciples of Jesus Christ, called to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world”, what better way than to

• ·        Make me a neighbor with those whom you will
• ·        Guide me on the easy path and the rocky road for you
• ·        I give all that I have and all that I am for you.

          So many lines to these more modern words, all of which could be a blog in and of themselves!

          I encourage you to look at these modern words and contemplate a line at a time. What is it that your covenant with God is calling you to do in 2021?

          How can we be neighbors with those who God wants us to be neighbors with?

     "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:9-10)

~So many questions….