Many of the materials are not limited to use by the Women of ELCA. Be creative; adapt them in the ways that will be most useful to your congregation. Included are a Thankoffering service, planning helps, litanies, a stewardship plan worksheet and more. The poster has one side in English and the other in Spanish.
The last week of Epiphany I adapted the "Lutheran Woman Today" Bible study for Lent for my confirmation class. I invited one of the Bible study leaders to share her story about "giving up something for Lent."
The conversation progressed to where I asked students if they would be willing to give up a can of pop or a candy bar (50 cents or so) each week during Lent and put that money in a special jar, to give to the needy. We figured we could collect about $50.
Our plan was not to have class during Lent, but to have [the youth] present skits at the worship services. They would be required to attend those. Well, they said, _Sure._ Then I wound up asking the congregation to let the kids have *all* the Lenten offering from the midweek services, to give to whatever caused they wanted.
Well, we wound up with $200 to share.
I gave them ten choices, a mixture of local, synod-related (Lutheran Social Service), ELCA US and global programs having to do with hunger, poverty and youth advocacy. Without a whole lot of prompting from adults, the youth decided on one each of local (food pantry), LSS (Safe Passage run-away program), US (Welcome the Child, for abused and neglected children) and the global Hope for the Children program.
I am really proud of them. One girl told me she actually gave $9 one week.
It was interesting to hear the sentiment clearly expressed, "from the mouths of babes," that "we should give everything to the food pantry and keep it local." I just about died when I heard that. Luckily, the majority disagreed. "And a young adolescent shall lead them."
Now if only the adults would listen to their kids' leadership and do that with the endowment funds, currently all in CDs!
Blessings to you who are preparing students for their affirmation of baptism -- and the rest of you, too. -- John
All accumulation ... of personal property, beyond that a man's own hands produced, is derived to him by living in society; and he owes on every principle of justice, of gratitude, and of civilization, a part of that accumulation back again to society from when [sic] the whole came.... -- "Agrarian Justice," 1796Quoted in The Living Pulpit, April-June 1996, p. 33.
Do you notice the theme running through all these statements?
God was left out. Human feelings are offered as the ultimate measure for
our lives. That's not what God has in mind! Let's live God's truth,
and stop living the lie!
Two weeks ago, I was at a conference on Christian
philanthropy in Toronto. I have been thinking about that
experience since. And increasingly, the use of the word stewardship
in our church has become problematic to me.
You realize that it is predominantly a North American usage,
the way we use it. In Africa in Lesotho, more particularly where
I taught Theology, and in Japan where I grew up, the churches
use a simple expression, "money for the church," to do the
same job as we want to do by using the biblical notion of stewardship.
What is wrong about asking for money? Why do we have to use
a biblical expression as euphemism for the act of giving money
as though "money" is a dirty word? A budget is a theological
statement; a very honest one, too.
Whenever we hear the word "stewardship," we all know
that it is about raising money for the church. In the mean time,
we are giving a wrong idea of the real biblical notion of stewardship.
Stan McKay, with whom I was honoured to share a panel in a
workshop, said something like, _In Aboriginal spirituality, stewardship
means respect for God's creation._ And we are making the word
sound so cheap by the way we use it for fundraising.
(Dr. Stan McKay is a Cree, Director of a Theological
Training Centre for Native Ministry in Manitoba. He is a former
Moderator of the United Church of Canada.)
The usual aversion to pledging comes from two ways of thinking:
"How much I give is between me and God; therefore, no one has a right
to pry into my private financial affairs"; and, "I'm
afraid to pledge because I may not be able to live up to it."
Here's an illustration David Schlicher (Church of the Pacific,
Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii) uses to explain why the church asks
for pledges:
From David Schlicher on "STEWARDSHIP IDEA EXCHANGE"
(note 271) on LutherLink/Ecunet.
Personal giving grew 11 percent, and corporate contributions
rose about 7 percent, the American Association of Fund-Raising
Counsel's Trust for Philanthropy said in releasing its annual
survey [on May 22].
The organization warned that the jump in contributions was largely
driven by one-time factors such as the stock-market boom, higher
wages and fear that Congress might dismantle environmental programs
and cut tax breaks for charitable giving after 1995.
More effective fund-raising strategies also contributed to the
increase.
A note from the "STEWARDSHIP STUFF" editor: Is giving
increasing in your congregation? What motivates your giving?
John Medeiros' article lends support to the many excuses
some Christians already rely on to fail in their generosity
towards God's work. the Romans foxed the people of Jesus' time
as much as Uncle Sam, etc. tax us. True, it's not as easy for
us to unload ten percent of sheep or our fields' produce as it
was for first century shepherd and farmers. But the tithe is a
standard given to us out of the context of God's abundant gifts
to us, not against the backdrop of how easy or hard it is to pay
Caesar.
As Loren Mead said in St. Louis three summers ago, "Who
among us isn't rich?!" Lord help us when we start robbing
God because we trust the government to really be about the work of
the Kingdom!
Summer 1996
The following text is a transcript of a sermon preached by Pastor
Donald H. Maier, Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington,
on July 2, 1994. In 1995 Pastor Maier was elected Bishop of the
Northwest Washington Synod of the ELCA. We commend his words to
you.
Gospel: Mark 5:21-23, 35-43
Fourth of July weekend is traditionally the smallest church attendance
of the year. So allow me to close in the space a little bit between
me and you and stand here for these words.
It occurs to me that I want to commend to all of you the service
of Easter Vigil.
Now you may wonder why, today.
Well, for one thing, it's a wonderful service;
wonderful things happen there
in the baptism of new Christians
and the whole joyful anticipation of the celebration of the resurrection
of our Lord.
But the thing that I want to mention today is that this is the
one service of the year when there is no offering.
Now, there's lots of offering there: people are singing,
and praying,
and offering praise;
but we don't pass the offering plates.
Every other service of the church we persistently,
repeatedly,
always
without fail
with a few exceptions
pass the offering plates.
This sermon is about the offering
and our whole activity in making our offerings to God.
And the place of departure is that offering that we read about
in today's Second Lesson:
It's a churchwide offering,
the goal of which is to bring resource,
and assistance,
and sustenance
to Christians in the home church of Jerusalem,
where the church first took its form,
where offerings began.
In fact the Book of Acts tell us that the very early Christians
brought what they had and gave it to the apostles so that it could
be spread among those who were in need.
Some even sold their property and brought the resources,
the proceeds,
and gave them to the apostles.
The church in Jerusalem was in need.
Paul the apostle had a strategy.
He went from place to place to place
as he traveled through Europe
and as he traveled in Asia.
In every place he planted the seed about an offering
and told the Christians in those places to begin to gather together
what they would send.
And now the time has come for the collection.
So Titus is being dispatched by the apostle
back to Corinth (where this letter is going), back to the churches
of Macedonia,
now to gather it all up and take it to Jerusalem.
And we may wonder, What's this all about?
Paul helps us to understand, right in the beginning.
He says, "Remember our Lord Jesus Christ, who though he was
rich, yet for our sakes became poor."
What Paul is helping us to understand is that the whole church
is founded on an offering.
It's founded on the offering of Jesus,
His own life for the life of us all;
His own life given to poverty so that we might enjoy all of the
rich
blessings that are given to the children of God as an inheritance.
And so, since Jesus, the offering has always been a part of the
church's life. And since Jesus, every Christian, as they grow
in maturity
and their understanding of their faith
and their calling in this world,
give themselves more and more to the offering. It's simply ...
it's simply the nature of who we are
when we live
and love
and follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so, in our church we have offerings.
We have a regular offering,
an on-going offering,
every Sunday ... as in this service.
You will have the opportunity to lay part of the proceeds of your
life upon the offering plate.
And we understand what that is about ... most of us.
We are sharing what *we* have for the support of the ministry
of this congregation
so that here we can continue to carry on the message of God's
love for people in Jesus Christ,
and so that we can look beyond even to the broader borders of
this part of the State of Washington,
and we can look beyond to be part of a joined effort of all the
congregations of our church in establishing the church in this
country,
and we can look beyond even to the far corners of the earth and
participate with people of the church in this country and our
sister churches overseas to plant the church in the far corners
of the world.
That's the regular offering.
Week by week by week we do that.
And then, in addition to that, we have opportunities for Ministry
of the Month.
Here we have designated,
through some research by members of our congregation, about 35
different agencies and ministries of the church in this
community
and around the world
that are worthy of our support but not in our budget.
And so we suggest that here's a possibility for some Extra Offering
to help establish the way of Christ in those places.
And once in a while, like next week, we even have a Special Offering
when we're gathering some funds to send to Ethiopia
so that the pastors and church leaders there
in the northern area of the work of the Lutheran Church can come
together from time to time
for mutual strengthening
and learning
and continuing education_
all for the sake of the church of Jesus Christ in this world.
And the offering goes on.
Some of us in our offering are quite disciplined.
We have learned to set aside a percentage of everything that we
have received.
That will be our offering.
And sometimes we add to that.
Maybe regularly we add to that.
And I suppose that there are some of us who are not quite so disciplined.
We kind of think about the offering when we get here.
And it depends on what we carried to church with us rather that
what we have received in our life
from the bounties of God's blessing.
But as we grow in maturity,
and in our commitment to the things of God, the discipline will
also grow.
And more and more we will be willing participants in the offering.
And then we even make wild suggestions to people:
You know, a great way to join the offering
is to put your church in your will.
Or, a great way to help the offering
is to give some property
or some stock. Many, many different ways to join this
ongoing,
persistent,
age-old
offering of the church.
The offering.
Now, it's interesting when we hear this text from Paul that there's
also a principle the apostle puts forward.
It's the principle of balance.
He says,
It's only fair
that there should be a *balance*
in the worldwide church of God.
That when some of the church has plenty
and some of the church has little,
that the offering becomes a vehicle
for moving part of the plenty to where there is little so that
there can be a balance
among God's people
and in the strength of the church.
And so the apostle is saying, in effect, that balance is good;
balance is good.
Now that might run a little bit against what is the common notion
in our society and economy that says, Abundance is good.
The more you're able to bring in and the more you're able to accumulate
for yourself, the more successful you are
as an individual
or even as a church.
Kind of, the richer, the better. But Paul says,
That's not necessarily good.
What's good is the balance. And that we as Christians find a
way
through our offering
to bring balance
among the nations
and the churches
and among the people.
And so, I would ask you to think today about
how the church offers you
as a challenge
for you to bringbalance in your life with the lives of other
people.
This last week there has been a series of articles in the newspaper
I read, supposedly about the Horn of Africa, but they're really
about Rwanda and Rwanda refugees and the great need of those hundreds
of thousands of people who have suddenly created on the plain
the second largest city in Tanzania;
300,000 people there
all gathered together within a fortnight
and the great need there.
And then always there's the box by the side that says, if any
of you want to begin to touch this need, these are places that
can help you.
I'm always disappointed that Lutheran World Relief is not in that
list.
Here's what's really true about Lutheran World Relief and the
refugee camp in Rwanda.
There are different relief agencies there. Lutheran World Relief
was there, one of the first.
They have kind of divided up responsibility.
To Lutheran World Relief has gone the responsibility of running
a fleet of trucks that brings hundreds of tons of food a day into
that refugee camp.
A great channel for the people of this church and for the people
of the community
to help bring a *balance* of food and life
for people who are the victims of violence.
Or, think about our food bank
and what happens to the food bank to adjust the *balance* just
a little
bit
between those who have lots and those who have little.
Or, think about the offering next week.
It is also about adjusting the imbalance
between a church that is able to gather its people together so
easily
and a church who lacks the resources to gather their people together
only occasionally
so that the work of the ministry may grow.
I'm talking about the opportunity the church gives us as a channel
of bringing balance.
Now, there's a goal to all of this talk by this apostle and by
this pastor. And that is, as the apostle defines it, that he wants
the people of Corinth to really respond to the offering with generosity.
Generosity. Generosity. That's the goal.
Paul says,
As you excel and you know and think you excel in everything else
about the church's life and blessing,
so also excel in this thing,
in a great generosity
as you come to the offering.
I suppose every pastor would want his or her congregation
to excel in everything.
And also to excel in stewardship
and in generosity.
Now, let's think about generosity for a minute.
(I have five points, and I'll try to touch them real quickly.)
When we talk about generosity, we're not talking about amounts.
Now Paul makes that very clear when he brings up this example
of the Macedonians.
These people are really poor,
and yet, though their offering has not been big
in terms of amount,
it has beenmomentous
in terms of generosity.
What has happened there in Macedonia, says the apostle, is that
their poverty has been mixed together with a great joy, and the
result has been an overflowing of liberality as they have made
their offerings.
And you've got to wonder, How did that happen?
How did it happen that those poor, poverty-stricken people have
become an example for generosity for the churches of all time?
And isn't it this?
That somehow along the way
in their life with Jesus Christ
they have been able to say,
You have turned my wailing into dancing;
You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy
at the offering of our Lord Jesus Christ for us.
When the joy of salvation gets mixed even with poverty,
or with wealth,
or with middle-income,
then the result of it, says the apostle,
is a great outpouring of liberality.
That's the goal for the offering.
It's not the amount,
but it is, as Paul defines it, an eagerness to share.
There's another thing about generosity that's hidden in this text.
And that is
in order to be generous, people must overlook the opposition.
Now, here's what I mean.
Paul has called this offering for the benefit of the Christians
in Jerusalem. It's those Christians in Jerusalem who have constantly
been on his back
about the way he conducts his ministry,
about his open overtures to the Gentiles,
and his refusal to insist that those people should, somehow, conform
their way, their life, to the Jewish way of life.
If anybody has given Paul a tough time within the church, it's
been those people in Jerusalem.
Yet, in spite of all of this, the generosity overlooks the opposition
to act for the sake of balance.
Now consider that.
In these days there are some voices,
not in this congregation,
that I hear,
but in our church body
who say,
Folks, if you don't like the sexuality statement then you should
withhold your offerings, because we don't like the opposition.
And so it happens in the church
that we begin to play with offering
as a thing for force
rather than a thing for balance.
And everybody loses.
And if some withhold the offering,
then we can't send the missionaries
and we can't make the new starts of congregations in this country.
And I hardly think that's what people were thinking about when
they decided to withhold the offering.
It's generosity to overlook the opposition
for the sake of the balance.
It's also the way of generosity that the generous people look
for ways to give.
So we're having a special offering next Sunday.
Sylvia and I have already decided what we're going to put into
that offering. It's flotsam.
It's over and above what we usually give in our discipline.
What I know is that though the bank account isn't really very
plush these days that we will find a way to make that offering.
When we look at all of our life, there are so many ways that
we can adjust what we do to make the offering
for the sake of the people that we have come to love
that we will do that.
Generosity does that.
It looks for a way,
it even pleads
to be a part of the offering.
One more thing about generosity.
And that is
It only becomes possible
by faith.
It only becomes possible to people who are willing to hear the
word of Jesus today that says,
Don't be afraid;
only believe.
One of the things that stifles generosity is fear.
"I'm afraid that when I do that, then when I come to the
end of month I won't have this or
I won't have enough for that."
"I'm afraid that somehow in my life I'm gonna come up short
if I get too generous."
Now listen to the word of the apostle, who says later on in this
word about the offering that
God who provides seed for the sower
will provide you with everything that you need in order to be
generous.
The Christ who gave His life on the cross
for us to live
has established in our lives already the generosity of God
that simply will not go away. It will not go away.
That's what the prophet says in Lamentations.
It will be there
when all of the struggle is over upholding our lives
the generosity,
the steadfast love of God.
And so, my brothers and sisters, I appeal to you: Do not fear,
only believe.
Amen.
Hymn #408 (LBW) _ God, whose giving knows no ending
How do you use the word "stewardship"?
The following item by Tad Mitsui, Howick, Quebec, Canada, appeared
on "PREACHING STEWARDSHIP" (note 643, May 3, 1996) on LutherLink/Ecunet.
Ask for a pledge? Why not?
I tell people to imagine a job interview. The process has
gone well. You and the company are excited about the possibility
of employment. Now's the time to talk money, and you're not
expecting what your prospective [employer] says. "As for
salary, we can't promise how much you'll be paid. we don't know
what the company's income will be, and there may be unexpected
costs. Just trust us that we will pay you what we can. We're sure
you understand our situation."
Would you accept the job?
Charitable giving jumped in the United States last year
NEW YORK (AP) -- Charitable giving in the United States rose
more than 10 percent last year to nearly $144 billion.
Why give?
The Rev. Wendy S. Pratt (First United Presbyterian Church, Gary
IN) writes to Congregations: the Alban Journal, January/February
1996:
We give our tithes not so much to support the ministry of
the church or to give our fair share to charitable causes, but
to demonstrate our faith and trust in God. We are called to put
God first in our lives, and that includes in our financial commitments.
When we give sacrificially, we are demonstrating our trust and
dependence on God in all areas of our life, beginning with our
money. I will continue to encourage my people to tithe, and I
suspect I will continue to feel a sense of awe when I see the
sacrifices they are willing to make to demonstrate their faith,
and the trust they place in God to provide for all their needs.
Why tithe?
In response to John Medeiros' article "Practical Tithing
in a Government-Oriented Society" (see Congregations: the
Alban Journal, September/October 1995, pp 5-7), the Rev. Jim Kellaway, Rector
of St. John's Diocesan Stewardship, Vernon CT, writes in the January/February
1996 issue:
Stewardship Stuff Special
from Michael Meier, Stewardship Specialist, Div. for Congregational
Ministries
Second Lesson: 2 Corinthians 8:1-11
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