The tithe as one tenth. (Photo credit: More Good Foundation)
I just left a Finance Committee Meeting for Grace UMC, the church I’m presently serving. And I just witnessed a very admirable act. “Heroic” is a little too strong a word, but not by too much.
Let me offer some background. Grace has had some financial strain over the past two years. Attendance was dropping sharply due to conflicts within the church and giving was way down. The congregation eventually divided its property earlier this year and sold the educational building to a small Catholic school.
Our connectional support was unpaid last year. That means that our Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church made do without us in 2011. This year, with reduced apportionments, we were unsure if we’d be able to pay any. The first six months of 2012 were looking grim. Attendance was dismal and finances were in an emergency state for most of those days.
In June, I arrived. I’d love to tell you that the difference was immediate and massive. It was neither. Instead, we’ve made our way back to breaking even. Our giving equals our expenses with a bit of surplus in some of the last six months.
The Decision
So when we came to December and the determination of whether or not we could afford to part with the thousands of dollars that were needed by the conference, it was far from a done deal or an easy decision.
But with a little conversation about what we were able to do, and a short conversation about what we should do, we voted to pull from the funds from savings. We don’t have it all. But what we were able to give, we gave.
And I’m good with that. Should we have strained a bit and done all of the amount?
The Recovery of Grace
Perhaps, or, perhaps not. This is a congregation on the mend. We are healthy in almost every respect, except confidence. Our faith in God is fine. But we’re learning to have faith in ourselves again.
We’re launching a campaign next month to encourage each member to put their faith in God by tithing, and to put their faith in Grace by tithing here. Grace is here for the long haul. We are no longer trying to see if we’ll make it.
Members who needed some time away are coming home to Grace. Members who needed a clean break are making that decision, as well. We will always love them, but we respect their decision to worship elsewhere. And they will always be welcomed back, either for a visit, or for a more permanent return.
The Next Right Steps
In the meantime, Grace goes on. Our congregation is gearing up for a year that focuses on the community around us. What are the ministries and services that we can provide to the neighbors within a mile of the sanctuary? Who are the folks we haven’t reached with the good news that God loves them and Christ died for them and the Spirit seeks to work within them?
Our new bishop is asking us to think of our congregational home as a mission outpost. That would mean that we arrive to train, to refuel, and to redeploy our resources. And every time we leave the building, we are entering the mission field.
A New Covenant for Us
Most of those questions I asked earlier can be answered without funding. But giving is about more than “meeting a budget.” Giving to God is about sacrifice. It’s about acknowledging that God’s will is more important than our own.
Each Sunday before we make our offering, I say the following:
“If you are here visiting with us from another church, welcome. If you have a tithe covenant with your home church please take that home with you. They’ll be glad to see it because they are counting on it, just like we count on our tithe covenants and pledges here at Grace. If you are a member of Grace and have made covenant with God to place your tithe here, now is the time to exercise that covenant. And if you are simply making an offering to God, we promise to use your gift in ways that honor the kingdom and glorify God.”
That will mean more than ever in the coming year. I’m asking more of the members at Grace to make that covenant agreement. But asking for 10% from someone who is currently giving 4% is a little much. So we’re asking every member at Grace to move toward 10% by increasing their pledge by a percentage point or two for the next six months. Then, in June, see if you aren’t able to move it up a bit again. When you get to the place where you and God have made covenant, you can hit that percentage and hold it.
It’s that simple. And it’s that hard.
Wherever you are in your journey of discipleship, you should know this: Stewardship is a function of discipleship. If you are intentionally holding your money back because you don’t think that’s a spiritual subject, you are making a dire mistake. When you join a United Methodist congregation, you promise to support the church with your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness.
Offering your gifts is much more than your finances, but it certainly includes your material wealth. And your decision about where you give is second only to your decision to give to God in the first place.
How do you decide where you place your offering or tithe?
Related articles
Such is faith. I grew up in a church that did not ask members to predict their giving for the coming year. The church leaders were constrained with their plans for the future by a conservative nature based on sincere prayer and seeking to serve God with the money that was entrusted to them. I never heard of anyone withholding their giving because the leaders did not spend it wisely.