I got a letter from my pastor last night.<\/p>\n
He wants to invite me to join the Stewardship Committee.\u00a0 Next year, the committee will apparently be using Herb Miller’s “Consecration Sunday Stewardship” program<\/a>, focusing on the spiritual need to be “givers” rather than the church’s need to “receive”.<\/p>\n It’s nice to be asked.\u00a0 However ….<\/p>\n When I joined the church, we were asked to fill out a stewardship questionnaire.\u00a0 On the page were a list of major church committees, and we were asked to check those that we were interested in.\u00a0 Unless I’m remembering incorrectly, Stewardship is one that I chose not to check.<\/p>\n I also have some fundamental issues with the way that the church in general goes about asking for money.\u00a0 Giving is too often a demand in the church.\u00a0 I feel that giving in the church should be voluntary – each gives as they feel moved (called, even) to do so.\u00a0 If the church comes up short, they tell us so and we adjust our giving to make it up.\u00a0 I really don’t care what other people give – it’s only important to consider my own giving.<\/p>\n This past year, the church (through the pastor) threw around actual numbers.\u00a0 In one sermon<\/a>, Pastor Vamos said:<\/p>\n One tangible indicator of our generosity is this–our giving to the The use of an actual dollar amount in the sermon is what bothered me the most.\u00a0 That sermon almost caused me not to pledge this year.\u00a0 In a later sermon, a guest preacher exhorted us to take risks with our giving, knowing that God will make it work.\u00a0 On the basis of that guest’s sermon, I increased the amount that I pledged by 25% over what I’d planned to give.<\/p>\n Later, Pastor Vamos compounded the error of using specific numbers.\u00a0 During his “State of the Communion” sermon<\/a>, he spoke about the actual pledges received:<\/p>\n There are some interesting statistics that you can take home and mull It was even worse than that.\u00a0 We were given a bulletin insert that showed a bar graph with each pledge from smallest to largest (the smallest being under $100 and the largest being $20,000).\u00a0 We were also given the average household income for the county, the average household income for the town that the church is in, and what a 10% tithe would be for each of those incomes.\u00a0 These were compared to the average and median pledges.<\/p>\n The use of specific numbers in financial stewardship is the use of guilt in the church.\u00a0 It’s measuring us against each other rather than measuring us against Christ.\u00a0 There’s no question in my mind that the church must be funded in order to survive.\u00a0 There’s also no question in my mind that giving of your time, talents, and money are required for a faithful Christian.\u00a0 It’s just the use of specific numbers that bothers me.\u00a0 Following Christ is not about guilt – it’s about the grace of Christ’s sacrifice and our attempt to be as Christ-like as possible to thank God for that miracle.<\/p>\n Lest you think that I’m griping because I’m cheap, my pledge was above the average.\u00a0 It’s important to remember that I am a part of a two-church household, and Carolyn pledges a similar (probably identical, but I’m not sure) amount to her church.<\/p>\n So the problem for me is this:\u00a0 If I’m uncomfortable with asking others to give money, if I’m uncomfortable with the way that stewardship campaigns have been handled in the past – should I join the stewardship committee?<\/p>\n Perhaps my presence would moderate some of the things that bother me.\u00a0 On the other hand, I really don’t want to find myself at odds with the rest of the committee and my pastor on a regular basis.<\/p>\n What do you think?<\/p>\n I really wish they’d chosen me for one of the other committees.<\/p>\n The letter says that “in the next couple of weeks, someone from the current committee will be calling to see if you are willing to serve.”\u00a0 I hope I have an answer by then.
\nchurch. The health of this organism. We need to say that. If our
\ncongregation is struggling to meet the bills, something is wrong. Your
\ngiving to this church is an indicator of whether you’re living
\ngenerously. If you’re making over $90,000 and giving $50 a week–your
\nintent may not match with the reality. There’s something wrong with
\nthat picture.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nover. I remember from college statistics that the mean is the average,
\nand so our average pledge from this past year is $2,206. And that’s a
\nlot more than it was last year, and so that’s terrific. But the
\nThere are a lot of problems a downtownsault.org<\/a> generic cialis online man can encounter. This is an canada viagra cialis<\/a> added advantage for men who fear that their masculinity would be questioned. Thus, following viagra 100 mg why not find out more<\/a> are some common reactions for discovering that you have ED and steps you should definitely not take while being impotent. A medicated libido pill for men generally has a dosage that may last tadalafil in uk<\/a> a few weeks or the months. <\/span>median–as I remember it’s that number where half are above and half
\nare below–is $1,500. And I’ve been told that the mark of health for a
\ncongregation is when the mean and the median are close together,
\nbecause it means that we’re not as dependent on those large pledges.
\nAnd don’t get me wrong–if you’re one of those larger givers, we hope
\nthat you will increase your giving, because that really affects our
\nministry greatly. But this really represents a challenge to those who
\nare below that mean and are able to, if you have the gifts, to be able
\nto do more. It’s a challenge for us to think about that, how we can try
\nto make the mean and the median match up a little more closely.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n