Letter to MCC: Stewardship 2010

22nd April, 2010 - Posted by admin - No Comments

Dear MCC pastors, lay leaders, congregation,

I am pleased to share with you a resource from Rev. Elder Arlene Ackerman on church finances in tough times, that I hope you will find encouraging, timely and useful. (see below)

As I travel around to MCC churches, and have contact with so many of you, I want to share some brief thoughts, reflections and encouragement:

This January, the amount of tithes to MCC you reported was excellent, an improvement over last year, and yet, we received only 80% because we know churches are facing tough times and some are delaying paying tithes.

Churches are much better at sending in reports, which helps us understand where you are, and the trends – thanks to church treasurers and boards for keeping in touch.

Even all the cuts we made to MCC budget last year has not kept up with this shortfall in tithes, due to the economy. We are continuing to monitor diligently, make cuts responsibly, and struggle with not undercutting services to our churches.

You gave $33,000 to our efforts for Haiti!! In must one month – amazing! And, many churches are signing up for the Easter offering, believing that giving MCCers a chance to give over and above does not negatively impact tithes. MCCers are givers, and we give with our hearts.

Some churches have told me they assume they cannot vote at conference if they are behind in tithes, and are not planning to come. Please know, we will work with you, and help you in this time of great challenge! Of course we want you to pay your tithes, but, we really want you to come to conference. Talk to us!

Airfares are coming way down to Acapulco, and our room rates are phenomenal! Someone in your church or community has frequent flier miles they may be able to donate. We hope you will make sure your church is represented. We are very close to meeting our baseline goal for conference registrations, our hotel room block, and we have a quorum in both houses of General Conference. We have amazing worship, training and inspirational opportunities for MCC.

Pray with me, that we will do everything we can do to be both responsible and full of faith and hope in these times where our people need to trust and rely on our leadership, locally and globally. Pray for me, and our leaders, as we tighten our belts, ask fewer people to focus and do more.

I will pray for you, that the generosity of our people, and the grace and abundance of the wonder-working God we know in Jesus, will sustain you, and give you great hope and peace today.

If there is something in particular that you want me to pray for, contact me today, and I will promise to be praying for your intention through Easter. (RevNancyWilson@mccchurch.net)

And, pray for me, and our Elders and leaders as we look ahead to General Conference, our global family reunion — to a time of sharing a new vision of ministry, deep personal connections, renewed friendships, and honest dialogue. I am confident that the Holy Spirit God will lead us and provide for us at this crossroads.

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Resources

Stewardship and Church Finances in Hard Times

There is no question that we have been experiencing challenging financial times globally. Many people have come into our churches with the norm of our culture in terms of having debt, whether small or large. Many others have no knowledge of tithing or having a spiritual financial discipline. Fortunately, there are others in MCC who are highly committed to God and who see making a financial commitment to the life of the church as one part of their spiritual growth.

Here are just a few resources:

“Creating Congregations of Generous People: Money, Faith, and Lifestyle Series,” Michael Durall published by Alban.

Asking parishioners for money is very different from creating congregations of generous people. In this provocative book, stewardship consultant Michael Durall argues convincingly that annual pledge drives inadvertently perpetuate low-level and same-level giving in congregations. Written with the voice of experience, this book will help clergy and lay leaders initiate and sustain effective stewardship programs. Durall believes that asking for money eventually becomes routine, even tedious-but creating a congregation of generous people becomes ever more meaningful with passing time.

Net Results: For clear and helpful articles on stewardship and much more subscribe to Net Results, a quarterly digital magazine that speaks to pertinent issues faced by churches today. Cost is $19.95 per year. www.NetResults.org <http://www.netresults.org/> . The May – June 09 issue is dedicated to the topic of Stewardship with many excellent articles.

“What About Tithing,” an article by Rev. Elder Don Eastman helps those of us in North America understand how tithing is viewed today and offer some thoughts on moving forward within MCC. http://www.minxcenter.org/minxcenter/blog/tithingEastman.htm

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