Check out this link...: http://davidljohns.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/lutherans-are-now-nazar......
This could be helpful...stir the pot a bit. Maybe we wouldn't take ourselves so seriously!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Considerations for a Church Debt Reduction Campaign
Many congregations are in debt. Sometimes that debt can be debilitating and inhibiting in terms of the congregation’s ability to move forward in mission and ministry. If a vestry decides to investigate what is needed to have a debt reduction campaign it should keep in mind the following questions and information based on research done on churches that have undergone debt reduction campaigns.
1. Is there a sense of urgency to reduce the debt? If so, what is driving that urgency?
Debt reduction campaigns are the most difficult fund raising effort a church can ever undertake. People do not like debt, especially debt created by others, a long time ago, that they are being asked to pay off. Without a sense of palpable urgency, debt reduction campaigns are challenged in meeting their goals.
Examples of urgency are visible building hazards, staff reduction tied to financial inability, lack of pressing staff development, including the adding of new staff, because of financial restraints. If the reduction or addition of staff persons is a part of the need, they usually must be ones who have a high profile, lots of interaction with people, and have responsibility for ministries. Background administrators who aren’t in the forefront of congregations are rarely considered “urgent needs” because people do not interact with them much. The ‘urgency’ needs to be very obvious to the average person in the pew in order to capture people’s attention. Urgency can create priority. Non-urgency, i.e. “We have had a lot of debt for a long time and have seemed to manage, what is so urgent about this now?” kind of response to a debt reduction campaign will assure its inability to be successful.
2. How much information does the average person in the pew have about the level of debt the congregation has, how long it has had it, and from where was it generated in the first place?
A minimal component of a debt reduction campaign is information about the debt. People want to know all the reasons for having the debt in clear terms. This doesn’t mean overloading people with pages of information, but clear, concise information is essential. All information about this debt should be tied into the original vision for the fund raising and how the debt reduction has been handled to date.
3. When was the last time the congregation had a capital or debt reduction campaign?
For years, leaders in congregational development taught that churches should never be out of debt, that one campaign should follow on the heals of the next, that churches should be accustomed to always being in a campaign and always having debt. This is very tricky theory. ONLY in fast growing congregations with lots of new members to participate in campaigns is this type of activity ever tolerated. Going ‘back to the well’ of the same givers over and over becomes exhausting and frustrating for church members. Church members anticipate annual campaigns for ongoing expenses. They only expect and will support occasional extra fund raising efforts. And these efforts are only supported when there is clear urgency and need in the congregation. Timing is very important. Research has shown that fund raising campaigns for capital improvements and/or debt reduction CAN be run successfully simultaneously with an annual campaign. However the communication about the need and the difference of the two opportunities for giving must be communicated well.
4. What is the expectation of the debt reduction campaign? Is it to pay off all the debt?
RARELY does a church raise enough money in a debt reduction campaign to pay it all off. It is best to set two or three levels of goals for debt reduction so that whatever level is reached it is a ‘win’. The key should be debt reduction instead of elimination unless the debt amount is relatively small. Planners are often overly optimistic in debt reduction campaigns that the givers will have a high degree of motivation to give. They don’t unless it is strongly attached to critical needs that they individually feel (see #1).
5. What is the plan for the debt reduction campaign?
If the answer is, ‘we don’t want to make a big deal of this so we thought we would send out a letter and make a few announcements in church,” the campaign will fail. Some money will be raised, but this type of approach hurts future campaigns. People reflect back on minimal campaigns of this simplicity as failures and are often reluctant to try again. It is better to put comprehensive effort into a debt reduction campaign and achieve at least minimal goals then to miss the mark entirely with a lack luster effort that really does very little to ease the strain of the debt. There must be a comprehensive plan with a keen sense of objective, great communication through different media (oral, written, presentations, video, etc.) with as strong, if not stronger case statement than a well designed and implemented capital campaign. One on one, person to person, group to group aspects need to be built into the campaign. Don’t undertake a campaign unless the group responsible for the effort is willing to go the extra mile with the plan.
6. Is everyone in the leadership group, including clergy, willing to contribute to the debt reduction campaign and publically state that they will and why they are doing so?
Without the leaders supporting this effort in a tangible way, few others will follow.
7. What can be added to the debt reduction campaign that is an inexpensive improvement that is concrete and a perceived need for the congregation?
Sometimes debt reduction campaigns benefit from being combined with simple improvements added to the campaign (new carpet in a room, paint job, refurbishing of a public area, etc). This improvement should be added on as an incentive once a certain level of giving is obtained. Example: Level 1: Raise $50,000, next $10,000 goes for refurbishing of parish hall. Level 2: Raise $100,000 next $20,000 goes to refurbishing of parish hall and resurfacing of parking lot. Level 3: Raise $200,000 next $30,000 goes to refurbishing of parish hall, resurfacing of parking lot, and repainting of all class rooms. The add-ons could also be missionary in nature, giving away to outside organizations the church may have a relationship with that the people like to support.
Essentials for Congregational Debt Reduction:
1. Sense of Urgency
2. Communication, communication, communication that creates buy-in through personal and congregational methods.
3. Tied to the values, mission and vision (including written goals if possible) of the Church in ways that make sense.
4. The emphasis being on the theology of stewardship of God’s abundance and how the church is called to respond personally and corporately. Scarcity (‘we don’t have enough money’) is rarely a compelling reason to give.
5. Reflection on all the above questions and prayerful discernment by a committed planning group to move forward.
6. Total support, verbal and financial, by the clergy and vestry. Naysayers in leadership need to find ways to support the campaign in order for it to be successful.
Written by the Congregational Development Office
Episcopal Diocese of Texas 2009
1. Is there a sense of urgency to reduce the debt? If so, what is driving that urgency?
Debt reduction campaigns are the most difficult fund raising effort a church can ever undertake. People do not like debt, especially debt created by others, a long time ago, that they are being asked to pay off. Without a sense of palpable urgency, debt reduction campaigns are challenged in meeting their goals.
Examples of urgency are visible building hazards, staff reduction tied to financial inability, lack of pressing staff development, including the adding of new staff, because of financial restraints. If the reduction or addition of staff persons is a part of the need, they usually must be ones who have a high profile, lots of interaction with people, and have responsibility for ministries. Background administrators who aren’t in the forefront of congregations are rarely considered “urgent needs” because people do not interact with them much. The ‘urgency’ needs to be very obvious to the average person in the pew in order to capture people’s attention. Urgency can create priority. Non-urgency, i.e. “We have had a lot of debt for a long time and have seemed to manage, what is so urgent about this now?” kind of response to a debt reduction campaign will assure its inability to be successful.
2. How much information does the average person in the pew have about the level of debt the congregation has, how long it has had it, and from where was it generated in the first place?
A minimal component of a debt reduction campaign is information about the debt. People want to know all the reasons for having the debt in clear terms. This doesn’t mean overloading people with pages of information, but clear, concise information is essential. All information about this debt should be tied into the original vision for the fund raising and how the debt reduction has been handled to date.
3. When was the last time the congregation had a capital or debt reduction campaign?
For years, leaders in congregational development taught that churches should never be out of debt, that one campaign should follow on the heals of the next, that churches should be accustomed to always being in a campaign and always having debt. This is very tricky theory. ONLY in fast growing congregations with lots of new members to participate in campaigns is this type of activity ever tolerated. Going ‘back to the well’ of the same givers over and over becomes exhausting and frustrating for church members. Church members anticipate annual campaigns for ongoing expenses. They only expect and will support occasional extra fund raising efforts. And these efforts are only supported when there is clear urgency and need in the congregation. Timing is very important. Research has shown that fund raising campaigns for capital improvements and/or debt reduction CAN be run successfully simultaneously with an annual campaign. However the communication about the need and the difference of the two opportunities for giving must be communicated well.
4. What is the expectation of the debt reduction campaign? Is it to pay off all the debt?
RARELY does a church raise enough money in a debt reduction campaign to pay it all off. It is best to set two or three levels of goals for debt reduction so that whatever level is reached it is a ‘win’. The key should be debt reduction instead of elimination unless the debt amount is relatively small. Planners are often overly optimistic in debt reduction campaigns that the givers will have a high degree of motivation to give. They don’t unless it is strongly attached to critical needs that they individually feel (see #1).
5. What is the plan for the debt reduction campaign?
If the answer is, ‘we don’t want to make a big deal of this so we thought we would send out a letter and make a few announcements in church,” the campaign will fail. Some money will be raised, but this type of approach hurts future campaigns. People reflect back on minimal campaigns of this simplicity as failures and are often reluctant to try again. It is better to put comprehensive effort into a debt reduction campaign and achieve at least minimal goals then to miss the mark entirely with a lack luster effort that really does very little to ease the strain of the debt. There must be a comprehensive plan with a keen sense of objective, great communication through different media (oral, written, presentations, video, etc.) with as strong, if not stronger case statement than a well designed and implemented capital campaign. One on one, person to person, group to group aspects need to be built into the campaign. Don’t undertake a campaign unless the group responsible for the effort is willing to go the extra mile with the plan.
6. Is everyone in the leadership group, including clergy, willing to contribute to the debt reduction campaign and publically state that they will and why they are doing so?
Without the leaders supporting this effort in a tangible way, few others will follow.
7. What can be added to the debt reduction campaign that is an inexpensive improvement that is concrete and a perceived need for the congregation?
Sometimes debt reduction campaigns benefit from being combined with simple improvements added to the campaign (new carpet in a room, paint job, refurbishing of a public area, etc). This improvement should be added on as an incentive once a certain level of giving is obtained. Example: Level 1: Raise $50,000, next $10,000 goes for refurbishing of parish hall. Level 2: Raise $100,000 next $20,000 goes to refurbishing of parish hall and resurfacing of parking lot. Level 3: Raise $200,000 next $30,000 goes to refurbishing of parish hall, resurfacing of parking lot, and repainting of all class rooms. The add-ons could also be missionary in nature, giving away to outside organizations the church may have a relationship with that the people like to support.
Essentials for Congregational Debt Reduction:
1. Sense of Urgency
2. Communication, communication, communication that creates buy-in through personal and congregational methods.
3. Tied to the values, mission and vision (including written goals if possible) of the Church in ways that make sense.
4. The emphasis being on the theology of stewardship of God’s abundance and how the church is called to respond personally and corporately. Scarcity (‘we don’t have enough money’) is rarely a compelling reason to give.
5. Reflection on all the above questions and prayerful discernment by a committed planning group to move forward.
6. Total support, verbal and financial, by the clergy and vestry. Naysayers in leadership need to find ways to support the campaign in order for it to be successful.
Written by the Congregational Development Office
Episcopal Diocese of Texas 2009
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Letters about Disciples of Jesus: “Follow me”
By Al Curry, Member of Diocese of Texas Stewardship Commission and St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church, Nassau Bay
“Pick up your cross and follow me”; what do we suppose Jesus meant by that statement? Sometimes statements are made that we hear but pay little attention to until later. Somewhere in the back of our heads, or our subconscious, the phrase or concept continues to pop up in our conscious thought process.
It is like the first time you hear “do you know the difference between joy and happiness?”. After these little phrases pop into our conscious thought process enough and if one is of Christian Faith (you know someone who spends time reading the Bible, praying, listening to God, trying to discern what God is calling him/her to do and can define Stewardship as a concept beyond money) then we usually end up in a search for a revelation or real understanding of the phrase.
At the service the Sunday before Easter Sunday, Father Bill Hyde quoted one of those little statements in his sermon that landed in my subconscious and kept popping up, sent me searching for a fuller understanding. He quoted from a book written by Michael Slaughter written in 1994, Beyond Playing Church. The quote was as follows:
“I simply argue that the Cross should be raised at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I (want to) recover the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles; but on a cross between two thieves; on the town’s garbage heap; at a crossroads so cosmopolitan they had to write His title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek…at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died. And that is what He died about. That is where the people of the Church ought to be and that is what the people of the Church ought to be about.”
When we have discussed Stewardship at St. Thomas’ Nassau Bay we have discussed a variety of definitions, but they all have in common listening to God’s calling, understanding what Jesus was sent here to accomplish and picking up our cross and following in Jesus’ foot steps. Saving souls, sharing love, transforming lives or everything we do and say after we say I do in the Baptismal Covenant, or Stewardship is everything we do with all we have been given, whatever your definition the paragraph above says a lot Stewardship.
What it says is, while we need to read and understand what Jesus was sent here to do, we are to follow in His foot steps and do the things Jesus has taught us to do. What we are looking for we will not find in books, it is that inner feeling of spiritual Joy and inner Peace you get when we are out doing God’s work.
In John Chapter 13 versus 13-17:
“You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.
For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
Here at St. Thomas’ Nassau Bay there are a lot of opportunities to get involved in doing God’s work. We are all encouraged to get involved in these opportunities and feel the spiritual Joy and inner Peace that comes from doing God’s work. The following is a partial list of Ministries here at our church and lest we forget, we are not volunteering, we are doing Ministry, and we are doing what God has called us to do:
+ + +
We are all encouraged to spend time in quite reflection and prayer, listening to what God is calling us to do and then engage yourself in some of God’s Ministries, raise your cross at the center of the marketplace, feel the spiritual joy and rejoice in God’s work.
“Pick up your cross and follow me”; what do we suppose Jesus meant by that statement? Sometimes statements are made that we hear but pay little attention to until later. Somewhere in the back of our heads, or our subconscious, the phrase or concept continues to pop up in our conscious thought process.
It is like the first time you hear “do you know the difference between joy and happiness?”. After these little phrases pop into our conscious thought process enough and if one is of Christian Faith (you know someone who spends time reading the Bible, praying, listening to God, trying to discern what God is calling him/her to do and can define Stewardship as a concept beyond money) then we usually end up in a search for a revelation or real understanding of the phrase.
At the service the Sunday before Easter Sunday, Father Bill Hyde quoted one of those little statements in his sermon that landed in my subconscious and kept popping up, sent me searching for a fuller understanding. He quoted from a book written by Michael Slaughter written in 1994, Beyond Playing Church. The quote was as follows:
“I simply argue that the Cross should be raised at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I (want to) recover the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles; but on a cross between two thieves; on the town’s garbage heap; at a crossroads so cosmopolitan they had to write His title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek…at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died. And that is what He died about. That is where the people of the Church ought to be and that is what the people of the Church ought to be about.”
When we have discussed Stewardship at St. Thomas’ Nassau Bay we have discussed a variety of definitions, but they all have in common listening to God’s calling, understanding what Jesus was sent here to accomplish and picking up our cross and following in Jesus’ foot steps. Saving souls, sharing love, transforming lives or everything we do and say after we say I do in the Baptismal Covenant, or Stewardship is everything we do with all we have been given, whatever your definition the paragraph above says a lot Stewardship.
What it says is, while we need to read and understand what Jesus was sent here to do, we are to follow in His foot steps and do the things Jesus has taught us to do. What we are looking for we will not find in books, it is that inner feeling of spiritual Joy and inner Peace you get when we are out doing God’s work.
In John Chapter 13 versus 13-17:
“You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.
For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
Here at St. Thomas’ Nassau Bay there are a lot of opportunities to get involved in doing God’s work. We are all encouraged to get involved in these opportunities and feel the spiritual Joy and inner Peace that comes from doing God’s work. The following is a partial list of Ministries here at our church and lest we forget, we are not volunteering, we are doing Ministry, and we are doing what God has called us to do:
+ + +
We are all encouraged to spend time in quite reflection and prayer, listening to what God is calling us to do and then engage yourself in some of God’s Ministries, raise your cross at the center of the marketplace, feel the spiritual joy and rejoice in God’s work.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Letters about Disciples of Jesus: “Listening”
By Al Curry, Member of Diocese of Texas Stewardship Commission and St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church, Nassau Bay
Years ago there was a young man in his thirties, he was at a business meeting and during the social hour he was observing “Mr. Jones”, the president of a very large world wide engineering and construction company. There were five or six people in the circle of conversation, all were “much older that he”, and all very successful both financially and in business. He observed that Mr. Jones said little while the other gentlemen talked extensively. After the circle broke he asked Mr. Jones why he said very little to these prominent gentlemen, to whom he sternly replied to the quite young man who had the audacity to ask, “I never learned anything with my mouth open.”
Listening is an art form, it takes determination to listen and hear what others are saying. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
If we are to be true Disciples of Jesus we need to practice listening, not only to what God is calling us to do, but listening to those around us so that we may understand their needs and be in a position to help then. Stewardship is saving souls, sharing love, transforming lives. So when we listen as Jesus has suggested we do in order to carry out his Ministry, we hear those talking whose souls need saving, we hear those who need a little love, we encounter those who want to be transformed by Jesus and his disciples.
James 1:19 says “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
Now contemplate that, “quick to listen”. If in our typical conversation we use the words I, me, need, want, had, have and so forth too much, then we likely are not listening enough. Safe to say that if most of us would pray a little more and listen a lot more then we would find a lot more spiritual joy in our lives.
Mission and Ministry are what we are about as Baptized Christians. Listen to what God is calling you to do, find your Ministry here at your Church home and find the joy God has in store for you!
+ + +
We are all encouraged to spend time in quite reflection and prayer, listening to what God is calling us to do and then engage in God’s Mission, raise your cross at the center of the marketplace, feel the spiritual joy and rejoice in Christ’s work.
Years ago there was a young man in his thirties, he was at a business meeting and during the social hour he was observing “Mr. Jones”, the president of a very large world wide engineering and construction company. There were five or six people in the circle of conversation, all were “much older that he”, and all very successful both financially and in business. He observed that Mr. Jones said little while the other gentlemen talked extensively. After the circle broke he asked Mr. Jones why he said very little to these prominent gentlemen, to whom he sternly replied to the quite young man who had the audacity to ask, “I never learned anything with my mouth open.”
Listening is an art form, it takes determination to listen and hear what others are saying. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
If we are to be true Disciples of Jesus we need to practice listening, not only to what God is calling us to do, but listening to those around us so that we may understand their needs and be in a position to help then. Stewardship is saving souls, sharing love, transforming lives. So when we listen as Jesus has suggested we do in order to carry out his Ministry, we hear those talking whose souls need saving, we hear those who need a little love, we encounter those who want to be transformed by Jesus and his disciples.
James 1:19 says “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
Now contemplate that, “quick to listen”. If in our typical conversation we use the words I, me, need, want, had, have and so forth too much, then we likely are not listening enough. Safe to say that if most of us would pray a little more and listen a lot more then we would find a lot more spiritual joy in our lives.
Mission and Ministry are what we are about as Baptized Christians. Listen to what God is calling you to do, find your Ministry here at your Church home and find the joy God has in store for you!
+ + +
We are all encouraged to spend time in quite reflection and prayer, listening to what God is calling us to do and then engage in God’s Mission, raise your cross at the center of the marketplace, feel the spiritual joy and rejoice in Christ’s work.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
A Bibliography on Generational Demographics for Your Stewardship Ministry
Submitted by the Rev. P. Lance Ousley
American Generations : Who They Are, How They Live, What They Think by Susan Mitchell. 3rd ed. Ithaca, N.Y. : New Strategist Publications, c2000.
LC Call Number: HC110.C6 M545
LC Catalog Record: 2002511433
Publishers' Website: http://www.newstrategist.com
Boomers, Xers, and Other Strangers : Understanding the Generational Differences that Divide Us by Rick and Kathy Hicks. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House, c1999.
LC Call Number: HM681.H53 1999
LC Catalog Record: 99027725
Table of Contents: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/99027725.html
Future Marketing : Targeting Seniors, Boomers, and Generations X and Y by Joe Marconi. Lincolnwood, Ill. : NTC Business Books : in conjunction with The American Marketing Association, c2001.
LC Call Number: HF5415.127 .M35 2001
LC Catalog Record: 00038000
Publisher's description: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/mh021/00038000.html
Generations Apart : Xers vs. Boomers vs. the Elderly edited by Richard D. Thau & Jay S. Heflin. Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 1997.
LC Call Number: HN90.I58 G45 1997
LC Catalog Record: 97034296
Generations : the History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069 by William Strauss and Neil Howe. 1st ed. New York : Morrow, c1991.
LC Call Number: E179.S89 1990
LC Catalog Record: 90045679
The Mid-youth Market : Baby Boomers in their Peak Earning and Spending Years by Cheryl Russell. Ithaca, N.Y. : New Strategist Publications, c1996.
LC Call Number: HN60.R87
LC Catalog Record: 96224677
Publisher's Website: http://www.newstrategist.com
Rocking the Ages : the Yankelovich Report on Generational Marketing by J. Walker Smith and Ann Clurman. 1st ed. New York, NY : HarperBusiness, c1997.
LC Call Number: HF5415.1 .S57 1997
LC Catalog Record: 96052509
Table of Contents: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/96052509.html
American Generations : Who They Are, How They Live, What They Think by Susan Mitchell. 3rd ed. Ithaca, N.Y. : New Strategist Publications, c2000.
LC Call Number: HC110.C6 M545
LC Catalog Record: 2002511433
Publishers' Website: http://www.newstrategist.com
Boomers, Xers, and Other Strangers : Understanding the Generational Differences that Divide Us by Rick and Kathy Hicks. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House, c1999.
LC Call Number: HM681.H53 1999
LC Catalog Record: 99027725
Table of Contents: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/99027725.html
Future Marketing : Targeting Seniors, Boomers, and Generations X and Y by Joe Marconi. Lincolnwood, Ill. : NTC Business Books : in conjunction with The American Marketing Association, c2001.
LC Call Number: HF5415.127 .M35 2001
LC Catalog Record: 00038000
Publisher's description: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/mh021/00038000.html
Generations Apart : Xers vs. Boomers vs. the Elderly edited by Richard D. Thau & Jay S. Heflin. Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 1997.
LC Call Number: HN90.I58 G45 1997
LC Catalog Record: 97034296
Generations : the History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069 by William Strauss and Neil Howe. 1st ed. New York : Morrow, c1991.
LC Call Number: E179.S89 1990
LC Catalog Record: 90045679
The Mid-youth Market : Baby Boomers in their Peak Earning and Spending Years by Cheryl Russell. Ithaca, N.Y. : New Strategist Publications, c1996.
LC Call Number: HN60.R87
LC Catalog Record: 96224677
Publisher's Website: http://www.newstrategist.com
Rocking the Ages : the Yankelovich Report on Generational Marketing by J. Walker Smith and Ann Clurman. 1st ed. New York, NY : HarperBusiness, c1997.
LC Call Number: HF5415.1 .S57 1997
LC Catalog Record: 96052509
Table of Contents: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/96052509.html
Friday, November 13, 2009
Transforming Designated Giving into Mission Opportunities
Submitted by the Rev. P. Lance Ousley
Anytime we start talking about Designated Giving in the Church
The Theological Question is raised, “What about giving without strings attached?”
Well, I must admit that I have struggled with this question, too.
But I had a change of heart about 10 years ago with the convergence of several things in my life. As I studied generations more and more I understood that people give for very different reasons. And in the post-Vietnam, post-Watergate, post-Iran Contra, post-Lewenski, and now post-Enron/Anderson world, trust of authority had broken down for the largest segments of our population. Notice I didn’t even touch on any number of financial improprieties across denominations throughout our country. I realized that in today’s world many people really needed to know what was being done with their money. Somehow for me that equated into an even deeper theology of involvement for the baptized. But I’ll get to that a little later.
Another event that was going on at this time was the rolling out of a new way of doing our Diocesan Missionary Asking. I can’t tell you exactly how they were doing it at the time, but I can tell you what I thought it was and my perception was what moved me about it. As I understood it then, it was a plan for a congregation to have a face to face experience with the mission group they were choosing to fund. It was a way to DESIGNATE where their money went. But more importantly, it was a way to make these ministries real for the people that were giving. They were able to put their hands into the hands of those they were supporting. I called this making the ministry Incarnational. When I was serving at St. Dunstan’s from 2001-2004, we invited some of these groups to come a speak to us so we could have this face to face encounter and feel a part of their ministry more than just writing a check. The next year we designated our Missionary Asking to several of these groups.
Another thing that happened ten years ago, is I had a phone conversation with my good long-distance friend Jerry Kramer. At the time Jerry was a stewardship director for many Roman Catholic dioceses here in the US. As we talked about the struggle of a patronal Roman model of Stewardship in the Spanish speaking Americas Jerry revealed that in the Catholic Diocese of San Antonio they had achieved the same level of percentage giving from their Spanish speaking congregations as their English speaking ones. Naturally, I asked him how they had done this.
Jerry said that they had done it by pointing out the obvious funding needs they had and directly asking for persons to give toward these specific needs – loosely translated by me, Designated Giving. In addition to this they let them know that the congregation would probably respond abundantly and that they would use the excess funds for other ministry needs. It WORKED!
So as I further studied the third world countries and their mode of giving I realized we had much to learn from them in addressing our younger generations of Boomers, GenXers and beyond, with their suspicions and needs to give and really, to be involved with what they were investing themselves.
I began to talk about the need for the church to offer more opportunities for persons to give other than the annual pledge – I called this Cafeteria-Plan giving.
As you can imagine people argued the afore mentioned question. They also argued, “But people won’t pledge they’ll just designate their gifts and then the light bill won’t get paid.” In short, what will that do to our pledge income?
The truth is some people will never pledge, but they will give to a ministry where they have been serving or one that has touched their lives in some way. Others do not tithe on their pledge because they know they want to give in other ways to the church. We need to give them the opportunity! By the way, did you know the average pledge for the Diocese of Texas in 2006 was $2971? The last time I checked the average income of the households in the Episcopal Church was much higher than $30k.
If it is done intentionally, and with the vision and mission of the church in mind, Designated Giving will not diminish the annual pledge; and not only will it not diminish your annual pledge, it can multiply your congregation’s mission opportunities, increase your missional reach, and help to transform lives in the process.
The truth is that I really don’t think stewardship is about money; I believe it is about mission and ministry – it is about sharing the love of Christ and as Jerry said last night
It is about living instead of dying.
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What I would like to do now is tell you a little of how this has worked at St. Thomas’ in Wharton over the last few years of implementing Designated Giving for Mission. And as I speak make some notes about things that can be done in your congregations.
And let me preface this with we are not perfect, we have made and continue to make mistakes, but we make our mistakes by doing mission and ministry, not by doing nothing.
In January of 2004 when I came to St. Thomas’ there had been a part-time interim rector, Hoss Gwin, serving for a couple of years who wonderfully had empowered them to do ministry and awakened a sleeping giant.
During the time period with an interim, St. Thomas’ Rector’s Discretionary Fund had been administered by a couple of the parishioners, due to Hoss’ living out of town and having another full-time job. This was the way that St. Thomas’ could be responsive to the needs in their community. And quite frankly there was a little anxiety over whether or not this new rector would take back, or really seize, the Discretionary Fund. So when I showed up, I was asked if I was going to take that over by the Outreach Ministry. My thought was, “Why would I do that? These folks have been doing ministry and they also were on the front lines to invite people to join the St. Thomas family.” What we did work out was a system where I handled any assistance needs in the parish and they handled those of the surrounding community. It was not long before we had to implement an appointment system for doing an assistance intake. The more we told people about what was going on in helping people each week the more Designated Funds came in to support this ministry. This ministry has grown today to serve several hundred people a year in a town of only 10,000. In fact, FEMA caught wind of our program and has given us a grant of over $14k to supplement what we are doing in housing, utilities and food assistance. And by the way now there is an Outreach Emergency Assistance Fund and the Discretionary Fund – and both have grown exponentially since that first January.
That first January in 2004 as we were finalizing our budget I visited with our Outreach Ministry Chair about what social service ministries we were funding in the community, I asked the question about each one whether or not we had anybody serving in each particular ministry. In essence, we took a Ministry Inventory of these groups we were funding. If we had somebody involved in that ministry, we kept funding that group. And if we didn’t have somebody involved we didn’t fund that group. Now let me explain the difference between a check writing ministry and a ministry patron. Don’t get me wrong writing checks for ministry is important. If it wasn’t none of us would be here trying to figure out how to get our people to do more of it, and with more digits before the decimal points. The difference is between really being connected to what is happening in ministry and just blindly giving to get the person off your front stoop with a check in an envelope taped to the door. So, how do you make these connections I’m taking about?
Well, the idea for us was to have all the ministry organizations we funded to be an Incarnational ministry for us. In addition to this, the Outreach Ministry Team visited each of the outreach organizations that we had funded or were funding. From this we had a face to face encounter with those whom we were supporting, putting our hands in their hands – Incarnational Ministry! People see and experience first hand the difference their ministry makes. The results we have seen from this is greater hands-on ministry involvement and increased giving toward these outreach ministry organizations. And that is just a by product of the transformation that is happening to those who are involved. And isn’t that really what we are supposed to be about in the first place?
Now this Incarnational Approach was just the start of something that has blossomed into several different inspirations to meet the needs of our community. Since most of these Mission Opportunities do not conveniently fall during budget planning time, they have to be funded by Designated Giving because they are “off-budget.”
And a big part of this is that these mission Opportunities fit into the core passions of our church family. They were part of the vision we already have for whom God is calling us to be in our community. They fit our identity in Christ.
This Incarnational Approach across the board at St. Thomas’ has been abundantly fruitful. We started a Medical/Dental Assistance Ministry and host the Matagorda Episcopal Health Outreach Program’s mobile clinic, weekly. After our school closed in 2003, we started a Van Ministry the next fall to take students from Wharton to Calvary Episcopal School in Wharton. All of these are ministries for us that have been started through Designated Giving. We have a Thrift Shop that all of its revenues are Designated to Outreach Ministries. And the surrounding community has responded resoundingly. Both the sales and merchandise donations there have tripled since taking this Incarnational approach in early 2004. And we announced last Sunday that we were looking for a new building to house our Thrift Shop, with the addition of a Soup Kitchen, Food Pantry, and to be the place where we do our Medical Assistance and our Outreach Assistance. We can see God doing all kinds of things in a facility like this. Amazingly, we already have some donors ready to support us in this new Designated Ministry endeavor of St. Thomas’ Episcopal Outreach Center. Just imagine the possibilities. We are! And we know that whatever we imagine it does even come close to what God has in store.
Now one might ask a couple of questions – one might be “Yeah but what has happened to your average annual pledge?” The answer is that it has steadily increased when those outside St. Thomas’ said it couldn’t get higher. The truth is that the Designated Giving toward new mission Opportunities has grown our budget. This is because as many of these mission opportunities bloom they are incorporated into the budget.
And another question is: “But what about St. Thomas’ Diocesan Missionary Asking? Is that fully funded?” The answer is yes. We believe strongly in supporting these missionary efforts and we work to fund those groups with whom we have a direct connection. But we also leave some up to the discretion of the Bishop. After all we have a face to face and hand in hand relationship with him.
So here are the real nuts and bolts for you:
How can you approach the Transformation of Designated Giving into Missional Opportunities?
First of all I think you have to know what Jesus has put on your heart as a church family – where are your gifts? What are the core passions of your congregation? You have to know these things before you ever begin to ask the question, “Can this mission opportunity even be seen in our corporate vision?”
Whatever you do this is critical, otherwise you will be frustrated. And disconnected and lifeless, because there won’t be the passion to put it into action or support it.
So obviously the next step after knowing your corporate identity in Christ is to ask the question, does this fit in the scope of whom we are called to be?
Another thing that is critical is to take an inventory of your current mission outreach programs that your church is funding. Ask the questions:
Is anyone here involved in this ministry? Is this a mission where we have a face to face and hand in hand relationship, or are we just writing a check?
Now the next step is to follow up on the answers you found in the previous step. In Gulf Coast Texas we have a saying for this step, “It’s either time to cut bait or fish.”
This means its time to take a real hard look and decide what you are going pour your heart and soul into and what you are going to give your farewell blessing to.
Remember what we have been called to catch is more precious than anything with fins and gills, Jesus has called us to be fishers of men and women. If we aren’t giving it our best some would call it ministry malpractice. Isn’t Jesus worth our best; …we are worth his everything.
Okay so now you have decided what mission and ministries you are going to keep doing and what you are going to leave for some other church that has the passion for them.
Now is when you start to celebrate these ministries every chance you get. What I mean is to share the successes that God is blessing in those ministries with the congregation and the people doing those ministries. Encourage one another in what God is doing through you together. You know none of us get enough praise in our lives, why can’t the church give praise to those who are doing Christ work?
We celebrate or mission with ministry appreciation luncheons or dinners, in sermons, in feature articles in our newsletter, on our website, by taking pictures and telling the stories. Have ministry team members preach on a Sunday from time to time. Many of you already do an EYC Mission Sunday. This is the same concept just that it is not reserved for kids. We also don’t do the same old humdrum annual meeting which in most parishes is really a contest to see who can stay awake the longest through the budget presentation. Annual Meetings should be Celebrations of Ministries with persons sharing how being involved in a ministry transformed their life. Are we a community built around a budget or are we a community built on the love of Christ?
The more we talk about the ministries we are doing the more people know about them and the more they want to be involved. Develop a vocabulary of mission and stewardship; don’t call the people doing the mission work volunteers, call them ministers. Use video like those we already seen today – call the newspaper tell them you have a human interest story. Or how about a classified add in the Sunday bulletin? The point is if people know about them they can join the effort if not they can cause they don’t know!
All of these things I am suggesting really help us to flesh out the ministry. Do you see where I am heading? Incarnational ministry.
Okay, so what about the annual pledge campaign – because I know at least before last night that’s what you all came here to figure out how to do better. Well, Designated Giving can be and often is turned into annual pledges, however it is not because of any annual giving gimmick, but rather it is because the people giving have been Transformed by giving and serving in the ministry face to face and hand to hand, sold out for Jesus.
Designated Giving can be transformed into mission opportunities but first we have to put the flesh and bones on it and make it real for us and for our church family.
So really the question is not, “What about giving without strings attached?”
The real question is,
“What difference would it make to your surrounding community if your church wasn’t around tomorrow?”
Anytime we start talking about Designated Giving in the Church
The Theological Question is raised, “What about giving without strings attached?”
Well, I must admit that I have struggled with this question, too.
But I had a change of heart about 10 years ago with the convergence of several things in my life. As I studied generations more and more I understood that people give for very different reasons. And in the post-Vietnam, post-Watergate, post-Iran Contra, post-Lewenski, and now post-Enron/Anderson world, trust of authority had broken down for the largest segments of our population. Notice I didn’t even touch on any number of financial improprieties across denominations throughout our country. I realized that in today’s world many people really needed to know what was being done with their money. Somehow for me that equated into an even deeper theology of involvement for the baptized. But I’ll get to that a little later.
Another event that was going on at this time was the rolling out of a new way of doing our Diocesan Missionary Asking. I can’t tell you exactly how they were doing it at the time, but I can tell you what I thought it was and my perception was what moved me about it. As I understood it then, it was a plan for a congregation to have a face to face experience with the mission group they were choosing to fund. It was a way to DESIGNATE where their money went. But more importantly, it was a way to make these ministries real for the people that were giving. They were able to put their hands into the hands of those they were supporting. I called this making the ministry Incarnational. When I was serving at St. Dunstan’s from 2001-2004, we invited some of these groups to come a speak to us so we could have this face to face encounter and feel a part of their ministry more than just writing a check. The next year we designated our Missionary Asking to several of these groups.
Another thing that happened ten years ago, is I had a phone conversation with my good long-distance friend Jerry Kramer. At the time Jerry was a stewardship director for many Roman Catholic dioceses here in the US. As we talked about the struggle of a patronal Roman model of Stewardship in the Spanish speaking Americas Jerry revealed that in the Catholic Diocese of San Antonio they had achieved the same level of percentage giving from their Spanish speaking congregations as their English speaking ones. Naturally, I asked him how they had done this.
Jerry said that they had done it by pointing out the obvious funding needs they had and directly asking for persons to give toward these specific needs – loosely translated by me, Designated Giving. In addition to this they let them know that the congregation would probably respond abundantly and that they would use the excess funds for other ministry needs. It WORKED!
So as I further studied the third world countries and their mode of giving I realized we had much to learn from them in addressing our younger generations of Boomers, GenXers and beyond, with their suspicions and needs to give and really, to be involved with what they were investing themselves.
I began to talk about the need for the church to offer more opportunities for persons to give other than the annual pledge – I called this Cafeteria-Plan giving.
As you can imagine people argued the afore mentioned question. They also argued, “But people won’t pledge they’ll just designate their gifts and then the light bill won’t get paid.” In short, what will that do to our pledge income?
The truth is some people will never pledge, but they will give to a ministry where they have been serving or one that has touched their lives in some way. Others do not tithe on their pledge because they know they want to give in other ways to the church. We need to give them the opportunity! By the way, did you know the average pledge for the Diocese of Texas in 2006 was $2971? The last time I checked the average income of the households in the Episcopal Church was much higher than $30k.
If it is done intentionally, and with the vision and mission of the church in mind, Designated Giving will not diminish the annual pledge; and not only will it not diminish your annual pledge, it can multiply your congregation’s mission opportunities, increase your missional reach, and help to transform lives in the process.
The truth is that I really don’t think stewardship is about money; I believe it is about mission and ministry – it is about sharing the love of Christ and as Jerry said last night
It is about living instead of dying.
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What I would like to do now is tell you a little of how this has worked at St. Thomas’ in Wharton over the last few years of implementing Designated Giving for Mission. And as I speak make some notes about things that can be done in your congregations.
And let me preface this with we are not perfect, we have made and continue to make mistakes, but we make our mistakes by doing mission and ministry, not by doing nothing.
In January of 2004 when I came to St. Thomas’ there had been a part-time interim rector, Hoss Gwin, serving for a couple of years who wonderfully had empowered them to do ministry and awakened a sleeping giant.
During the time period with an interim, St. Thomas’ Rector’s Discretionary Fund had been administered by a couple of the parishioners, due to Hoss’ living out of town and having another full-time job. This was the way that St. Thomas’ could be responsive to the needs in their community. And quite frankly there was a little anxiety over whether or not this new rector would take back, or really seize, the Discretionary Fund. So when I showed up, I was asked if I was going to take that over by the Outreach Ministry. My thought was, “Why would I do that? These folks have been doing ministry and they also were on the front lines to invite people to join the St. Thomas family.” What we did work out was a system where I handled any assistance needs in the parish and they handled those of the surrounding community. It was not long before we had to implement an appointment system for doing an assistance intake. The more we told people about what was going on in helping people each week the more Designated Funds came in to support this ministry. This ministry has grown today to serve several hundred people a year in a town of only 10,000. In fact, FEMA caught wind of our program and has given us a grant of over $14k to supplement what we are doing in housing, utilities and food assistance. And by the way now there is an Outreach Emergency Assistance Fund and the Discretionary Fund – and both have grown exponentially since that first January.
That first January in 2004 as we were finalizing our budget I visited with our Outreach Ministry Chair about what social service ministries we were funding in the community, I asked the question about each one whether or not we had anybody serving in each particular ministry. In essence, we took a Ministry Inventory of these groups we were funding. If we had somebody involved in that ministry, we kept funding that group. And if we didn’t have somebody involved we didn’t fund that group. Now let me explain the difference between a check writing ministry and a ministry patron. Don’t get me wrong writing checks for ministry is important. If it wasn’t none of us would be here trying to figure out how to get our people to do more of it, and with more digits before the decimal points. The difference is between really being connected to what is happening in ministry and just blindly giving to get the person off your front stoop with a check in an envelope taped to the door. So, how do you make these connections I’m taking about?
Well, the idea for us was to have all the ministry organizations we funded to be an Incarnational ministry for us. In addition to this, the Outreach Ministry Team visited each of the outreach organizations that we had funded or were funding. From this we had a face to face encounter with those whom we were supporting, putting our hands in their hands – Incarnational Ministry! People see and experience first hand the difference their ministry makes. The results we have seen from this is greater hands-on ministry involvement and increased giving toward these outreach ministry organizations. And that is just a by product of the transformation that is happening to those who are involved. And isn’t that really what we are supposed to be about in the first place?
Now this Incarnational Approach was just the start of something that has blossomed into several different inspirations to meet the needs of our community. Since most of these Mission Opportunities do not conveniently fall during budget planning time, they have to be funded by Designated Giving because they are “off-budget.”
And a big part of this is that these mission Opportunities fit into the core passions of our church family. They were part of the vision we already have for whom God is calling us to be in our community. They fit our identity in Christ.
This Incarnational Approach across the board at St. Thomas’ has been abundantly fruitful. We started a Medical/Dental Assistance Ministry and host the Matagorda Episcopal Health Outreach Program’s mobile clinic, weekly. After our school closed in 2003, we started a Van Ministry the next fall to take students from Wharton to Calvary Episcopal School in Wharton. All of these are ministries for us that have been started through Designated Giving. We have a Thrift Shop that all of its revenues are Designated to Outreach Ministries. And the surrounding community has responded resoundingly. Both the sales and merchandise donations there have tripled since taking this Incarnational approach in early 2004. And we announced last Sunday that we were looking for a new building to house our Thrift Shop, with the addition of a Soup Kitchen, Food Pantry, and to be the place where we do our Medical Assistance and our Outreach Assistance. We can see God doing all kinds of things in a facility like this. Amazingly, we already have some donors ready to support us in this new Designated Ministry endeavor of St. Thomas’ Episcopal Outreach Center. Just imagine the possibilities. We are! And we know that whatever we imagine it does even come close to what God has in store.
Now one might ask a couple of questions – one might be “Yeah but what has happened to your average annual pledge?” The answer is that it has steadily increased when those outside St. Thomas’ said it couldn’t get higher. The truth is that the Designated Giving toward new mission Opportunities has grown our budget. This is because as many of these mission opportunities bloom they are incorporated into the budget.
And another question is: “But what about St. Thomas’ Diocesan Missionary Asking? Is that fully funded?” The answer is yes. We believe strongly in supporting these missionary efforts and we work to fund those groups with whom we have a direct connection. But we also leave some up to the discretion of the Bishop. After all we have a face to face and hand in hand relationship with him.
So here are the real nuts and bolts for you:
How can you approach the Transformation of Designated Giving into Missional Opportunities?
First of all I think you have to know what Jesus has put on your heart as a church family – where are your gifts? What are the core passions of your congregation? You have to know these things before you ever begin to ask the question, “Can this mission opportunity even be seen in our corporate vision?”
Whatever you do this is critical, otherwise you will be frustrated. And disconnected and lifeless, because there won’t be the passion to put it into action or support it.
So obviously the next step after knowing your corporate identity in Christ is to ask the question, does this fit in the scope of whom we are called to be?
Another thing that is critical is to take an inventory of your current mission outreach programs that your church is funding. Ask the questions:
Is anyone here involved in this ministry? Is this a mission where we have a face to face and hand in hand relationship, or are we just writing a check?
Now the next step is to follow up on the answers you found in the previous step. In Gulf Coast Texas we have a saying for this step, “It’s either time to cut bait or fish.”
This means its time to take a real hard look and decide what you are going pour your heart and soul into and what you are going to give your farewell blessing to.
Remember what we have been called to catch is more precious than anything with fins and gills, Jesus has called us to be fishers of men and women. If we aren’t giving it our best some would call it ministry malpractice. Isn’t Jesus worth our best; …we are worth his everything.
Okay so now you have decided what mission and ministries you are going to keep doing and what you are going to leave for some other church that has the passion for them.
Now is when you start to celebrate these ministries every chance you get. What I mean is to share the successes that God is blessing in those ministries with the congregation and the people doing those ministries. Encourage one another in what God is doing through you together. You know none of us get enough praise in our lives, why can’t the church give praise to those who are doing Christ work?
We celebrate or mission with ministry appreciation luncheons or dinners, in sermons, in feature articles in our newsletter, on our website, by taking pictures and telling the stories. Have ministry team members preach on a Sunday from time to time. Many of you already do an EYC Mission Sunday. This is the same concept just that it is not reserved for kids. We also don’t do the same old humdrum annual meeting which in most parishes is really a contest to see who can stay awake the longest through the budget presentation. Annual Meetings should be Celebrations of Ministries with persons sharing how being involved in a ministry transformed their life. Are we a community built around a budget or are we a community built on the love of Christ?
The more we talk about the ministries we are doing the more people know about them and the more they want to be involved. Develop a vocabulary of mission and stewardship; don’t call the people doing the mission work volunteers, call them ministers. Use video like those we already seen today – call the newspaper tell them you have a human interest story. Or how about a classified add in the Sunday bulletin? The point is if people know about them they can join the effort if not they can cause they don’t know!
All of these things I am suggesting really help us to flesh out the ministry. Do you see where I am heading? Incarnational ministry.
Okay, so what about the annual pledge campaign – because I know at least before last night that’s what you all came here to figure out how to do better. Well, Designated Giving can be and often is turned into annual pledges, however it is not because of any annual giving gimmick, but rather it is because the people giving have been Transformed by giving and serving in the ministry face to face and hand to hand, sold out for Jesus.
Designated Giving can be transformed into mission opportunities but first we have to put the flesh and bones on it and make it real for us and for our church family.
So really the question is not, “What about giving without strings attached?”
The real question is,
“What difference would it make to your surrounding community if your church wasn’t around tomorrow?”
Words have Power: Using Minister vs. Volunteer
Words have power. And we have been given a vocabulary of faith.
But sadly, we barely ever use it in the church, co-opting language from the business world that just doesn’t fit our theology or purpose.
But when we do use our vocabulary of faith, miraculous things begin to happen.
One secular word that is used in the church all too often is volunteer.
What do you think would happen if you never heard or used the word “volunteer” in your church again?
I think the word “volunteer” should be stricken from Christian language. Once when I said this, I was asked what word should we use.
Well, that depends on whether we need a noun or a verb.
If we need a noun - how about “minister”.
If we need a “verb” - how about “called.”
I never met anyone who was baptized who "volunteered" for anything in the church. The baptized answer God’s call to a particular ministry or ministries.
When we say people are ministering, it communicates that the work that they do is work for God’s kingdom. And it inspires joy with a sense of meaning, value, purpose, and worth (four of the five spiritual needs of every human being).
It also cultivates a culture of mission and ministry. When we call people “ministers” they live into the reality of their baptismal calling.
Too often we only call those who are in paid positions in the church
ministers, leaving our Baptismal theology at the door. But when we understand our Baptismal theology we know that all of the baptized are called into the ministry of the Gospel, making all of us ministers. One’s paycheck has nothing to do whether one is a minister or not, and it has nothing to do with being ordained or not. It has everything to do with our baptismal calling by God to do Christ’s work in the world.
I have found generally that "volunteers" do not have staying power past the task at hand. They may keep working, but they have to volunteer again, again, and again.
My colleague Susan Kennard, rector of St. Mark’s – Bay City, TX expressed the excitement she found among her parishioners when she ask for someone to minister in a one ministry or another, rather than asking for volunteers. Susan said it was fun to see the difference in the number of people who lined-up to do ministry compared to the wrangling of volunteers for a particular job.
Volunteering is about the task. Being called is about the relationship.
It means God needs them and wants them.
Those who are called by God into ministry through their baptisms are ministers for the rest of their lives.
Can you imagine the miraculous transformation that can begin within a community that feels God needs and wants them for the good of his kingdom?
Submitted by the Rev. Lance Ousley, Rector of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church - Wharton, TX
But sadly, we barely ever use it in the church, co-opting language from the business world that just doesn’t fit our theology or purpose.
But when we do use our vocabulary of faith, miraculous things begin to happen.
One secular word that is used in the church all too often is volunteer.
What do you think would happen if you never heard or used the word “volunteer” in your church again?
I think the word “volunteer” should be stricken from Christian language. Once when I said this, I was asked what word should we use.
Well, that depends on whether we need a noun or a verb.
If we need a noun - how about “minister”.
If we need a “verb” - how about “called.”
I never met anyone who was baptized who "volunteered" for anything in the church. The baptized answer God’s call to a particular ministry or ministries.
When we say people are ministering, it communicates that the work that they do is work for God’s kingdom. And it inspires joy with a sense of meaning, value, purpose, and worth (four of the five spiritual needs of every human being).
It also cultivates a culture of mission and ministry. When we call people “ministers” they live into the reality of their baptismal calling.
Too often we only call those who are in paid positions in the church
ministers, leaving our Baptismal theology at the door. But when we understand our Baptismal theology we know that all of the baptized are called into the ministry of the Gospel, making all of us ministers. One’s paycheck has nothing to do whether one is a minister or not, and it has nothing to do with being ordained or not. It has everything to do with our baptismal calling by God to do Christ’s work in the world.
I have found generally that "volunteers" do not have staying power past the task at hand. They may keep working, but they have to volunteer again, again, and again.
My colleague Susan Kennard, rector of St. Mark’s – Bay City, TX expressed the excitement she found among her parishioners when she ask for someone to minister in a one ministry or another, rather than asking for volunteers. Susan said it was fun to see the difference in the number of people who lined-up to do ministry compared to the wrangling of volunteers for a particular job.
Volunteering is about the task. Being called is about the relationship.
It means God needs them and wants them.
Those who are called by God into ministry through their baptisms are ministers for the rest of their lives.
Can you imagine the miraculous transformation that can begin within a community that feels God needs and wants them for the good of his kingdom?
Submitted by the Rev. Lance Ousley, Rector of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church - Wharton, TX
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