Your Giving in Action

Nov 20, 2024 | News, Reported in the E-Vision

Your regular contribution to the budget (your tithe) makes ministries of First Baptist possible. We highlight these ministries once a month throughout the year.

Dear First Baptist Family, 

My third-grader, Valerie, left her Sunday school worksheet on my desk recently. Her class had been learning about giving generously, and they had identified the gifts they could offer unselfishly to others. Each gift was written on the image of a coin. These “paper coins” represented offerings of time and talent so precious they could never be represented by a pocket full of little medallions, because each item was an offering of my daughter’s love for others. From spending time with her family to singing to a friend, from donating clothes to making a craft for another, her gifts focused on connection and relationship. Frankly, my heart skipped a beat from happiness.

The end of the year is closing in, and soon our inboxes will be overflowing with requests for donations from friends and strangers alike. They will ask for our time and our money. With so many palms open (figuratively) before us, and with finite repositories of funds in our bank accounts — or open spots on our calendars — how do we know where to direct our giving? I suggest that you not stray too far from home. Consider where your giving is doing the most good in your community for your neighbors. In light of this suggestion, I hope you will consider First Baptist. 

Throughout the year, I have had the privilege of helping to share stories of the kingdom-building work that is being accomplished by ministries at our church that are funded through the regular budget — through my own tithing and yours. (You will find these stories linked below.) Before I joined the staff at FBC, I had already been a member since 2012. Sadly, I had only the vaguest notion of how my giving was being put to use. In fact, I made assumptions that it helped keep the lights on and the water running. All these years later, I know that some of my giving gets allocated to utilities, but so much MORE gets distributed according to the needs established in our annual budget, which is prepared through careful review by the Senior Pastor and Church Administrator. Their eyes are only the first to evaluate the church’s needs. Next, the draft budget goes before the Deacons and the Finance Committee. This process takes a few months. When the budget is vetted, leadership presents it to members of the congregation during the church conference held in December. (You may have already seen an announcement about that conference on December 18th, in fact. Please consider attending so you can learn more about the great work our church is doing.)

Inside the budget that everyone gets to review at the church conference, you will find many (rather large) numbers — or at least they are large to me. Understanding the long list of ministries and what we project they can spend next year can be tricky if you do not live with that information everyday. As  you look at that document, your “take away” should be that by giving to the regular budget (by tithing), you are supporting all of the ministries listed there.  Supporting those ministries includes keeping the utilities on so we can host worship services, small groups, civic activities, committee meetings, Weekday Education classes, and community events. Contributing to the budget provides for worship service needs, pastoral ministry for all ages, curriculum for spiritual formation, technology support, administrative support, food service, and personnel. The work of the church is accomplished through the regular budget (which “resets” every year). Ideally, the regular budget would be the starting place for your financial gifts so that sacrificial giving (above and beyond a tithe) to particular ministries would follow budget giving.  

If you are praying about making a charitable gift over and above your regular budget giving, you may want to know about “restricted” accounts, which you may have also heard called “designated accounts”. The church maintains restricted accounts that are used specifically for particular ministry work. The money given to these accounts accrues year-to-year and can only be used for the purpose indicated on the account. You should know that if you write the name of a designated fund — like Christmas Toy Shop, for example — on your check, then the money must go to that specific fund and does not factor into the regular budget. 

Sometimes you may think you are giving to the regular budget when you are actually giving to a designated account. That seemed confusing to me, so I had to ask (more than once) for clarification on what that meant. Let’s say you write “Benevolence Ministry” on your personal check. We have a regular budget line for this ministry, but when you specified Benevolence, your money went to the Benevolence Fund, which supports our weekly Benevolence ministry, Spalding Samaritans, Abundant Life Soup Kitchen, and other ministries. The distribution of Benevolence Fund money is governed by the leadership of the Benevolence Ministry with oversight from the Mission Council. That regular budget line item that you see in the annual budget labeled Benevolence is money that goes directly to Five Loaves and Two Fish Food Pantry.

If I wanted to give sacrificially to support the Women’s Ministry, the Community Garden, or any other restricted account at the end of the year, then I could indicate that ministry by name on the “Other” line along with my donation amount and know that the money would go straight to that designated account. 

Over the past few years, I have learned that the budget and restricted accounts are managed by officers of the church. However, there is another entity that operates separately from and in partnership with the church. This entity is called the FBC Endowment Foundation. Its Board invests (often larger) gifts made to the church and then makes funds available for church needs based on the market value of the earnings. 

However the Lord is directing your heart and your finances this season, I hope you know that your gifts are being put to use daily to share the love of Jesus with others. I can testify that I have seen the budget working on behalf of our community. FBC’s membership values every gift you have to offer, whether it be a song to cheer another’s downtrodden spirit, the gift of a coat to share with someone less fortunate, or a financial offering. Your offering in love will, in turn, remind others that they are loved, and there’s nothing they can do about it. 

If you have questions or concerns about your giving, please don’t hesitate to contact the church office. We want to ensure that your giving aligns with your values and intentions.

God bless you,

Leila Wells Rogers

Member & Communications Coordinator

 

If you would like to read more about how your budget contributions support the many vibrant ministries at First Baptist, then we invite you to read other articles in this series, listed below.

The Giving in Action series is featured in the E-Vision monthly.