Category Archives: Giving

Are Our Offering Plates Passing Us By?

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The landscape of giving to religion has been changing for decades.  It’s like we are on a train that has pulled out of the station.  The scenery looks different, because it is different, and chances are will not get back that way again.

Just thirty years ago, sixty percent of all charitable giving was to religion.  Today giving to religion is still the largest segment of charitable giving, but in significantly smaller proportion (33%) than in decades past.  The fact is, there is greater competition for the U.S. charitable dollar.

There are more than 370,000 churches and 1.8 million nonprofit organizations, nearly twice as many nonprofits than in 1995.

Has our “you should give to our congregation because we really need the money” message so dulled the impulse to be generous, that our congregants are simply letting the offering plate pass them by without a second thought?

The simple answer is YES.

Contemporary American culture and industry are driven by mass consumption.   Add to that our prevailing cultural value of individualism and tendency to distrust institutions, we find ourselves impacted and influenced by an almost inescapable way of life.

There is greater diversity found on the religious landscape, with a mix of beliefs and teachings about stewardship, ranging from secular financial management to biblical tithing.  Clergy consistently report discomfort or resistance in taking an active in congregational stewardship.  There seems to be a general lack of connection between generosity, giving behavior, and religious identity.  Many of our congregations are caught in the “pay the bills” scarcity mentality rather than the more expansive “fund the vision” mindset that would inspire greater generosity.

As open as western culture can be about a wide range of subjects, money persists as one of our most taboo topics.  Technology has opened may doors to systematic charitable giving, however there is general avoidance of using electronic means of giving by congregants.

According to the anecdotal research conducted in Passing the Plate , authors highlight a number of factors that impact congregants’ motivations and purposes for giving, despite the clear religious teachings.   There is a heightened level of complexity and inconsistency between what people profess to believe, and their behavior.  Ambivalence about faithful giving persists among those who self-identify as “religious.”  Clearly there is a need to foster generosity as an appropriate practice for acting on one’s religious beliefs and values.

Some ideas for sparking generosity and motivating people to give to their faith communities:

  • Leaders boldly articulate ways to “Live the Vision”
  • Leaders model generosity through their own giving to the congregation
  • Congregants are invited to give generously and regularly
  • Communication about giving money is clear, positive, and enthusiastic
  • Provide several ways to contribute, including online donations, systematic electronic contributions, spontaneous giving opportunities, special offerings, etc
  • Stimulate generosity by giving a proportion of the offering or congregation’s budget for mission and outreach
  • Facilitate small group conversations and learning experiences about money and giving.
  • CELEBRATE the successes in the congregation’s fundraising—even if the goal isn’t met (yet!)

To revisit the summary of responses to the Giving Speaks “Sharing the Offering Plate” poll: http://wp.me/p1xUUk-42

Sources for this post:

Barna, George.  How to Increase Giving in Your Church.  1997.  Regal.

Christopher, J. Clif.  Not Your Parent’s Offering Plate.  2008.  Abingdon Press.

Schaller, Lyle E.  The New Context for Ministry.  2002.  Abingdon Press.

Smith, Emerson with Snell.  Passing the Plate.  2008.  Oxford University Press.

Relevant resource:

https://faithinspires.wordpress.com/tag/stewardship/

Money and Giving for the Thrill of It!

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This is a guest blog post by the Reverend Robert Thayer, Minister of the UU Church in Brockton, MA, and author of the popular book  Offerings: Remarks on Passing the Plate, in which this story is published under the title of Large Bills.

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Some years ago I visited England and attended Sunday worship with some British Unitarian friends.  We sat toward the front of the church.  I was all tingly—both from the cold sanctuary and the warm glow of being on my ancestral soil.  The sermon was magnificent, and I was feeling effusive, very generous.

The moment came for the offering.  I reached into my wallet and saw a wad of British pound notes, but nothing particularly small.  I mentally shrugged my shoulders and pulled out a twenty-pound note, held it in my hand, and prepared to drop it in.  My friend shook his head at me.  I raised my eyebrows at him—why not?  He whispered, “It’s a rather large donation.”

I felt indignant.  Who was my friend to tell me I was giving too much.  I flapped the twenty-pound note in the air and whispered, “Are you sure?”

“See the usher?” he asked.  “I know he will be in shock.  He may fall down.  He has never seen a twenty-pound note in a collection except for famine relief in India.”

“Now you have me curious.  Let’s see if you are right,” I responded testily.

“Be mindful,” he warned, “that the usher will ask you after the service if you would like change.”

Well, it did not happen that way.  When I dropped the note in the plate, the usher initially reacted with a frown, but his face soon brightened with a proper smile.  Then I realized something very thrilling.  Because we sat in front, every British Unitarian on our side of the aisle that morning would see that note in the plate.  What an example, I thought.  On second thought, I remembered that since World War II the Brits have had a thorough familiarity with Yanks and many think of us as “over-sexed, over-paid, and over here.”

At the end of the service, I shook hands with the people all around me, including the usher, and gave hugs to my two colleagues who had been in the pulpit that day.  After we walked out into the chill October morning, I looked back into the vestibule and saw the usher take out my note.  He looked outside down the walkway, caught my eye, and said, “Thank you very much.”

Some days you may come to church with only large bills, and even if you make your pledge payment faithfully by mail, you may wonder, what can I give today?  Let the spirit guide you.  I can only say that the one time I surprised the British usher, I felt the thrill of pure joy in the moment when we give and receive our offering.

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On a good many Sunday mornings the offering, given and received, is a ritual that rarely provokes any exceptional notice.  If one morning there is a large bill in the plate those who can see this bill will be amazed and stop, and then be amazed again, think – “Somebody is really …..” Fill in the blank.  The attention is gathered around generosity.

During one Sunday worship in the UU Church in Brockton, MA where I serve as minister, I read this story before the offering.  There were three Brits in attendance–a groom, with his bride, and two of his groomsmen–present because of a wedding ceremony I officiated the day before.  In glancing at the offering plates when they were brought forward to the altar, I glanced down to see a 20 pound note laying on top of one plate.  I picked it up, turned around, faced the congregation, and held up the note.  I joyfully mouthed the words:   Thank You very much!

~Bob Thayer

Offerings:  Remarks on Passing the Plate, by Robert A. Thayer.  2004.  Skinner House Books.  Available for purchase through the UUA Bookstore.   http://www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=659

 

               

 

Transcending Language Barriers and Borders

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Since February of 2011, Corpus Christi Unitarian Universalist Church has offered a two-hour Sunday afternoon program for English as a Second Language (ESL), Citizenship Test Preparation…and hopefully will include basic computer training this year.

Marilyn Bremser, congregation member, had been teaching these classes at the local library since 2006 but felt that the program could be expanded as an outreach program at our church. Friends with a local Hispanic community activist, Marilyn was invited to attend a “Fuerza Comunitaria” where a collection of local groups, (OSHA, Catholic Charities, insurance companies, etc.) offer free information and guidance to the immigrant community.  At that February Sunday afternoon gathering 23 people signed up to come to our church classes, most speaking no English at all.  With this large number to enroll, the pastor, the Rev. Phil Douglas, enlisted the assistance of the Literary Council whose director is also a church member.

Finding teachers and organizing classrooms in our small church was a challenge but as the year progressed we have settled into five classes: beginning, intermediate and fluency language; citizenship prep and the fifth class is taught by a bi-lingual teacher who kindly assists the more insecure.

We registered about 60 students in 2011.  In December we were able to give certificates to 20 students who studied more than 16 hours with us. Students have been predominantlyfrom Mexico, but others are from Venezuela, Turkey, India, Columbia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Korea, and Taiwan.

The Corpus Christi UU Church pays a young member to help set up the classrooms and to handle the child care.  Three of the volunteer teachers are church members and the other two were recruited through the Literacy Council. Their goal is to encourage students to qualify for enrollment in their local community college (DelMar) and/or to pass the citizenship test. (One student became a citizen in December!)

Clearly, this program offers an excellent opportunity for the Corpus Christi UU Church to be of service and extend their ministry in their wider community, which is made up of sixty-two percent Hispanic people.  This is a congregation committed to ministering to the needs in their local community and transforming lives, one person at a time.

The Corpus Christi UU Church has been one of our Annual Program Fund Honor Congregations for nearly all of the past 25 years.  For more information about the congregation and its ministries:  http://uucorpus.org/

For more information about the UUA’s Annual Program Fund:  www.uua.org/giving/apf