Craig Bailey's Church Health Articles

 

 

Much has been said in recent days about the way Baptists divide their mission giving. With the GCR task force making recommendations to the SBC and state conventions wrangling over how much money goes to what causes, it seems that simplified mission giving has become a complicated maze! Beyond all the preferences expressed by pastors and members of our churches, one thing is certain – Baptists will never unanimously agree on how we should give to missions.

 

Our churches have several options available to them. They can give a percentage to the Cooperative Program and take up special offerings for all the other causes worth supporting. Church budgets are often structured to include the causes for which special offerings are taken. We can send messengers to our conventions and complain about the way our Cooperative Program budget is designed until it matches our expectations. Of course, if we manage to accomplish that feat, someone else will be complaining as loudly as we were.

I have an entirely different perspective on the issue. Don’t we as Baptists focus on the autonomy of the local church? Then it makes perfect sense to quit haggling with all the denominational workers and mission agencies about how they do things and design our own Cooperative Program on the local church level.

 

Now I do not mean you should use the name “Cooperative Program” for whatever you roll into your church mission budget and offerings. The Cooperative Program belongs to Southern Baptists and is clearly defined by every state convention. It is neither ethical nor sensible to use SBC names for offerings sent to other entities. While some of my readers might think churches would never stoop so low as to do this, I can testify that it has happened. You would do well to ask your church leaders the hard questions about “where” the Cooperative Program line item or the Lottie Moon Christmas offering is really going. Some churches have actually retained the name while sending the money to another competing mission organization.

 

On the local church level we have a couple of problems to solve. First of all, few things cause more anguish among church members than special offerings every week. On top of that, someone sets a “goal” for the offering, which still has not been met six weeks after the season for it. So, the Pastor, WMU Director, Deacon Chairman, and the children’s church all find themselves begging for more gifts so we can meet our goal. But everyone knows that next week we will have another “special offering” and the guilt wagon rolls through church again clamoring for more money.

 

Secondly, we all want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We live in the age of a shrinking planet, where we can literally be involved in good works all around the globe. Never has there been a more exciting time for missions. But that also means more hands outstretched pleading for the funding necessary to keep ministries alive. The needs grow with knowledge, often overwhelming our ability to feel fulfilled in our task.

Enter the new World Missions Team for your church. No longer an idle group, who gathers for a breakfast or luncheon only to pray for missionaries on their birthday, these leaders are given the active responsibility to design and manage the missions budget and offerings throughout the year. Put them to work at budget planning time and let them design your Acts 1:8 Missions Strategy.

 

Begin by answering the question, “What percentage of our undesignated receipts can go to missions?” Some churches can answer 15 or 20%. Others feel they can only give 10%. Some churches find themselves in difficult financial times and cannot give much at all. Whatever the case, this percentage should be the hub around which the wheel of missions turns. Now, decide what causes should be supported through the budget. 

·         Local missions, i.e. Baptist Association, food pantry, women’s shelter, crisis pregnancy ministry, benevolence, rescue mission, etc. 

·         Statewide missions, i.e. hospital offering, children’s home, aging ministries, etc.

·         Cooperative Program

·         Other national or international ministries the church feels strongly about

·         Mission Involvement Fund (assist members with mission trips)

·         Flex Fund (more about this later)

 

Once these are decided the team must allocate a percentage to each one. Please, make all mission giving categories “percentage” lines. Percentage mission giving for each item is not only fair, but it protects the church. It protects the church from greed because the church automatically gives more to missions when God blesses the church. It protects the church from hard times because the amount going out to missions automatically decreases if offerings go down.

 

The largest single percentage item should still be the Cooperative Program. When you consider that CP funds go into over 180 nations around the world while also funding the ministries of Baptist life from our state conventions to our seminaries, it remains the best bargain in mission giving. If we minimize this category, we cut the Baptist lifeline of missions.

 

The Mission Team not only proposes the budget but manages it as well. They are the watchdogs over the finances to make sure money goes where it was promised. I may sound paranoid here, but I have encountered too many churches that withheld mission giving because of a present financial difficulty instead of dealing with the real problem. Invariably, when the church hears the “surprise” in a business meeting or through the grapevine, feelings will be hurt and people often leave the church, making matters worse.

But the team also manages three other areas. The Mission Involvement Fund gives limited support to the mission trips planned by the church. Members should be actively involved in this process, planning the use of this line item to help with transportation, supplies and limited scholarships. Although this line item is usually no more than 1% of the total church budget, it provides a good base from which to design an active Acts 1:8 strategy involving church members.

 

The team also manages the “Flex Fund.” If your church is willing to step out and use this category, it will come in handy at the drop of a hat. This line item is also no more than 1% of the budget, but it creates a readily available fund for sudden needs. The team is given total authority to use the fund for any crisis situation locally or abroad. When the hurricane, earthquake or tsunami strikes, a check can be written before the next worship service meets. If a neighbor’s house burns down, the church can provide a hotel room without a business meeting vote. 

Baptists are known for their quick response to disasters, and the church flex fund gives the mission team access to funds on a moment’s notice. And, use of these funds does not prevent the church from taking special offerings later if needed. But the church is always comforted to know how they were able to step in and help in a timely fashion. In the unusual case where no instant funds have been needed by the end of the budget year, the entire amount should be given out to other mission causes. This fund should never be turned into an ad hoc savings account carried over from year to year.

 

The final area managed by the mission team should be those pesky special offerings. They decide how many and how often. If goals are to be set, the mission team should set them. But special offerings should have a definite beginning and ending. Don’t browbeat the congregation for weeks to give to a special offering when the goal was not met. If there are to be special events, banquets or other fundraisers for missions, the team should also be in charge of these. Multiple fundraisers can cause more irritation than special offerings.

Some churches are simplifying the special offering schedule by combining all the causes for which special offerings may be taken into one fund. This allows the team to have one, two or three times to emphasize the offering each year, but dividing the proceeds by percentage based on how strongly the church feels about each cause. Here is a typical example for a Southern Baptist church:

 

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering 50%

Annie Armstrong Easter Offering 25%

State Missions Offering 15%

Two other causes 5% each

 

In this strategy the church may still emphasize each cause during the season when the normal offering would be taken. But the church must stress how the offering is divided, so that no one misunderstands where the funds are going. One advantage of this plan is that it stays open all year long. Anytime a member wants to give something extra to missions, it can be added to the fund. The church can write checks to each of the causes on an annual, semi-annual, quarterly or even monthly basis.

 

Taken as a whole, this system of giving empowers the church to make decisions based on their local mission strategy without complaining to the denomination. If a church wants to give more to a cause they feel gets too little funding in the Cooperative Program budget, they can add it. If there are other causes the church feels strongly about, they can support them. It’s a win-win situation for the church as members begin to see that the causes they champion are prioritized by an active mission team.

 

An empowered mission team with a sensible budget and offering structure will result in greater personal involvement in mission work. And, you’ll never hear the members gripe over “another special offering.”