The Good News of Our Giving
There is a lot of information I could talk about in this little space. The Supreme
Court’s groundbreaking decision on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 to favor the right
of religious employment discrimination is one of them. This means that religious
employees of a church cannot sue for discrimination. That would be a hot and detailed
article that has merit and some reasons to rejoice. For one, the Supreme Court of
this country feels that it cannot decide in church related decisions. Churches are
protected by forbidding governments from second-
I could talk about the debates and the Republican choices for a candidate for presidency… Naaaa.
The one thing that is pulling at my heart is the good news of our giving this past year. I consider the difficult economy, the rise of unemployment, and the increasing cost of living in our communities, and stand with joy to ask, “Is there anything that God cannot do?” All things are possible with God!
Each year we set a budget and do everything possible to keep the bottom line very low with no increase. We adjust line items; work diligently on salary increases if that is even possible. We complete our budget and get worried about how we can raise the money for that year. Sound familiar?
Tensions rise, the cost of utilities and just about everything else rises, but the thing we might be forgetting is that the power of God in our lives and particularly our pocketbooks rises even higher. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Dianna Briner, our financial secretary, prepared a report of the various funds and their health. Here are some of the results of your faithful giving.
You gave $208,045 for the general fund which is a $6,153 increase from last year. With other offerings, sales, and fund raisers our total giving to the general fund was $228,431. Wow, keep up the good work.
There is other amazing news. Our Mission and Ministry gifts were $14,583 with our top giving to Kids in Mission Loose change $4,253, Missionary Janet McCarty $1,968, UMCOR $1,665, Samaritan House $1,500, Christmas Food Baskets $1,235, and The HOPE Fund $1,030.
Another wonderful item of news is our giving to the building fund. Our two year campaign is working out very well, $9,962 given in 2010 and $25,477 given in 2011. That represents an increase of $15,515 to the building fund over last year.
What this shows me is that God is working through his believers at Nameoki UMC. You have mentioned to me that we are not a wealthy church, but our wealth must be deeper than a few bank accounts. It looks like it is spread through all our families who are coming on board. Plus, our average attendance for 2011 was 162 at all weekly worship services. Our numbers aren’t into the thousands, so it indicates to me that most everyone is participating in some shape, form, or fashion, sort of like our loose change offering. Every nickel, dime, quarter, and penny adds up to make a world of difference.
My friends, keep up the good work. Do your best, pray that it is blest, and Jesus will take care of the rest.