High 5

High-5: Back to (Sunday) School

September 18, 2013 By Faith

Along with helping ground our children in the faith, Sunday School is one of Faith’s most important outreach ministries. It draws families who might not otherwise participate in the church. Please pray for all our Sunday School students, their teachers and families, that God will use this ministry to build up faith in Jesus.

Sunday School is also a significant expense for Faith’s program budget. That is why we are tying the fourth of this year’s High-5 special offerings to this important ministry. These five offerings were designed to bring forward some of the major offering income that is usually required at year’s end to meet all our ministry expenses.

During September, High-5: Back to (Sunday) School will provide an opportunity to support Sunday School and other vital ministries of Faith with a special gift or perhaps to catch up on offerings after summer travels. Please consider prayerfully how God has blessed you to be a blessing to others.

The start of another year of Sunday School kicks off with the Extravaganza on Sunday, September 8.

Want to give online? Click here!

There will be 5 special giving opportunities in 2013 to prevent Faith's version of a "fiscal cliff" at the end of the year. Photo by Illustir, Creative Commons — Give Faith Lutheran a High-5, and support our Sunday School ministry and all the ministries at Faith. Photo by Illustir, Creative Commons

High 5 for Easter

March 4, 2013 By Faith

Let’s call this an experiment. We want to change the giving habits at Faith Lutheran. Our church is usually in a budget shortfall by December of each year. This leads to some strain on the operations of the church. In recent years, we have taken to attention-grabbing commentaries (see 2011’s “3-Peat” and 2012’s “Weatherman” reports) to increase awareness of the church’s needs for funds at the end of the year. This all comes in December. And it all feels like a bit of a panic.

The congregation faithfully responds to these requests for funding, and for the past four years offerings have met the church’s needs.

But we’ve been thinking… What if we asked members of Faith Lutheran to give out of joyful celebration instead of financial panic?

This year we will offer 5 special giving opportunities. The first will start in a couple of weeks. You will see special Alleluia! offering envelopes around Easter.

We’re calling this new giving experiment High 5. It has several goals:

Achieve a 5^th straight year of meeting all our ministry commitments without borrowing
Lessen the year-end “fiscal cliff” by spreading extra giving throughout the year, so we’re not giving in panic next December, but instead giving thankfully and joyously throughout the year
Develop a “budget, plus” mindset that aims not just to meet, but exceed the annual church budget
Show more clearly how offerings given to Faith Lutheran connect to its many ministries.

The first High 5 giving opportunity comes this month with the Alleluia! offering celebrating the joy and importance of Easter. Watch later this month for your chance to give Faith Lutheran a High 5 and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord through the Alleluia! offering.

Will you give Faith Lutheran a High 5 this Easter? Photo by Holtsman, Creative Commons

High 5

February 20, 2013 By Faith

We’re changing the way we look at offerings, tithing, and giving joyously at Faith Lutheran. Why? Well it all started last December, when the people of Faith Lutheran responded so generously to the Joy to the World offering that it allowed Faith to meet all her ministry commitments without borrowing. This marked the 4^th straight year the church hasn’t had to borrow money at the end of the year.

Even then, there was still about $7,000 remaining after all ministry and mission commitments were paid, so at the Annual Meeting we asked attendees to vote on how to spend that surplus. Has our church ever before shared the joy of deciding how to spend extra money at the annual meeting?!? This was a huge milestone in the financial strength of Faith Lutheran!

Given that, the church council is challenging the church to develop a “budget—plus” mindset this year. That is, our goal starting out is not only to meet the spending plan approved for 2013, but to exceed it. We want to be able to vote on how to spend a surplus at next year’s annual meeting, too. One step in reaching that goal is to encourage members to give year round. In the past at Faith Lutheran, we have seen creative (and at times, silly) attempts to “meet the budget” in the last month(s) of the year. We do this to ensure we will meet the church’s ministry commitments. But what if the tremendous extra giving we see in December of each year was spread throughout the year?

That’s where High 5 comes in. Instead of one extra offering opportunity like Joy to the Word in December, there will be five opportunities throughout the year for “extra mile” giving in order to meet and exceed the 2013 spending plan. Just imagine if Faith came into next December with a much smaller budget need, yet received the same giving as last December! The congregation would again be able to decide how to share the overflowing blessings of God for the work of his kingdom!

The first will come with an Alleluia! offering at Easter. As God blesses you to support High 5 beyond your regular offerings, please join in the joy of budget plus giving.

2013 High-5 offerings:

Alleluia! Offering (Easter)

Pentecost Paydown (May)

The Best Kind of Problem to Have (July)

Back to (Sunday) School (September)

Joy to the Word (December)