STEWARDSHIP
Stewardship email for 2011 Campaign
The 2011 stewardship campaign begins this week. In contrast with previous years, no letter will be mailed this year. Only a pledge card will be mailed to each household. A copy of the pledge card is also available on the St. Andrews’ website. Pledge Sunday will be November 14th.
Why are we changing from our customary letter-based stewardship campaign?
This year, the session and the stewardship committee hope to introduce a more personal flavor to the pledging campaign. Each week will have a particular focus on some part of stewardship. Next week we will focus on proportional giving (“tithing”); then the following week we will discuss the “why of giving” for different members. On November 7th we will consider how the budget is put together. In this way, we hope to put a face on the different aspects of considering and committing to a pledge to the church.
The session requests that you prayerfully and carefully consider your pledge for the coming year. It has been a tumultuous year financially. St. Andrews has not been spared that tumult. In the coming weeks the stewardship ministry will present several personal messages concerning what St. Andrews means to several of your fellow members. Please listen to these, and make your pledge in the spirit of charity and love that Christ preached.
Click Pledge Card for a printable copy.
PROPORTIONAL GIVING: The minute for stewardship this morning concerns proportional giving. One approach to proportional giving is to tithe. This is the approach often viewed as the traditional Jewish law and practice, and though there is no specific or unambiguous New Testament authority to mandate a "tithe" or "percentage" pledge, the stewardship ministry would like to present some information on proportional giving in general. If there is no explicit biblical direction for Christians to tithe, why has it been so widely accepted as a Christian practice? First, as mentioned above, it is rooted in Jewish tradition. The first Christian elders took these practices as the model for our church. Second, more than a sacrifice, tithing has become a way to put God first and to live more fully in God's kingdom. The scriptures may not directly mandate tithing, but Jesus did say in the Sermon on the Mount, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Some may ask, why this sudden interest in tithing? Would it have to do with the discussions about budget shortfalls that have been so prevalent? The answer is that the proportional giving has always been practiced by a number of our congregational members. The stewardship ministry believes that more than a way to help our budget issues, proportional giving is a way to increase the Christian spirit of charity and love in all of our lives. To this end, we request that you prayerfully consider adopting a proportional approach to your pledge for the coming year. Start with your current giving amount, and then increase your gift by 1 or 2% each year. To provide a guide for a weekly offering under a proportional giving plan, here is a table of income and giving for different percentages:
|
Household |
2% |
3% |
4% |
5% |
6% |
7% |
8% |
9"10 |
10% |
11% |
12% |
|
Income |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$35000 |
$13 |
$20 |
$27 |
$34 |
$40 |
$47 |
$54 |
$61 |
$67 |
$74 |
$81 |
|
$45000 |
$17 |
$26 |
S35 |
$43 |
$52 |
S61 |
$69 |
$78 |
$87 |
$95 |
SI04 |
|
$65000 |
S25 |
$38 |
S50 |
S63 |
$75 |
$88 |
$100 |
$113 |
$125 |
S137 |
$150 |
|
$80,000 |
$31 |
$46 |
$62 |
$77 |
S92 |
$108 |
SI23 |
S138 |
$154 |
SI69 |
S185 |
|
S100000 |
$38 |
$58 |
S77 |
$96 |
$115 |
$135 |
S154 |
$173 |
$192 |
S212 |
$231 |
|
$150 000 |
$58 |
$87 |
$115 |
$144 |
$173 |
$202 |
$231 |
$260 |
$288 |
S317 |
$346 |
|
$200,000 |
$77 |
$115 |
$154 |
$192 |
S231 |
S269 |
$308 |
$346 |
$385 |
$423 |
$462 |
|
$250000 |
$96 |
$144 |
$192 |
$240 |
$288 |
$337 |
S385 |
$433 |
$481 |
$529 |
$577 |
HOW THE ANNUAL BUDGET COMES ABOUT: The Session prepares the annual budget based on expenditure requests from the ministries and the revenue estimates based on the pledge campaign. One important point to remember about the expenditure portion of the budget is that historically about 75% of all expenditures are "fixed", that is they are required for salaries, debt service, building utilities, insurance, service contracts and leased equipment. Consequently, when revenues fall short, as they did in 2009, the session has to cut deep into the "non-fixed" portion of the budget to make ends meet. The 25% non-fixed portion of the budget is
the part that in many ways distinguishes St. Andrews - it provides the funds for the special projects, for education, for music. These are the funds that make us a "light unto the path" for the Northern Neck. The Session will be hoping to find the funds in this part of the budget to begin some special things in 2011 - reduce our mortgage while interest rates are low, put money into the maintenance and repair reserves, redesigning our church website, and certainly continue to look for outreach projects that will fulfill the great commission given us by Jesus. So please prayerfully consider what your pledge commitment might be for the coming year. (10/31/10)
