EDITORIAL
Forward Leading | Mark DeYmaz
A recent year-end offering at our church generated nearly $350,000 beyond regular giving. While fantastic, it was still $150,000 short of our ask and need. As the new year began, we wondered how best to navigate potential “giving fatigue” in pursuit of the additional funds.
Generally speaking, giving fatigue describes a congregation’s weariness or frustration with what is or seems to be a never-ending appeal from leadership for more money.
To address such fatigue, mitigate misunderstanding, and set expectations going forward, I wrote and discussed the following letter with the church (edited here for brevity) before posting it on our website:
When it comes to the American church and money, there’s no shortage of need, concern or complaint:
- “Pastors are always talking about money. Instead, they should be talking about Jesus!”
- “The church doesn’t care about me…It just wants my money!”
- ____________________________________________________ (fill in the blank)
Sadly, frustrations like these not only abound but are often warranted. In more than a few instances, pastors have caused harm or broken trust with their people over issues of money.
Yet, while some pastors have done so, it’s not true that all pastors are doing so.
At Mosaic, we strive daily to be good stewards of the financial resources faithfully, generously and sacrificially entrusted to us. Over more than 20 years, our leadership has established systems of financial accountability, learned to stretch dimes to dollars, and continued to believe the following passage of Scripture: “Faithful is He who calls you, and He will do it” (1 Thess. 5:24).
In practice, this means we regularly encourage, challenge and inspire the body to support the church financially, believing that when we do for ourselves what we can, God will do for us what we cannot.
With this in mind, it’s important to recognize that pastors responsible for church finances are no different than men and women who are responsible for the finances of their own households.
Think about it: Beyond the basic costs of renting an apartment, a house or owning a home, there is an ever-present need for more money in one’s household.
Stated another way, outside of fixed monthly expenses for which we can budget, there are at least three areas that remain an ongoing challenge where money is concerned:
- Rising costs of operations or maintenance
- Unexpected repairs or replacements
- Desired improvements or aspirational goals
Whether as pastors responsible for the church, then, or as people responsible for our own households, when it comes to money there will always be a need to:
- Seek more of it
- Juggle or borrow funds to meet immediate needs (whether or not we want or can afford to do so at any given moment)
- Budget to address what will soon or next need to be done
- Pursue aspirational goals whenever possible
So, while we can’t promise you a church that never talks about or asks for money, we can promise you a church that remains on the matter:
- Open and approachable
- Honest and accountable
- Thoughtful and resourceful
- Faithful and hopeful
And trusting that God will continue to provide what is needed to advance the mission and vision of Mosaic for his glory.
The letter and comparative analogy was well-received by our church. Perhaps it or something similar can help you overcome the obstacle of giving fatigue in your own church as well.