In yesterday's post we looked at the changing role of judicatories due to cut-backs many of them face in finances and personnel. Many denominations and judicatories are reducing their staff either by laying people off or by not replacing people when they retire or resign. I pointed at the judicatory in which I serve that has gone from 11 people on executive staff when I began in 2001 to four people at the end of May. As people have retired we simply have not replaced them, and the primary reason for that is a lack of funds. Many leaders from various denominations describe similar scenarios in their own settings. The question we have to ask ourselves is why are our churches not financially supporting their judicatories and denominations.
Out of the 310 churches in our judicatory about one-third provide no financial support to our region or our denomination. For many years our denomination received a major part of its financial support through United Mission, a large mission fund out of which money flowed to the various groups within the denomination including our judicatories. Churches contributed to United Mission, and the money was divided up to the various agencies that make up our denomination. That money made up the bulk of our region's budget. A few years ago we began to see that offering decline which had a significant impact on the money our region received. As those offerings continued to decrease so did our region's income resulting in the staff reduction we've seen in the past few years.
The reasons why these offerings have decreased are as varied as our churches. Some began to protest certain decisions or stands taken by our denomination and withheld their denominational giving as a sign of their opposition. A number of our churches have been hurt by the on-going financial crisis in our country and simply had to cut back on their own budgets. One of the first places they began cutting was in their denominational support. Some began to catch the vision that their primary mission field was in their existing community. They cut back on mission giving to the denomination to have more money available to minister within their communities. Some see no value in denominations or judicatories so they feel no need to support them. A number of our pastors do not come out of our denomination so they have little loyalty to the denomination and the work it's doing.
Interestingly enough, many of the churches that provide no financial assistance to the denomination or judicatory do not hesitate to ask for our assistance when they find themselves in trouble. We are often the first ones they contact when they have conflict. They often ask our assistance when they are seeking a new pastor. Since these churches refuse to support our ministry I've often thought we should charge them a fee for services, but we've never done that. We are here to resource all the churches that are a part of our region regardless of their financial support. However, with declining staff and financial resources one has to wonder how long that can continue.
I can understand a church's frustration with their denomination. There are times I am frustrated with some of the decisions that come out of our denomination, but that is no reason to "punish" it by withholding funds. Maybe your denomination takes a stand with which you disagree, but why would you want to hurt the missionaries your denomination supports who had nothing to do with that decision? That is exactly what a church does when it refuses to support the mission of its denomination. Why would you want to hinder the work of your judicatory when it exists to serve you? Much of the money that goes into the budget of many judicatories comes out of the money given to denominational support, so when a church stops giving to the denomination it is hurting its local judicatory.
While working with a conflicted church one time a question was raised in a congregational gathering, "What do you think of church members who quit giving to the church in an effort to force the pastor to resign?" That was happening in that church. I responded, "It is one of the most childish and immature things I can think of. That is not your money; it is God's money that you are withholding. You have an obligation to provide for your pastor and family. If there are things about your pastor's ministry that you don't like then address them like adults, but to stop giving to the church in protest or in an effort to "starve the pastor out" is childish and not appropriate behavior for a mature Christian." I feel the same way about churches that refuse to support the ministry of their denominations and judicatories.
You may not agree with everything your denomination or judicatory does, but if you stop and think about it you'll find a lot of things they do that you do agree with. I believe denominations and judicatories still have a role to play in the work of the Kingdom, but that work is being hindered by the lack of financial support they are receiving from their churches. If you are not providing them your support, I hope you'll reconsider that and begin. If you are already supporting them, take a few minutes and think about the level of that support. Is it where it should be, and if not how can that be increased?
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