Stewardship & Giving

For Stewardship Resources beyond our local church, Click HERE!

Stewardship & Commitment Invitation

A collector of rare books ran into an acquaintance who told him he had just thrown away an old Bible that he found, printed by “Guten” - or something like that.

“Gutenberg?" asked the collector. The friend nodded.

"You fool! You've thrown away one of the first books ever printed, a book worth millions of dollars!”

"Oh, I don't think this book would have been worth much," said the friend. "It was scribbled all over in the margins by some guy named Martin Luther."

What do you value about church?  What here brings you joy, comfort, energy, and hope?

Does that mean what you value about Franklin Circle Christian Church is or should be the same as what someone else values?  No, of course not.  But sometimes we treat our giving, our stewardship, as if it is a vote for or against something in the church.  If we are liking what the church - or the pastor specifically - is doing, we give more.  If we don't, we give less.

This ignores two truths.  The first is illustrated by the story.  Who knows that what ministry the church is offering isn't exactly what someone else needs, perhaps even someone whose faith is weaker or whose experience in the church is shorter.

But the second truth ignored by this manner of giving is even more telling.  We do not give as a vote of confidence/no confidence about the church nor anything else human.  We give because God has first given to us more grace and love and forgiveness than we could have ever hoped for.  We give because it is in the nature of a faithful disciple to give.  We give to give glory to God.
 

Monthly Offering Envelopes

Monthly Offering Envelopes Now Available

Monthly offering envelopes are available from the church office.  Please call and ask for them.  You can pick them up on Sunday and use them for your gifts.  Please contact the church secretary, or me, the Treasurer, at 216-781-8232 during the week and a set will be made up for you.

Thank you all for your generosity.

Randy Buckingham, Treasurer

Quick overview of giving/offerings at Franklin Circle Christian Church
Pastor Allen Harris

1. Operating Budget – The vast majority of offerings given are for the annual operational budget of our local congregation which funds the mission and ministry of Christ. This goes to pay everything from our utility bills, to staff salaries, to the programs funded by the Mission Council.

2. Sunday School Offerings – All the money received from the Sunday School classes is collected throughout the year and at the end of the year (along with the over and above Christmas Offering) is designated by the Board for a special outreach/mission project.

3. Special Day Offerings – Six times a year we receive offerings for the work of our denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). After each offering is collected, the Financial Secretary remits the offering the Church Finance Council who distributes them to the appropriate entity. They are as follows:

a. Reconciliation Offering (usually the end of September) – for the work of developing understanding and justice on the part of people of different races and ethnicities.

b. Thanksgiving Offering – for leadership development, much of it in our colleges, universities, and seminaries.

c. Christmas Offering – for the work of our Region, the Christian Church in Ohio (Disciples of Christ).

d. Week Of Compassion (also known as One Great Hour Of Sharing – usually received in mid-February) – for disaster relief and development projects around the world. Oftentimes people give to this offering throughout the year, especially whenever disasters happen.

e. Easter Offering – for the work of our denomination’s General Ministries, such as Global Ministries, Disciples Home Mission, Council on Christian Unity, Historical Society, and our ethnic constituency groups, such as Hispanic Fellowship, North American Pacific Asian Disciples, and the National Convocation (African American Disciples)

f. Pentecost Offering – for new congregation establishment. This offering is split between the denomination and the region.

4. Organ Fund – using the special envelopes in the pews, this helps to pay for organ maintenance and repairs.

5. Food Center – Oftentimes labeled “Hunger Center” or simply “Hunger” this offering goes to the Near West Food and Family Services Center, and is distributed at various times throughout the year when there is enough to send.

6. Emergency Fund – Throughout the year special appeals are made to ask for contributions to this fund. It is distributed at the pastor’s discretion to persons in critical need, with a priority given to church members.

7. Over & Above Christmas & Easter – The money received in the envelopes that are in our weekly offering envelope packets for Christmas are designated by the Board at the end of the year for special outreach/mission projects (along with the Sunday School Offering – see above). The money received in the Easter envelopes that are in our weekly offering envelope packets currently goes into the annual Operating Budget.
 

Stewardship Resources

http://www.generousgiving.org/

http://www.stewardshipresources.org

http://www.ministryofmoney.org/

Passed Along By Joe Wolf:

Church Financial Health Can Reduce Skepticism and Cynicism in an Older Church

Written by Keith Hamilton

As churches grow older sometimes they forget what it was like when they were young. Churches need to remember a few of the qualities that characterize the financial indicators of a young healthy Kingdom-Focused Church:

1. The budget is aligned with the church's vision.
A church budget is necessary to meet governmental regulations and help prevent church conflicts. However, many church budgets are not aligned with the church's purpose. For instance, if the church purpose is to reach the world for Christ and the church budget only allocates 5% to international and home missions, certainly the church budget is not aligned with the church purpose. The church budget should reflect the church vision.

2. The whole counsel of God is taught in stewardship.
Believers are instructed that they are managers of God's resources. Stewardship is not only giving to God; stewardship is a lifestyle of honoring God in all matters involving the person's time, talents, and resources. Stewardship involves a disciple's lifestyle of managing the resources God has entrusted to the individual Christian.

3. When people give to the church, the donors sense they are making a difference in the Kingdom of God.
A basic human need is to make a difference in the world. Life should have meaning and purpose. Most Christians want to make a difference through their church. A healthy kingdom-focused church would reflect this characteristic. Hardly anyone gets excited about paying the church's light bill, but donors would be excited about the church's facilities being used to bring boys and girls to Christ. As a church leader once joyfully exclaimed, ?Because we have this building, sixty-three souls came to know Christ in the last eighteen months!? What a difference the church's facilities is making in the lives of individuals.

4. Tithing is taught without reservation and apology.
Christ died for His Church. A healthy kingdom-focused church will teach that tithing to the local church is essential and a necessary part of being a Christ follower. Tithing is not optional.

5. Church business [meetings] are times of celebration, not regret.
Church business [meetings are conducted according the church's constitution/bylaws that reflect the compassion and love of Christ. Argumentative matters are referred back to the appropriate committee or organization to keep the harmony and unity of the fellowship. Many churches have empowered committees to make more financial decisions to help avoid church conflicts and preserve the fellowship of the church.

6. Clear and concise financial policies and guidelines are adopted and followed by the kingdom-focused church.
Church financial policies provide a means to avoid church conflicts and misunderstandings. Church members do not have to guess what guidelines they should follow in using God's resources entrusted to the church. The church's finances are kept in good and decent order, without confusion.

7. The church supports mission causes beyond the church's borders.
A healthy kingdom-focused church should support mission causes nationally and internationally. To help fulfill the Great Commission, the church must be involved beyond its local borders in reaching individuals for the cause of Christ. Not only should the church give financially, but the church should send its members to go and make disciples in ?other lands.?

8. An attitude of joy exists when trying to out give God.
When the church collects its offering, there should be an excitement and joy in the opportunity to bless God with financial gifts. Christians should give willingly because they have been taught about the privilege that God has allowed them to participate in His Kingdom work. Christians are shown the importance of blessing God financially. In turn, Christians will experience how God pours out His blessing on the giver.

If a church will re-examine itself in light of these healthy financial qualities and take the needed steps in becoming healthier, then the joy and excitement of a healthy Kingdom-Focused Church will return and God will be blessed!