What Offering Means To Me

Before coming to this church I really did not understand what the offering was for. I guess in some ways I never thought of it; plus no church I have ever gone to before talked about finances and budget with the whole congregation. As many of you know my early church training was in the LDS church where all adults give 10% of the earnings that is just understood. They are trained from birth practically that you are to give 10% to the church. If  you don’t give you are called in to talk to the Bishop and you are banned from going to the temple and some other things until you get caught up. But it is never talked about where that money goes and what it is for.

I later attended both the Methodist church and Nazarene, there you were not told how much you were to give nor why you gave or what was done with the money. You were just supposed to give.
I now understand more what the offering means. It is our gift to God, our thanks for our lives and the things around us, it is a way for us as a church to continue it’s mission. I think I always understood that much. What I did not really understand was what it takes for an individual church to continue it’s mission. I did not really look at the day to day costs involved in running a church and oh yeah of course the church has bills too like utilities, building maintenance, insurance, paying our minister, organist, janitor and so many other things. It’s not even as simple as just funding a mission it is more and yet as simple as just keeping our church running. I appreciate that when I came here I saw numbers in black and white that explained to me where our money comes from and where it goes.

I guess I always thought if you were Lutheran or LDS or Nazarene or whatever denomination you were with there was some organization that paid for all these things, that the offering went to them and they did with it what they wanted. What an eye opener it was to find out that just isn’t how it is for us and probably most those others, to find out that our offering is what funds “OUR CHUCH” right here in Genesee, that we are what keeps it going. I now look at my offering differently, still as a gift to God but also a way to keep our mission as Christians here in Genesee going.

We are facing some difficult times and asking for each and everyone of us to open our hearts a little more and figure out what this church and its mission means to each of us? What missions are important to us and how do we want to help continue those missions? Over the next few weeks we will be asking ourselves how and what we can do.  I hope each of us can find the answers so that we may continue to be here as a family and congregation.

Linda Chilson