WELS created an odd juxtaposition with the two headlines listed above, from their Together email
Congregation Mission Offerings (CMO)—given by congregations for the synod's collective ministry—were $3.76 million for the quarter, down nearly 14 percent from the same quarter last year. Some of the difference may be due to the timing of Easter, which occurred in March last year. Foundation grants and gifts from individuals are also down dramatically.
As one person told me, "No matter what has been cut lately, they have to go back and cut even more the next week."
The part I marked in lavender is especially telling. As I predicted, extra money from the wealthy and their foundations is drying up. If the trends continue, the story will be worse in a year.
Times are tough, even in Texas. I imagine that future safaris will be limited to the wild animal farm in Lubbock, or the local petting zoo.
3 comments:
Time to reduce waste! It will not be so easy to pass along unnecessary expense to member churches. For example, flying around the country to give a sermon, travel to conventions and huddles, constructing new buildings, mismanagement, ...
Get ready for the WELS' first use of the Law - to harshly coax additional giving.
The time has come for religions to refocus on the Word by doing the following:
1. Break the excessive dependence on material things – especially money
2. Engage in joint ventures with other religions to build real community churches that are shared among religions
3. Improve sermon QA/QC by broadcasting sermons over the Internet instead of leaving quality up to local pastors
4. Train members to depend upon the Living Word not dead religion
5. Train members to be fishers of men
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