Congregational Stewardship/Generosity
Are You Regular?
It feels good to be regular. Just like going to the gym or the pool or jogging, giving regularly is a healthy habit. Sure, giving sporadically – as you can, when you think of it – is better than not giving at all. But if you want to become a generous follower of Jesus, you need intentionality and practice. Watching how people’s faces light up when they receive a gift. Knowing that your giving is really making a difference in someone’s life. The feeling of satisfaction when you give someone what they need. It feels good to be regular. After all, when everything around you is telling you to spend or hoard, giving is not always easy or first nature. Yet, that’s what a life of discipleship means: choosing instead to follow the Way of Jesus. So, if you’re not yet regular in your giving, let me invite you to consider regularity. If you have people in your Community of Faith that are not regular – and we all do – invite them to regular giving. The month of May is PAR month. There’s information about that in this newsletter. Please make a big deal about it. Trust me, it feels good to be regular. 
Rev. Dave Jagger
Community of Faith Stewardship Lead
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Called to Be the Church100% of participants in Getting Started in Stewardship this winter who completed the evaluation form would recommend this course to others and saw an increase in their level of HOPE for the future of their Community of Faith.
Many participating communities of faith in Stewardship Best Practices and Setting Up Your Giving Program courses saw an increase in at least TWO key financial indicators.
What more needs to be said? Called to Be the Church: The Journey modules really make a difference. Come and join the movement!
Find more information and register for all these courses at CHURCHx.
Getting Started in Stewardship
Join United Church people across the country to learn some stewardship first principles.
Course fee: Free
Stewardship Best Practices
Best done AFTER Getting Started in Stewardship. Next course starts in the fall of 2024 to give you lots of time to do Getting Started in Stewardship and be ready.
Four two-week cycles of Learning Sessions and Cohort Discussion Groups interspersed with practical exercises to examine Stewardship Best Practices in order for you to set goals, create an annual stewardship plan, and get energized!
Course fee: Pay what you can. Recommended fee $100/team.
Setting Up Your Congregational Giving Program
Learn how best to utilize the Called to Be the Church Giving Program materials and develop a plan that will work for your church with two 2-hour online sessions and coaching.
Course fee: Free
Bequests and Planned Giving for Your Community of Faith
Explore how to set up and maintain a Planned Giving Program at your church, with two one-hour online sessions.
Course fee: $29.99/person
Find more information and register for all these courses at CHURCHx.
For more information on these and other stewardship supports, contact called@united-church.ca.
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Check Out the Most Recent Stewardship Blog Vicki Nelson talks about parenting and the importance of church camp as a training ground for generosity and justice in the new April blog at Round the Table.
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A Mother’s Day AlternativeTrinity United in Gravenhurst, Ontario used this Sunday for a twist on an old tradition by asking people to reconnect with why they love their church now, not as it used to be. They used Sunday Two from the Early Church in Eastertide – a Called to Be the Church worship resource (available here) – to reflect the importance of community. Instead of a sermon, there was time for conversation on some important questions to change the community’s focus from scarcity – what they don't have – to what they do have and what gives them life. So, why do you love your church? When have you felt most alive? What does that experience tell you about what is important and valuable here at your church?
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Stewardship Seconds (revised for 2024)Short, pithy sayings that pack a punch, to help infiltrate stewardship thinking into your community of faith. Add them to newsletters, worship, announcements, webpages, wherever people gather! Find them at the Stewardship in Worship webpage.
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Offering Introductions and Dedication Prayers (revised for 2024) The offering time in worship is NOT about collecting money! It is about growing generous disciples and stewards. These Offering Introductions and Dedication Prayers, for each Sunday of the year, will help. Find them at the Stewardship in Worship webpage.
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Don't Lose Your ChanceThis issue of God’s Mission, Our Gifts led off with being regular and how amazing giving in a regular way feels. I want to echo that and go farther. This is your chance to experience the Joy, the Rush of knowing you are giving as your faith calls you to do. This is your chance to feel great about helping others.
Signing up for PAR (Pre-Authorized Remittance) means you will know you are supporting your church and the outreach we do to help others, and you are doing it every month. It means you can read the Mission and Service stories that are shown below and KNOW that you are a part of them.
The month of May is PAR month. If you are not already on PAR, start now. If you are a leader in your Community of Faith, take advantage of the information available on our PAR page and encourage others to join.
Don’t lose your chance! Be a regular giver, help others to become regular givers, and feel great about it!
Blessings,
 Glenn Waterman
Annual Giving Lead
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Your May Mission and Service Stories
MAY 5
A Beacon of Hope
[Photo credit: Middle East Council of Churches]
After the immediate shock lessens, people living in the wake of a disaster can have difficulty imagining what life will look like down the road. In these times, hope is essential.
MAY 12
Educating Future Leaders
[Video still credit: The United Church of Canada]
Mission and Service supports local ministry by providing academic bursaries for students studying to become ministers and theological leaders. “I felt blessed by God through people who donated and who, by giving, encouraged me on my journey,” says minister and former bursary recipient Alexa Gilmour. MAY 19
Connecting for Global Peace and Security  [Photo credit:Duncan Etches] Project Ploughshares is a Canadian peace research institute with a focus on disarmament efforts and international security. It is also one of our dedicated Mission and Service partners. MAY 26
Your Generousity Is Refreshing  [Photo credit: Lindsay Vatour/ The United Church of Canada] Being able to take a shower can have a positive impact on a person’s mental and emotional health. It provides a sense of dignity, self-worth, and normalcy that contributes to overall well-being, especially to people living on the streets. |
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Gifts with Vision: Food Security for EldersGifts with Vision is making a difference for Indigenous Elders in Alberta.
Food prices continue to rise because of inflation and worldwide supply chain disruptions. For Indigenous Elders living on the Morley First Nation and in the Lethbridge area, it’s already hard to make ends meet, and rising food prices will make it even harder. Chinook Winds Regional Council delivers supermarket gift cards four times a year to help them buy food and other necessities.
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 | Did you know that we protect your privacy when you donate to Mission and Service?
You can have complete confidence that we will keep the information you share with us private. We will use that information only to communicate with you, update you on our campaigns, and send you tax receipts. We will never sell or rent our list of supporters to anyone, not even another charity.
Choosing to receive your tax receipts by email also allows you to find them more easily at tax time. Don’t shuffle through piles of papers looking for your receipts—just check your email inbox! |
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GOD’S MISSION, OUR GIFTS is your newsletter. We want to provide news and information that you can use in your community of faith, whether you’re a minister, a board member, an administrator, a treasurer, or anyone else who wants to make a difference.
What else would you like to see? What can we do to help your community of faith get where it needs to go? Send us your thoughts! |
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Your generosity enables the United Church to love, serve, and minister in the world. Make an online donation or learn more about your options to support the work of the church. |
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