The Way We Give
If you’ve been around anyone in a leadership role at HSCC the past few weeks, you know the church is in “budget season".
Staff are figuring out costs for plans, Deacon liaisons are connecting and submitting requests, the PLT is discussing and praying through the process and our Financial Team is doing the hard work of putting together the puzzle we call our 2022/23 fiscal year budget.
All of this is aimed at being done under the guidance of the Lord and what we believe His desired future is for HSCC.
Here are a few things I’ve heard along the way…
“…its a rough draft, still needs some tweaking…”
“…here’s dreaming big…”
“…here is the proposed budget…”
“...here’s bare bones…”
“…I have no pulse on the current budget…”
“…a budget is an educated guess—at best!”
“…who is my liaison?…”
“this is a dynamic process of give and take…”
“…attached is the latest revision…”
I could go on! The process is interesting, revealing and refining. In putting together, presenting, confirming and funding a church budget a few vital truths are irreplaceable.
1. A constant dialogue with the Lord and one another. Gifted, mature people use their skills, diligence and reliance on God’s wisdom to plan for His future. As you likely know from living your own life in following the Lord, the process is dynamic. We walk by faith, seeking connection with the Lord along the way.
2. The budget isn’t the goal—rather a tool to complete our God-given mission of worshipping God, sharing Him and His story in our world and loving people. God clearly directs us to give of our finances, time and skills to advance and participate in His kingdom.
3. Stories. We need reminders of what God has done in our past to inspire us into His future. He loves our church and loves blessing many through it. A budget is simply part of walking in faith into future God stories.
While the process is rarely easy and smooth, it is always revealing.
I’m encouraged once again by the faith I see at HSCC rising up through dreaming, questioning, discerning, deciding and faithful giving.
As each of us give to the church we experience the blessing of giving.
God’s upside down kingdom declares that it is more blessed to give than receive. We don’t give so that the church is blessed—in giving…we are blessed.
Bottom line—keep praying for one another as we navigate this season, especially in the context of the pandemic and associated challenges.
God isn’t done with us or this city…let’s keep going forward together.
