For treasurers and ministers

Get your congregation involved

• At the start of the year, remind congregation members that the time to choose Living is Giving mission focus areas is approaching. Your congregation may already have clarified its mission priorities and have a clear idea of which projects it would like to direct our funds to. If not, you may like to consider undertaking a mission planning consultation through the Board of Mission. For more information, contact Sue Willgoss, on (02) 8267 4384.

• Three times a year, your congregation will receive a letter thanking you for your year-to-date financial contributions, along with updates on the mission focus areas you support. Display these posters prominently in your church building so that all congregation members can read about the great work being accomplished as a result of their generous giving.

• Staff members from many of the mission focus areas are available to preach in your worship service, or talk to your congregational or presbytery meeting. Getting to know the people who benefit from your congregation’s giving, or who help others in our community on your behalf, is a great way to develop a sense of partnership with the project. For more information, contact the staff member responsible for the mission focus area you give to (see the bottom of your latest Living is Giving update poster for their contact details).

• Show the Living is Giving DVD during worship services, small group gatherings, Bible study ... click here to have a look at it, and find out how to order a free copy.

Encouraging stewardship in your congregation

Stewardship is based on the biblical belief that God is the rightful owner of everything (Psalm 24:1) and that we are stewards of God’s world, responsible to do with it what God wants done.

Of the many kinds of stewardship — stewardship of our money, our time, the earth’s resources, our gifts and talents — the Bible often singles out financial generosity as the one most representative of a person’s heart (Matthew 6:19-21). Encouraging stewardship in your congregation helps ensure the church has money for mission — but it’s also a vital component of our Christian witness and service.

• Research has shown that people who hear preaching on stewardship are more inclined to give generously. For ideas and resources for incorporating stewardship themes in your worship service, click here.

• For your next small group or Bible study, consider using one of the studies for reflection on giving and discipleship available on this website.

• Supporting a Living is Giving mission focus area is about more than money. Include Living is Giving prayer points in your worship service and congregational newsletter. Prayer points appear every month in the Synod’s e-newsletter Community Connections, and in the mission focus area updates you receive three times a year.

• To learn about other ways you can give to the work of the Uniting Church, click here.

Money matters

• Please note: Mission focus areas in the Living is Giving Project Book are already budgeted. Focusing your commitment on a specific area allows you the opportunity to choose how your dollars are utilised. It will not increase the amount dedicated to each project, or disadvantage another mission focus area, but it will ensure that the Synod has sufficient funds to draw on for its many and varied ministries. Click here for an overview of how the Synod Fund works.

• It will cost the Synod more to support the mission focus areas you choose this year than it did to support the projects you chose last year. That’s a fact of life. If possible, please allow for an increase in your Living is Giving contribution when preparing budget recommendations for your Church Council or congregational meeting each year. We suggest an increase between CPI (3.3 per cent in December 2006) and ten per cent.

• Consider setting up a periodic payment for your congregation’s Living is Giving contributions. This will make things easier for you, and will help the Synod enormously in its budgeting. Click here to download a periodic payment form, or call Uniting Financial Services on 1300 133 673.

• Remind your congregation members that Giving Direct offers an easy way for them to make their regular offering for your congregation’s ministry — by direct debit or electronic funds transfer (EFT). Individuals can also choose to give to a particular Living is Giving mission focus area using Giving Direct. Contact Mele ‘Akau on (02) 8267 4393 or livingisgiving@nsw.uca.org.au for more information.

• If you'd like ideas and resources to help you finance your congregation's mission, visit the Mission Finance News website.