Out Of The Overflow

We don’t know a lot about them as a church. We don’t know how they worshipped; we don’t know what songs they sang, which translation of the bible they preferred, and we don’t know what the preacher was like.

What we do know is how they gave.

This is week one of our Stewardship Emphasis Month at Cornerstone, or as it’s referred to by many, Money Month.

And our theme this year is “Overflow”.

For those of you who have become a part of our church family in the past twelve months, here is a bit of an update. Up until 2002, Cornerstone operated like most other churches when it came to our financial planning.

In the Wesleyan Church, our church year goes from May 1 to April 30. There are reasons for that, but they really aren’t relevant to our message.

But for the first seven years of our existence, in late April, we would look at our previous year’s budget and adjust it for the upcoming year.

We might increase it by a few percentage points to show that we had faith, but there was no actual science to the process. We knew what we had to spend on some items and what we’d like to spend on other items, and that was the budget.

At the annual general meeting, the budget would be presented and, in most cases, would be passed. And then the new church year would begin.

Inevitably, at some point through the year, we’d realize that we were behind and we weren’t making the budget. And at that point, it would be determined that the pastor would need to do something.

Maybe the budget and weekly offering needed to be put in the bulletin or put up on PowerPoint so people could see where we were at. And the pastor, that would be me, would preach about giving in an effort to motivate or guilt people into giving.

And people knew, they knew that if Denn was preaching on money, it was a reaction, and you could feel people tense up. They would cross their legs, fold their arms, and try to hold unto their wallets. All at the same time.

In 2002, we knew that things needed to change and our DS at the time, HC Wilson directed me to a resource called Consecration Sunday. And the lessons I learned in that book have shaped how we’ve done finances for the past 21 years.

So, how did it change what we were doing? Well, it’s actually a two-part approach.

I now preach on Stewardship or Giving or Money. However, you want to think about it each March. It is during that time that I teach the theology of stewardship. What we have, and how we use it. And it’s not because we are in a financial jam, or giving is down, or we aren’t meeting our budget. It’s because it’s March.

And it’s not a topic that can be ignored. The Old Testament doesn’t ignore it. The New Testament doesn’t ignore it. Moses spoke about our finances, as did King David, King Solomon, the Apostle Paul as well as Jesus.

The second part of our approach happens on the last Sunday of the series. In this case, that will be on March 26th. At the end of that service, we will distribute a card called “an estimate of giving card,” and it is exactly what it says it is, an estimate of giving card.

And we ask that those who call Cornerstone their church home to prayerfully consider what they will give in the next year. If you are wondering if you are part of our church family, if Cornerstone is the church that you go to when you go to church, you are part of our church family. And if Cornerstone is the church you don’t go to when you don’t go to church, then you are a part of our church family.

It is not a pledge card, and it’s not a commitment card. It is an estimate of giving card. And we end our service that day by having you bring your completed card and laying it on the communion table as your act of sacrifice.

And I think that after twenty-one years we do it well. We don’t put anyone on the spot or embarrass anyone.

If you don’t wish to participate, that’s fine. If you’re worried that people are watching what you do, they probably aren’t, but you are more than welcome to bring your blank card up and lay it on the table.

And it is from what you estimate that you will be able to give in that church year that we develop our church budget.

And when we build our budget, we don’t go over that, and if, through the year, something comes up that isn’t in the budget, it’s a big deal before it’s approved.