Faith Works 11-13-21

Faith Works 11-13-21
Jeff Gill

When more can be less, and then some
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For many churches and other faith communities, the last few weeks have been part of the financial, practical, pragmatic part of spiritual life.

The fall giving campaign is a standard part of many voluntary organizations, especially congregational life. Commitment cards, or pledge sheets, or a variety of paper or now online forms are used to invite individuals and households to make known their intention for donations to the work of their faith community in the coming year.

It's no secret that the whole COVID period has been incredibly hard on a variety of groups dependent on public gatherings, whether worship services or performance spaces like theatre or dance, youth organizations or recreational activities. Even outdoor programs have seen a drop off in group participation, and if your standard form of divine service means putting large numbers together in an enclosed room, the last year has been hard on those figures, in terms of attendance or of giving. There are exceptions, but in general it's been a rough patch to say the very least.

A strange common thread I've heard from a number of religious leaders is that giving, per capita if not in total, is up, but also on the increase is the percentage of overall donations that are designated.

I have to admit that as a a religious leader myself, I've come to have a very ambivalent relationship with the whole concept of designated giving.

In development work, designated giving is recognized as a great way to improve and increase overall donations. Donor choice is a way to open up pocketbooks, and a modest gift, we're told, can become a major piece of giving if you invite a prospective donor to select where and how their donation will be used.

In church life, many of us have known for a long, long time that there's a dark side to designations on offerings. Folks have asked for (or demanded) some form of designation, insisted on options listed with the pledge card, so they can cast a kind of super-ballot on what the church is doing, about their discontent with the ministerial leadership, as to the missions chosen by the church governance. If you're upset with the preacher, you give to the building fund but not the general fund; if you dislike where the annual mission trip went or what they did, you designate your missions giving to a specific cause or location.

It's a form of the infamous "parking lot meeting after the meeting" leadership model, where influence through indirect methods can override any open and official decisions that are made.

The two-edged sword of designated giving is that when you can direct your gift, you give more. That's seen again and again in various financial campaigns, and I have no doubt myself that it's more true than not. A question of stewardship, though, is to ask whether or not it should be as true as it is.

We like to control things. Theologically, we might even discuss that tendency in the light of something called sin. We, ourselves, want to call the shots, whether we're in charge or have the responsibility or are even in the majority. We want to be in control; we want to be . . . okay, theologically, I hope you can see where that's going.

But a gift given with conditions is, practically and semantically considered, not a gift at all. Giving, tithing, good stewardship, is to trust and affirm and to release your gifts to the work of the whole. If the community you're a part of is going in a different direction than you think is right, there's a conversation to have, discernment to make about your place, your role. But more often than not, the temptation to designate is the will within to believe that you know better than those with the responsibility of leadership, and to attempt to impose your will on them.

So here's my spiritual challenge to us all. Don't designate. Don't insist on your way. Don't press for control, let alone credit. Let your yes be yes, your no be no, and your gift be truly a gift.

This is the year to make no designations at all if you can. More giving, but with more strings attached, means fewer options for those seeking to lead in troubled times. An undesignated gift is a gift indeed, now more than ever.

At least consider it. Your choice!

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's been part of more stewardship campaigns than he cares to remember at this point. Tell him how you find a path towards giving freely from the heart at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.