It is in the local church where people meet Jesus and lives are changed. What better investment is there?
As Christians, we don’t just give to make sure the lights stay on in our churches and to ensure our regular members are served well. We give to build the Kingdom. Fr. James Mallon, a priest from the Archdiocese of Halifax once said that “a club exists to serve the needs of it’s members. The Church is not a club, the Church was made for mission”. When we give to our local parish we make an offering of thanksgiving. We thank our Creator for His blessings and return a portion to Him as an act of worship.
- By investing in building God’s Kingdom, we strengthen our relationship with Him
- By investing the mission of the Church we reflect the image of Jesus who poured out his life on the Cross that we might have forgiveness of our sins. We become more like Jesus who empties Himself.
- By investing in our local parish we make it possible for people to hear the Good News of God’s undying love for them, provide care for the most vulnerable among us and let our community know through our ministries, that God is for them – not against them.
“I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord […] in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem..”
Psalm 116:17&19
How We Give
At Visitation, we have borrowed a useful concept from the Church of the Nativity in Timonium, Maryland. It’s called the 4 Ps…
Planned
Growing in generosity means being intentional about our giving. Planning our giving means that we intentionally set aside money from our budget to give away. An efficient way to plan our giving is to give electronically.
Priority
Making giving a priority means giving it first place in our budgets. Growing in generosity requires that we don’t give leftovers. We give our “first fruits” back to God.
Percentage
In planning our gifts, we pick a percentage to give away, keeping in mind the biblical standard of the tithe or giving ten percent back to God. Identify a percentage of your income to give away.
Progressive
Our goal over time is to increase the percentage of our income that we give away. As God blesses us financially we recognize that we have been blessed in order to be a blessing.
Visitation 