What we are not by Stewart Perry
On our journey to come up with the identity statement “Brave for the benefit of others”, I used a planning tool I’ve used in the past to ask a brave question: “what are the lies we tell ourselves?” That might seem like an unusual or confronting question to ask but it’s something all of us do all the time. As an example when was the last time someone asked if you were OK and you said “yes” but deep down you knew you really weren’t OK.
We ended up with a substantial list of the little things we say about our church that aren’t really or have never been true. At the top of the list was this one: “we are a wealthy church”.
So let me bust a myth for you. We are not a wealthy church. We have never been a wealthy church.
Yet I’ve lost count of the times I’ve heard, or heard indirectly, people use words to imply that we are a wealthy church.
We do have a larger than usual number of staff for an Anglican Church, we do have a number of ministry activities that can generate significant income, like our Op Shops and our Early Learning Centre. But having money come in and being a good steward of how it is used, applied and spent does not and in my opinion, should not, generate wealth.
The history of our church from the very beginning is that the money that is given, raised and generated is then used for present ministry and mission. I think that’s pretty brave.
When I first started, almost 10 years ago, I had a conversation with the outgoing locum (who is also an accountant by trade). He told me that we didn’t have anywhere near enough set aside for the maintenance and renewal of our buildings and equipment… guess what… we still don’t.
I realise that talking about money might seem problematic with high interest rates and a cost of living crisis. I also realise that some might look at the recent Coronation and the amount of money spent there and assume that the Church of England is rolling in cash and that money is available to roll down to the parish churches over the world. I have heard an extraordinary amount of people (some within the church) tell me that the church is government funded. While churches, including ours, receive government funding, it is only ever for specific purposes and has to be spent on those purposes which never include running church services and paying priests. All churches like ours are self funded and self sustaining.
Rather than not talking about money because of our current financial climate, I think the time is right for us to start talking about money more. The world around us is talking about money all the time, why shouldn’t the church be? Jesus speaks about money more than any other topic with the exception of the Kingdom of God. I suspect in Jesus times money was pretty tight for the average Jewish person.
So this is an advanced warning, we will be talking about money more. It is the responsible thing to do, it is also a gospel imperative.
In a world that treats money as an idol, perhaps there is no better time to be thinking about, talking about and praying about how money can be a tool in our identity as a church. Can we use money bravely for the benefit of others?
Since our church’s inception, we have always been a church that has moved forward based on applying the money that comes in to mission and ministry. That might not seem fiscally responsible at times but I would argue that it is theologically responsible. For many years we’ve been the beneficiary of a good business model that helped pay off building debt and added to our ability to employ ministry and support staff.
We have had seasons where it’s been more comfortable, when our childcare centre was full and our Op Shops were turning over well and our church member giving was stronger. We’ve had lean seasons too.
We’re currently in a lean season with the rebuilding of our childcare occupancy and our in person congregation starting to resemble what it was pre-covid, online connection is still strong but our church member giving has not been as strong as it could be given our numbers. At our Annual General Meeting we forecast that this would be a challenging year financially and it has and will continue to be.
When I last spoke to Bishop John, he said that Robina has a charism unlike other Anglican Churches that needs to be shared with other parts of the regional and wider church. For that, we need to stay continuously generous. To continue the brave culture of meeting ministry and mission opportunities. We can never just focus on making ourselves financially comfortable so we don’t have to worry about the next lean season. Jesus was pretty clear about the folly of storing up wealth. Gifts, talents, resources and generosity should flow like a river from the church into the world.
I would never want to lead a church that stores up reserves for a rainy day or the future and risk missing the opportunity to meet needs, show love and be Christ to our world right now. Faith is believing that God will help us take care of both today and tomorrow.
Generosity can become our culture, a culture that matches our bravery. Generosity does cost us something, otherwise it’s not generous and it’s certainly not brave.
More information and more detail will be provided in coming weeks but hopefully you might already be asking: What can I do?
Everyone can do something but not everyone will or should do the same thing… except maybe two things we all can do… everyone one can pray… everyone can in an authentic, unique and real way be generous… Generosity takes many forms, it is in no way limited to money.
Here are some ways you could be generous that would make a difference to both our culture and our ability to be brave for the benefit of others.
- If you hear someone say we’re a wealthy church correct them, we never have and likely never will be a wealthy church.
- If you are currently financially giving regularly please prayerfully continue to do so.
- If you are not currently financially giving regularly please prayerfully consider to do so as your situation allows and affords.
- Challenge yourself on whether money is an idol or a tool.
- Speak well of our childcare centre and promote it to families you know of who need care.
- If you have a few hours free in a week consider volunteering in an Op Shop. Opening an extra day in our Op Shops would make a massive impact to our ministry and mission potential.
- Show your appreciation to those who share their gifts and talents generously within our church and the wider community and prayerfully consider ways you can join them or find a new opportunity of generosity and service.
- Be thankful for the opportunities God has given us and grow in faith and confidence that what we have is and always should be for the benefit of others.
Lets be brave and talk about the things that are hard to talk about. Let’s always keep in mind that we are called to be brave for the benefit of others.
Blessings
Stewart