Random Seeds for Thought

Addressing the Summer Slump

With summer upon us it is that time of the year when many will head to the lake, gather with friends and relatives, and take vacations. It is a time of relaxing and recreating. It is also a time when we need to remember to remain faithful in our stewardship. In the midst of all the summer activities it is often easy to overlook our financial commitments of supporting our mission and ministry here at Zion. And that is the point of this month’s Seed for Thought.

We have officially entered into what is often called the “Summer Slump”, that time when our congregational giving goes down due to people taking time to travel and spend time with family and friends out of town. The problem is that while our giving might drop, expenses do not. We still have basic utilizes bills to pay, salaries need to be met, educational supplies need to be ordered for fall to name a few. Needless to say, the current economy is not helping things as most congregations and charities are suffering from a down turn in giving across the country.

So here are a few suggestions to help offset the dreaded

summer slump:

1. If you can’t be here in person on Sunday mornings, feel free to mail in your offering either weekly or monthly. While it is not uncommon for folks to “catch up” in the fall and early winter, thereby allowing us to end the year in the black-- it would be more helpful if we received consistent support through out the year.

2. Consider enrolling in the Thrivent Financial Simply Giving Program or any electronic transfer program with your banking institution. This makes giving both easy and once again, consistent. No need to catch up at the end of the year.

3. Consider making an additional gift during the summer to help get us over the summer slump. This gift could be for either run of the mill expenses or toward a particular area of ministry: i.e. music supplies, youth ministries, educational ministries, mission support, whatever you have a passion for.

4. And lastly, give prayerful consideration to becoming a tither, in other words, making a commitment to support the mission and ministry of this congregation with 10% of your income. If 10% is too big a commitment at this particular time, take at a look at your current giving percentage and make a commitment to increase it by 1% for the remainder of the year and then take it up another percentage next year and work your way up to tithing and beyond. Ask anyone who is a tither and they will tell you of the joy of giving and how the Lord does provide when we are faithful in our support toward the Kingdom of God.

Here at Zion we also are committed to being good stewards and we are striving to keep unnecessary spending to a minimum and looking for economical ways to stretch your financial support. For example: we are asking committees to check with the church office before making big orders to assure that we have the means to cover the expenses. So rather than assume that you can or should place a large order, please check with the church office and your request will be forwarded to the Finance Committee for affirmation or perhaps a request to hold off a bit until funding is available.

In light of the challenging financial times and in an effort to be proactive the Church Council has taken action to establish a line of credit at First National Bank. The purpose is to have the ability to draw on that line of credit at those times when income is not keeping up with expenses with the intent to pay off the line of credit by the end of the year. Obviously it is the Council’s hope to not draw on this, but this is but a safety net. Your consistent and generous support will prevent this from being used.

The reality is we are living in financially challenging times and while the economy does seem to be improving in some areas of the country and in some industries, we would be hard pressed to see any significant evidence in our corner of the world. Nonetheless, if there is any time to be faithful, it is in the midst of challenge and adversity. Zion has a long and rich history of being good stewards, of being generous when it comes to supporting its mission and ministries. Your prayers, your willingness to support and your generosity are greatly appreciated.