Online Tools Personalize Gift Benefits – Encouraging Word – July 2017

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Online Tools Personalize Gift Benefits

With the help of planned giving vendor PG Calc, WELS Foundation has updated its website with online tools to help users personalize the benefits of different giving options:

  • The Explore Gift Options tool walks the user through several questions to help them find the best gift for their personal situation.
  • The user can Run a Personalized Gift Illustration for a tailored diagram of any gift.
  • As a person navigates the WELS Foundation site and reads about certain gifts (for example, the charitable gift annuity) they can click to view a specific illustration for that type of gift and personalize the illustration to their situation.

As always, if somebody is interested in learning more or would like assistance with making a gift, WELS provides Christian giving counselors at no cost or obligation to help WELS members carry out their charitable goals.

WELS Foundation executive director Jim Holm hopes prospective donors find the tools useful. He says, “We want to make it as easy as possible for those supporting WELS ministry—their church, synod, or another WELS organization—to explore the options available.”

Helpful Hint – Encouraging Word – July 2017

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Practical Ways to Encourage Giving

“If you want to counter the trend of donors giving less, do two things when your donor gives:

  1. Thank them, and thank them again and again.
  2. Provide proof that their gift made a difference.

Believe me, donors who are appreciated and shown that they are making a difference will be around for a long time. And that is good for them, for you, and the organization you serve.”

Perry, Richard. “Why Donors Are Giving Less.” Passionate Giving Blog. Veritus Group. March 1, 2017.

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Words of Wisdom – Encouraging Word – July 2017

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Let’s Not Play at Stewardship

“‘Appreciation for divine mercy cannot take the price of redemption for granted; neither can it regard the purpose of redemption as a hobby. That heart will not play at stewardship’ (Robert Hochmuth, Initiated into the Secret of Enduring Prosperity [1965 essay], p. 4). If we really believe this, our commitment to raising up godly givers will be intensified, not marginalized.

“I am also more convinced today than I was 35 years ago that to teach money management is the kind of privilege that we must approach confidently, passionately, straightforwardly, and not at all apologetically or reluctantly. I tell students that there are certain subjects that they simply must ponder exhaustively, master thoroughly, and share winsomely – or they will ‘die a thousand deaths’ in contemporary pastoral ministry. Assaults on subjects like infant baptism and baptismal regeneration, church fellowship principles, gender roles and relationships in God’s world, and amillennial eschatology will surface frequently and often antagonistically. If we have not done our homework and allowed the Spirit to do his heart work in us, we will pay a big price and so will the people we are supposed to serve. But if we are thoroughly convinced that we are sharing divine truth and that God gave it in love, we see opportunities to serve rather than threats to be endured. And the subject of acquiring, managing, and giving money should be on this list of messages to be mastered and shared with eagerness. We are about the Lord’s business, using the Lord’s law and gospel with the Lord’s purposes in mind. When this reality is relished, our tone and attitude toward stewardship will improve and so will our ministry to souls in this vital area.”

Forrest L. Bivens. Seizing the Opportunities: Ways to Encourage Godly Giving. Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Essay File. Page 2.

WELS Publishes 2016 Statistical Report – Encouraging Word – May 2017

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WELS Publishes 2016 Statistical Report

WELS’ 2016 Statistical Report is available online, and in print through Northwestern Publishing House. The report provides membership, ministry, education, and offerings data on congregations as well as reports on institutional ministry, ordinations and installations of pastors and teachers, and world missions statistics.

Some highlights of the report include:

  • 1,207 out of 1,275 congregations (95 percent) submitted information for the report, which is the highest participation in 14 years.
  • Baptized membership continues its slow decline since peaking in 1990, averaging a decrease of 0.6 percent each year for the past 26 years.
  • Early childhood ministry continues to be a huge evangelism opportunity with 70 percent of the children coming from non-WELS families. (Consider the new program, Telling the Next Generation, for help with outreach strategies.)

WELS Director of Christian Giving Kurt Lueneburg, whose area compiles the report, says, “‘In Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others’ (Romans 12:5). As you review the contents of this report, I hope you will join me in praising our loving Lord for his faithful love to us and his gospel ministry among and through us during 2016.”

New Stewardship Program – Encouraging Word – May 2017

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New Stewardship Program

WELS Ministry of Christian Giving has published a new stewardship program, Joyful Generosity, for congregations to use in 2017 and 2018 (due to the expected heavy focus on the Reformation’s 500th anniversary this year). The program includes six weeks of worship and Bible study materials as well as 21 personal devotions. “The goal of Joyful Generosity,” according to Rev. Kurt Lueneburg, “is to grow our appreciation of this truth: ‘From the fullness of [Christ’s] grace we have all received one blessing after another’ (John 1:16). Our Savior abundantly blesses us and enables us to use those blessings to his glory and the benefit of precious souls at home and abroad. As we grow in our understanding of God’s generosity, our daily lives—and the atmosphere in our churches and synod—will reflect our Lord’s generosity. To that end, we pray that the Spirit will bless the use of these materials.”