BishopAccountability.org
	Church Giving Changes with Times By Andy Davis Arkansas Democrat-Gazette November 18, 2008 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-new-style-tithingnov18,0,149833.story Even as the economic downturn prompts many Americans to tighten their belts and hold on to their wallets, church collection plates runneth over. More Christians are making bigger donations this year, experts say. But more churchgoers are carefully considering how they want their offerings spent. In the Catholic Church, parishioners are seeking assurances from their priests that their tithes will not finance the settlement of sexual-abuse lawsuits. In Protestant circles, watchdog groups are on constant alert for wasteful spending of parishioners' money. That environment is the backdrop for a new congregation in Schaumburg where members do the unthinkable after passing the plate on Sunday: They give it all away to charity. Rev. Jim Semradek, founder of the new Waterfront Community Church in Schaumburg, hopes the novel concept will draw people turned off by constant appeals for money and concerned about how it's spent. "Some people like to see where their money is going," said Semradek, 38, a former pastor at Willow Creek Community Church. "My dream is every time a person puts a dollar in the plate, something happens. When you give, you see a face on the other side that you're blessing." Benevolence is a central principle of most religions. Americans donate $295 billion a year to charity, with just under a third of it—$97 billion—to religious organizations. On average, Christians give about 2.5 percent of their income to churches, not 10 percent. But few churches are taking as radical an approach as Waterfront. Using a missionary model, eight sponsors cover Waterfront's expenses, including salaries and rent, so all of the weekly offerings go straight to the community. Rev. Dick Towner, executive director of the Good $ense Stewardship Movement for the Willow Creek Association, helped Semradek create Waterfront's model. He cautiously applauds the young pastor's ambitious endeavor. He believes it is an essential wake-up call that new church members need to hear what a church wants for them before they hear what a church wants from them. "I was somewhat overwhelmed to the extent that he was taking the concept. But I loved where his heart was," Towner said. "We haven't said to them 'What we really want for you is freedom, joy, peace and the love of Christ in your life. Incidentally, we would like for you to support the work of God in the church.' " That fosters a mutual trust, which played a huge role for Nancy Coons, one of Waterfront's eight sponsors. She met Semradek when she was a member of Willow Creek. But for the last several years, she stayed home on Sundays. She was so moved by Semradek's goal of taking money out of the equation, that she offered to help. "People look at how much money they're giving based on how they feel about the church, not the times," she said. History shows that desperate times often inspire generosity. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, churchgoers gave the highest percentage of income than any time since. But that was less than a century after tithing became commonplace. When the 1st Amendment cut off the tax money that once supported colonial churches, they rented pews. Once that practice ended, 19th Century pastors zeroed in on a verse from the Hebrew Bible. Malachi 3:10: "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse . . . and test me now in this, says the Lord of hosts. If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows." The weekly offering became a mandate and the sole source of revenue. Giving to the collection plate is also a way of putting one's trust in God for ultimate security instead of financial security, Towner said. There's a reason, he said, that Jesus made money the second most talked about topic in his ministry. The first was love. The two go hand in hand, Semradek said. "The more you can keep money moving in the direction of loving people outside our walls, that's the best use of money possible," he said. When Semradek looked beyond Waterfront's walls, he found Shenell Cooper. For more than a dozen years, the 28-year-old had nowhere to turn for support. Her mother was addicted to crack cocaine, leaving Cooper and her sister to fend for themselves, she said. At 18, Cooper became a single mother to a daughter with cerebral palsy, she said. An active member of a Baptist church on the South Side, Cooper felt comfortable going to her pastor for spiritual guidance. But financial assistance? Never. There were too many families with worse problems, she said. Cooper's aunt referred her to Fellowship Housing Corporation, a Christian agency for at-risk single moms and their children. Taking a mandate from the New Testament's Book of James to help the widows and the orphans, Semradek approached Fellowship in search of someone who could use a hand up, not hand out. In its first moth, the more than 140 attending Waterfont have collected more than $10,000 for Cooper. "These people truly of their heart want to help me," she said. "I came from nowhere, and feel like I'm going somewhere." Semradek realizes the idealistic model might be difficult to sustain. But he remains hopeful. "As hard as these plans are going to be, it might be the most wonderful time we've had in a long time," Semradek said. "It's a great opportunity for us to pull together with friends and family resources and to share." Contact: mbrachear@tribune.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.