sometimes churches have special events to celebrate their top givers. most of the churches i know do this for members who give over a certain amount of money per week/month/year. usually there is an appreciation dinner or vision casting event.
so, i’ve always wondered why this is. don’t get me wrong…i realize those who give significant amounts of money to the church typically do it consistently and that saying goes “20 percent of the people give 80 percent of the income” and i do think giving (in general) should be celebrated.
but equal giving does not mean equal sacrifice.
someone who making six figures a year can easily drop $500 a month in tithing but for someone else to give $500 a month could be extremely sacrificial.
why aren’t those things equally celebrated?
does your church celebrate the “big givers?” do you celebrate all the givers? do you celebrate giving at all? what do you think?
Comments
113 responses to “celebrating the church’s “big givers””
We have usually included everyone who is interested in leadership in general in our vision dinners. We haven’t gotten to the size where demarkating (?) levels of giving is beneficial. But what would be the point anyway? I would also ask if it is sacrificial if your giving to get recognition?
Wow. I’ve never even heard of a church doing that. Honestly, it sounds kind of whacked to me…
yeah I’m with Kat, I’ve never heard of that. any sort of vision casting or celebration thing is open for all members.
haha tyler beat me to it….I was wondering about that.
don’t get me started on this … whatever you are thinking that you didn’t write is probably what i’ve said to church leadership at one point in time or another. probably also the reason i’m no longer in church leadership :)
I know there have been times where the vision to raise a certain amount was put out to people who could actually meet a specific goal. I think challenging those people to give sacrificially when they may not be giving anything else, ie. time, talent, etc. is a really good idea.
It does seem a little bit, “here sit up front” while the small giver gets the footstool. I definitely think showing partiality in any way to a big giver would be flying in the face of Jesus’ teachings.
Completely agree that the sacrifice should be celebrated not the amount. Although, that seems difficult to track.
Dude, I’ve never heard of that before. Only in America would we celebrate people that give the most money to a church.
Every vision casting thing or capital campaign presentation I’ve seen has been part of a normal service.
Our church doesn’t really celebrate givers. I think it’s just encouraged, and we figure God knows and will reward you. I dunno…maybe some underground celebration does happen that I don’t know about…? haha. Actually, we don’t pass a tray or anything for the offering at our church. We have tithe and offering metal boxes around the church that you can drop your money in on the way in or out of service. This is usually really attractive to visitors.
One church I am very familiar with actually did it secretly. The reason I found out about it was because a friend of mine who works in facilities asked me about it as he had to set up the banquet style tables and he was confused about why we were doing this…it wasn’t advertised to even the staff members at the church.
I agree I have never, ever, ever heard of something like that. I would be very concerned. Now I do understand fundraising for a specific purpose (new church building, etc.) but that is not celebrating those that give. Also doing this secretly is MUCH worse that just doing it at all. The point of keeping things secret is usually that the people planning them know that they shouldn’t be done in the first place but they are being forced to for one reason or another. This sounds like a business person (or charity fundraiser) that was on the board pushed someone into it.
Can I just give you a standing ovation and a hand clap for so precicely exposing this topic. We have left a church that had special “one on one with the pastor” vision casting meetings with the top givers. I could never understand it, because when you really looked at it, the large donor people, who were often barely giving 10% of their income were getting the special one on one time and there were others who were giving huge percentages, although smaller amounts. I keep reminding my story that Jesus tells about the woman and the coin. Jesus recognized her for her sacrificial giving, rather than the amount. Shouldn’t that be our benchmark?
My dream:
A Church that celebrates people for “who they are” (regardless of status), and not for what they “do”.
gross.
i am glad our church doesn’t do this.
I’ve never heard of that before, I don’t think it’s done in my country, it seems a bit strange to me.
I would be very uncomfortable to be recognized in that way. Kind of goes against the whole idea of giving in secret, doesn’t it?
Wow i have never heard of doing such a thing. I would never attend a church that would do that…agree with Kat, that’s whack.
I’m with Kat.
I’ve heard of honoring big donors, as in you get a brick with your name on it when you give gold level toward the new building.
Pretty lame. And very worldly.
Haven’t these church leaders ever read Matthew 6:3?
bleuackh, oh man, I just threw up in my mouth.
Celebrating top givers by amount so gross.
The idea of celebrating top giver by percentage is a little less offensive.
Maybe there could be a classy way to celebrate “these people gave money to the church” with out it being stupid. It’d be pretty hard, but I’d amire someone who could pull that off without looking like a total sleaze.
We should be able to celebrate financial donors publicly the same way we tend to thank volunteers who sacrifice time. The truth is they are just conceptually different and don’t work like that.
The Bible teaches that when you give, give in secret. Jesus berated the pharisees and “religious” for public displays of religiosity. They wanted to be noticed by men and Jesus let them.
But the Bible says that God delights in rewarding people for their faithfulness on earth in heaven. The Bible instructs us to lay up riches where moth and rust can’t destroy them. So churches should practice that.
The best reward that church leaders can give donors is practicing good stewardship. If church leaders understand that what comes in belongs to God and His work, and treat those resources like they’re God’s, then the givers will be happy to be co-laborers with God as people are served, the gospel is preached, and heaven’s rolls are increased. If that doesn’t make the givers happy, then what will? Those who give in an attempt to satisfy their egos will find themselves malcontented and deeply unsatisfied. Churches should not enable that behavior.
God has an amazing reward for those that give back to Him what He’s provided.
Our church doesn’t do this…but we must have very obedient/generous people. We are a small church and recently raised money to build a parking lot and we did it in less than a year. I have no idea how that happened, but God provided!
We celebrate givers and servers together…sometimes a party…sometimes a special event. Giving IS serving, don’t you think?
Thank you, Anne for bringing this into the light. I have been in churches that do this and I think its a horrible practice. It feeds arrogance and pride. It places the spotlight on the giver instead of the Provider.
In my current church, thankfully, this is not done. Everyone is treated the same — God is the one who is in the spotlight – our Provider.
Wow what a great idea, we should do that!
(not)!!
Wow. Not only have I never been involved in a church that does such things, every church I’ve ever been involved in had pretty strict rules that nobody knows who gives what.
At least ostensibly. I’m fairly certain that the rules have been broken on some occasions. Those occasions are usually obvious because goals and objectives get way, way out of whack.
IMHO, this is absolutely unBiblical in several regards. And it’s just plain a bad idea.
Wacky if you ask me.
TOTALLY wacky!!!
I have heard of churches doing something interesting things with givers, but this is nearly the top. Mt. 6 says something about honor of men will be their rewards. I don’t pretend to know the hearts of these leaders and givers, but it looks like they got their reward.
I’ve never heard of this either. Our church has a gratitude Sunday every year around Thanksgiving, but that’s just a big offering day. The only exclusive gathering we have at our church is a volunteer dinner. We invite everyone that volunteers in any way to a big dinner together a couple times a year and that’s where we do a lot of vision casting. Coincidentally, that group likely consists of most of the big donors in the church.
One thing I love about my pastor is that he will acknowledge that “someone” gave a large amount to missions, or benevolence, or building fund, but he a) never says who they are b) or makes it seem as though they’re giving was any greater than others.
I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to give $20 the other Sunday, and for me it was a huge sacrifice, because it was all I had. I dont think God cares about HOW MUCH, but as you said..HOW MUCH OF A SACRIFICE IT IS TO GIVE IT.
we used to do that in our student ministry with missions giving.
but it got to the point where they were giving to get recognition instead of giving to give.
I actually have never seen a church (granted, I’ve only been a member of 2 churches in my life) do this big giver celebration. BUT this is so the example of the poor widow giving all she has with her measly little coins!
what kind of freaky church would hold a banquet or similar for big givers – that’s weird. Never heard of it before.
Now I have seen my pastor get a big giver to speak/motivate people but it’s usually in terms of using money wisely, no debt, giving joyfully, etc but not to pat him on the back cuz he’s got a fat wallet or to suck up to him. In fact, the last 2 churches I’ve attended the pastor didn’t even know who/how much each person gave. Stayed out of that area.
My previous church was a small church less than 75 people and there were a few families that made well over $100K and they gave a crap load of cash each month. Dropping $500 in the plate for a $100K+ income isn’t really all that much if you are only giving to your local church, even if you aren’t following the 10% tithing rule.
If I were to see my local church not being good stewards and spending money frivolously then I’d be less inclined to give. Fresh flowers in the bathrooms – what are you thinking????
Unfortunately, I experienced this first hand not too long ago. It was a bad situation all around. The “special” people were invited to a 5:30 vision casting/fundraiser and the “regular” people were asked to come at 7:00. Everyone shows up at 7:00 and here are all of these people coming out of a private dinner with name tags on! Very awkward to say the least. Everyone knew who was and wasn’t in the “special” group.
I expressed my disbelief to the pastor (and my good friend) and was told that it was by special invitation only and those that were chosen had the “gift of giving”. I let him know how it came across to the majority of the people in the meeting and let it go at that. Hopefully, the same decision won’t be made again.
I am not really familiar with that practice.
One of the things that we talk about often is that we should be living a lifestyle of worship by giving to God and to others. There are many ways to do that – we should be giving of our time, energy, and belongings.
I was going to say that we don’t really celebrate giving but as I thought about it I realized that two times this year we have given away our entire offering for that day to go to something specific. On those days we celebrate the total offering amount but it doesn’t matter if you gave $1 or $1,000.
okay, maybe I live under a rock or something, but I have never heard of this either. ever.
i’ve gone to 4 different churches over my life, some medium and some small and I’ve never seen this.
maybe its a big church thing.
Maybe it’s because I was raised by a CPA, and so I learned early that money is just a fact of life that some people have, some people don’t have, and which people of all income levels have problems with, but:
the only reason I would have a problem with this is if I really, really wanted to be one of those big givers. I think this would qualify as coveting.
It reminds me of people saying “Why does the pastor thank the worship leader for singing all the time? Why don’t they ever thank me? Why don’t they ever ask me how much I sing?”
People here have clearly outlined occasions where it was handled badly, and I’m with them – it can definitely be handled badly. It could be handled well, too. Give each individual church a chance.
Do you have a problem with thanking the people taking care of your kids? Why assume that children’s ministry folks aren’t doing it for the thanks, but the donors are? Did you ask them? Do you trust your pastor to ask them?
This is coming from someone who can not afford to be a big giver. So no flames.
Bunch of crazies.
-those who do that…not who read this blog…but that is debatable too. Ha ha ha.
Wow… I’m glad the commenters all seem to be as shocked as I am at such a thing.
In answer to your other question though, yes, we DO celebrate giving. We have a round of applause for the offering every week — for the opportunity to worship God in giving. We celebrate giving, not individual givers by their amounts!
I find truth in the belief that generosity is more about what we have left than what we give.
amen, sister
I started to write, “I’ve never heard of such a thing!” as many others here have, and then I realized that it is more familiar than I first thought. We are an urban church plant and non-profit, so we receive the majority of our donations from outside givers. We hold a vision banquet to raise funds and our big donors receive special attention from development staff. We are now in process of separating our church from our non-profit more clearly in order to allow for better growth and clarity of mission for each area. Maybe that’s what some of these churches you describe need to do – decide if they are an economic engine for a non-profit or if they are a church doing Kingdom business.
Never heard of it, but I live in the Netherlands, so maybe it depends on the country..?
I’ve never heard of this before. If I went to a church that celebrated its big givers I would find another church. That’s sick.
First of all, I really appreciate your ability to be real about God, Christianity and the church. My husband and I have talked about this before. I am very familiar with churches even having a ministry for the top givers. In a sense they think that if people start talking about this ministry, it will encourage others to want to be in it-therefore they would have to start giving more. It is also a way to appreciate all the top givers, like you said. We’ve attended the special “meeting” but truly don’t have a heart for it. We have a heart to give, but rather spend a Friday night in the world lovin on some potential Jesus freaks…not talking about the building campaign.
as we would say in our tech meeting before the service…that’s just jacked up wrong! i’ve never heard of that taking place…
our church does some sort of “celebrating” each year by telling the total amount given and then showing a short video of all that the money has allowed the church to do around the world…that to me is awesome!
Wow, when did the church become a secular corporation?
We like to celebrate our big givers by talking our lower-income peeps into doing foot massages and backrubs for them. It really makes everyone feel loved and involved.
Actually, I have found out those who have the spiritual gift of giving prefer to hide themselves from others knowing. These givers, if they are spiritually mature, know that their getting the big bucks is by the grace of God. It is His service they desire to accommodate and His love they to which they respond.
kindlytalk.com
even just the thought of this is a bit nauseating. somehow, i doubt a display of exclusivity based on whether someone gave to God what is already His would please Him.
As one of two at my church who counts the money on Mondays, I can’t imagine a “celebration” for those who give the most. Our giving totals range from $4 a month to $1400 a month depending on the person, but we never tell anyone. The only ones we “celebrate” are a couple of children who give every single week! They give $1 each week from their allowance. It is so amazing to see them be consistent…they even give $2 if they are not at church the week before! The only reason we celebrate that (other than they are 5 and 6 years old!) is that we want them to know they are a part of the church body as well….how do we celebrate? The pastor writes a personal note at the end of the year thanking them and encouraging them to continue to to be faithful to God.
My current church does not draw attention to the giving except to say that the drop box is in the back. No individual is recognized as the leadership team doesn’t even know who gives what. There are two or three people that are allowed to put the offering deposit together and then it is sealed. The lead pastor doesn’t even see who gives what.
I came from a church that acknowledged large gifts in the form of a letter. I received this letter on two occassions and I felt a little dirty because it gave me a sense of pride that I did not deserve. God blessed me with great abundance for a couple of months and I was giving in return. I can’t blame the letter for the pride that swelled within me (it was clearly already there), but I have to say, I don’t think I would have felt it as strongly if I wasn’t given the thank you letter for my contribution.
Like you said, it is easy to give much if you have much but what about all of the apparently small contributions I have given? Are those not important to the kingdom. I bet they are but I don’t want to be singled out for those either.
I have a lot more thoughts but I really have to get back to work. Stop asking thought-provoking questions!!! :)
Do churches actually do this? Wow…I have been a member of 4 different churches in my life and have never seen this practiced. This seems a little misdirected to me…you know focusing on the giver and not the purpose of the gift. I thought the focus was to be on God and His work. Where has humility gone? And what kind of church encourages pride by pointing these people out? Wow…maybe I’m stepping over the line a bit with my comment, but I am in shock!
I’m in agreement with everyone that having something special for the top donors isn’t a very good idea. Also, adding on to what Erica Foster posted, I wish every church would abandon passing plates, bags, buckets, and anything else they use to collect money. I think now churchs still do it because that’s the way it’s always been done. The one thing I can’t stand: Being in incredible moment of worship, only to be jerked out of it so we can “pass the bag”.
Why do we need to celebrate, congratulate, or rub the egos of those that might be giving out of pride? Is a givers country club really necessary? If the person offering to give a church money will not give without recognition, then the church does not “need” the money. They would do more for the church to decline the gift.
Giving or offerings, should be a private matter that is between you and God with the proper attitude. Not something that makes a person any more important to the church than those that are only able to give a “smaller” amount. Is the person with the “gift of giving” any more important to God than the person with “the gift of prayer”? Every person has a way that they can contribute to the church-none should be celebrated any more than another.
I would agree. It’s almost borderline sacreligious to do this. Or maybe it just is sacreligious and not almost.
If the church knew everyone’s salary then they could do this accurately. However, that will and should never happen, so the dinner should never happen either.
If a church does decide to host a dinner, it should be church wide. It can still be a gift giving dinner, but instead of singling out, let’s give thanks and appreciation to all who gave that year.
Just my thoughts.
http://www.vagabondrunn.wordpress.com
I’ve never heard of this either, but most of the ways most churches decide who is “important” (eg, who becomes a deacon or who chairs an event) are not really based in kingdom economics, where the last get to be first. Wealth shouldn’t be the measure of success.
We have a huge blowout every year for our big givers…our volunteers! Our church couldn’t function without their sacrificial generosity of their time and energy.
I totally agree that there should not be a separation among people who give a lot or litte, that’s obvious to me.
My question:
1. How do you keep yourself anonymous when you give big amounts in offerings? A bit difficult to main anonymity when your check has all your info on it, but if you didn’t (and you give cash instead), many people would think about not being able to claim the tax deduction on their offering.
2. One thing I noticed also here in the US- quite a few churches practice ‘open container’ offering instead of using the felt bag (except my church actually), so you can see how much people put in it (if you paid closer attention-not that you should).
The old traditional churches back in the UK do this – basically as a way of shaming those who are not as wealthy.
It also gives those who give a lot an elevated status in the community.
It’s not right. Equal giving does not equal sacrifice. Only God knows the true sacrifice. Summing up some numbers does not tell you anything.
By the way, I’d hope someone on a six-figure salary would be dropping more than $500 in the plate each month! :-)
Good post.
What a time for you to ask this! We actually had “partner weekend” at our church this weekend to celebrate our supporters who contibute in a big way. I think it’s necessary to build these relationships because most of our large donors are from outside of our church. Its a time we can invite them to come and hear the heart of the church.
A couple of weeks ago during the service one of the pastors at our church went off on a tangent about giving & did an alter call for those who were committing to giving at least their 10%. That is fine for the the people who are not in over their heads with just living day to day…we felt like idiots for being in the situation we are in already, but we felt like there was a big flashing arrow above our heads pointing that out! My husband actually left the service early because he was so mad. It was not a happy Sunday for us!
okay. great post. a couple of thoughts. One non-profit I worked with categorized this differently . . . rather than “biggest” givers, they had “most valuable givers,” which factors in the widow who faithfully gives $10 a month for years and years . . . or the single mom who gives sacrificially.
the other thought though, is along the lines of the people who give larger gifts. as a pastor, i see it as my responsibility to cultivate gifts of all kinds. so, perhaps a gathering for larger donors may be to celebrate the gift rather than the person (our gifts are always larger than our person, because of the One who gives the gift) and to encourage the gift to continue to operate. i may do this will small group leaders as shepherds. i may do this with communicators. i may do this with hospitality teams. the point is what is the motivation from the heart of the pastor? if it’s to get more money, it’s unfortunate. if it’s to cultivate their gifts, that’s pretty sweet . . .
last thought . . . i wouldn’t be too hard on churches that do this . . . there’s an old saying in leadership that goes, “what gets rewarded gets repeated.” pastors are trying to reproduce positive behaviors.
Anne…sometimes I think these posts do more damage than good. I see your heart, but this has become a church bashing – and bashing people who have been blessed and are giving back to their churches, communities and ministries.
I believe that churches have been forced to do this because there are so many of us Christians who are not tithing as the bible instructs us. Instead we bash those who do…really sad.
Hi Anne,
I found your blog through the Waxy One:)It’s awesome!
If my church celebrated ‘big givers’ I think it would cause me to leave.
I believe tithing is an act of Worship between you and God….alone. In our church there is only ONE person who knows what you give and that is the guy who sends your total giving at the end of the year for tax purposes.
I don’t believe, for one second, that God is pleased with the ‘amount’ we give. I DO believe that God is very concerned about the heart we are giving with.
There’s my two-cents:)
Adding you to the blog-roll, sister!
At one time I was on staff at a church where we were informed of our “financial pillars” of the church and strongly encouraged to lavish them with attention and whatever we thought they needed. I personally knew of another family in the church who was going through a horrible time and needed help. However, they did not give to the church and were disregarded when mentioned at a staff meeting. That was my last staff meeting at that church.
Probably not supposed to say this, but all that comes to mind is, “Somebody’s smokin’ some dubbies!” What kind of crazy nonesense is that. Oh, that would motivate me to give more (sarcasim). HUH!!!??? Nothing Biblical or rational about that. Crazy people.
Roxanne Kristina @ http://www.sharingnotes.blogspot.com
what many don’t realize is that it’s part of the plan to schmooze them to give more – so don’t be too offended
My husband and I bounced 5 checks to our church last year. Most were tithe checks, some were “Kindgom Builders” checks. We give VERY little in comparrsion to others at our church yet we get to go to the “Kingdom Builders” gatherings. We are honored just like all the other BIG givers. That’s what I love about our church.
we don’t do this and I’ve never even heard of it. If we do a vision banquet we invite everyone. Our pastors never know who gives what.
For real? There are churches that celebrate big givers? I’m sorry, but that just makes me shake my head.
on the other hand, maybe they should have a God’s debtor banquet and recognize all those that rob God each and every day – and mooch off the big givers
I’m not sure about the celebration of giving. But do you really think the lead pastor or any pastoral staff member other than the one who counts the offering has any business knowing what someone is giving. It is between them and the Lord and not for someone else to know. My former pastor knew what each person gave but his salary was not known amongst the congregation. Why not?
I have to say that I made my comment before I read all the others and I an so glad for the responses. I agree wholeheartedly. What a worldly practice. It is not found in scripture. It is from the devil. I think showing appreciation to your workers or volunteers is fine but the celebrating of money givers, whew! My former pastor hardly ever thanked someone for years of tireless nursery duty but would roll out the carpet for a newcomer who gave big. We had an appreciation night once for all our volunteers. You would’ve expected the pastoral staff to be there wouldn’t you? Only two pastors (myself included) were present. The lead pastor and two executive pastors were too busy playing softball. And they still wonder why they can’t get more people to volunteer. Dah….
Hey,
Stopping by to see what additional comments have been made… as interesting today as yesterday! Great blog!
I am also stopping by to tell you about a cool story I just posted. Thought you might enjoy. It’s a warm fuzzy piece.
Our friends who just returned from China with #2 have been featured on CNN. If you link here you can watch it:
http://sharingnotes.blogspot.com/2008/06/some-of-you-have-been-following-our.html
Blessings,
R
http://www.sharingnotes.blogspot.com
A church we came from is having a building campaign and they have special dinners for bigger givers. They are being coached by a well known Christian fund raising organization.
Anne,
I think most churches who do this type of event do it secretly. I know at the church I was at, the senior pastor and a few select staff members would have a dessert for the top 25-50 givers and unveil the vision for the upcoming year. Most of the staff did not even know about these meetings. These people were used as a sounding board before the pastor unveiled the vision to the entire church body (over 10,000 per weekend.)
I think the gift of giving is often one of the overlooked spiritual gifts, and, as a stewardship pastor, I applaud churches who are willing to work with individuals to help them further develop their gift, as long as it is done with the right heart and motivation.
Wow. Tough crowd. I think recognizing a big financial gift, like thanking the worship team, or pastor appreciation month, or volunteer recognition, or honoring Sunday school teachers, or mentioning the leaders of the various ministries within the church including small groups, helps to encourage others to get involved, and offers an opportunity for the rest of the body to understand what it takes to keep the ball rolling if it’s done the right way. We all like to be thanked when we give–our time and energy, why not our money or other resources? And who says no thank you to the tax deduction at the end of the year? God alone is judge of the motives of opur hearts so why do we assume a person who gives a large ammount does so with wrong motives and the pastor who says thank you does so with greed in his/her heart?
minnow, to answer the 2nd part of your last question, it’s because that has been what each person has seen with his/her own eyes and heart. You know greed when you see it in your own pastor. I speak from experience as a former worship pastor. I’ve been in many a staff meeting where a family who left the church was talked about as not giving much so we didn’t need them. Someone in a post mentioned a family who was going through a major struggle and weren’t able to give and were overlooked when it came to recognition or whatever. Is that Biblical?
To clarify some of the things I wrote about (not in the comments)
I do think giving should be celebrated.
I do not think specific givers should be recognized for “sacrifice” because no man can truly be the judge of that.
Even someone who makes six figures could be in a lot of debt, medical or other, and $500/month could be VERY sacrificial.
We, as the church, should not and can not decipher or reward that.
…and those nasty big givers pay for the staff’s salaries and medical coverage and computers, and desks, and conferences, and baby beds, and coffee….
but, hey, who needs them anyway
I don’t think we’re saying the big givers are nasty. We just need to not forget about the widow’s mite.(sp) She gave everything. And the kid with his lunch when Christ fed the multitudes. The people who serve the donuts or clean the toilets are as much needed as anyone else. And about those big givers paying the salaries of the staff, maybe not as many staff members are needed. ??? Maybe we don’t need as many computers and can read the bible to figure out how to do church instead of a C3 or Willow conference. I’ve been to both by the way.
@ Tom Becker–An entire group is judged. An entire group is not guilty of what you mentioned. Some in leadership ought not be in leadership. And, I personally believe the pastors should never see the books.
I do not think thanking people (not in lavish ways mind you) for what they contribute (talent, time, money, care) is wrong. I was merely suggesting caution and checking for our own planks.
minnow, I’m not judging an entire group.
Agreed, we should thank people. That’s cool. As long as it is not, as an earlier commentor wrote, becoming like in James where you have some sitting in the front and some sitting at your feet. That’s all.
But make no mistake, I have seen the greed first hand (and it will be judged) and it is widespread, maybe not all but too much.
Becker – you are singling out a specific group as from oyur previous post “What a worldly practice. It is not found in scripture. It is from the devil.”
having a music pastor/minister or a car is also not found in the Bible – so they are also from the devil? not
actually the Bible does indeed talk about big givers as in the sacrifice and the words ‘to those that have a ton, they have a greater responsibility than those that do not’
the celebration of giving is just that- a celebration of giving. it is no different than the celebration of one who heals, or has mercy, or who teaches for 20 years and gets a plaque from the church – we (or at least I) highly value these that give their gifts consistently and without hesitation
your issues with a greddy pastor is tainting your view significantly – sirry you had to experience that, but a greedy pastor would be greedy – regardles of how many big givers there are – it’s a very weak argument and more of a personal issue
btw – i would bet that if all the critics of big giver recognition on here didn’t pay for internet, text, dish, latte’s, video games, w-fi, etc. – that maybe they could actually tithe instead of being critical of those big givers who may do without these toys for the sake of the tithe – i kow that not ALL of you are in that category so pls. don’t get your undies in a wad over it
Sounds like you’re the one with your “undies in a wad.” ????? whatever that means but it doesn’t conjure a picture I want to see, Ha.
Relax dude, no offense.
I’m late, but I’ll share anyway.
So I think we can all agree that for a younger generation 20’s-young 40’s this concept makes us gag. But it’s been a trade secret for a while in churches, especially larger “more expensive” churches.
I personally think there’s ways to acknowledge people who faithfully give, a letter, something behind the scenes. And then there’s the opportunity to tap into resources for those who have a spiritual gift of giving. But I think this should all be done discreetly so that no one gets a big head or offended or misused.
Those who find joy in giving don’t need special treatment to be happy & content.
so you can understand:
‘from the devil’ + poor me due to greedy pastor that has made me bitter = undies in a wad
too many people whining and not enough people giving, simple as that
carry on soldier, you keep on whining and i’ll keep on giving
Whats a Big giver? The problem is a “BIG Giver” is someone who writes a big check. Which is usually very few people with lots of money. Theres people who give sacrificially every week and are never recognized because its not a “BIG CHECK”.
Tony, who’s whining?
Steve, right on.
Now all you need is for the biggest givers to get their names on the choir robes. Or, “and now the sermon, brought to you by…”
Breathe…
I love that image Steph! Their names in the Hymnals maybe? Or a seating license.
We celebrate all giving! We sing praise for all the gifts given. I don’t have a problem really with big givers getting a dinner. We do that for all of our volunteers. What I have a problem with is a person having a say in Church affairs just because they write a large check.
I also hate the idea of the Church as a business. Anytime we use a business model when talking about a church, we are just heading for trouble.
Just my $.02.
Mike
Coming up for air…
I do not celebrate greed. I do not endorse recognition dinners etc. for “big givers” if by that title you mean the man who writes the biggest check as a means to wield power over how the rest of Church is done. The “big givers” I have know also happen to be humble servants who see their financial success as a responsibility to be wise stewards. I understand the concern that we can (and sadly usually do) give certain people preferential treatment because of how much they do or give. The janitor doesn’t often get to stand up and take a bow. The homeless guy who just gave himself to Jesus captures our attention more readily than the janitor. My only point is let us be careful not to lump all “big givers” or “little givers” for that matter, in the same boat–ie: big givers are greedy and little givers are saintly. ARGH! The widow in that illustration was pointed out because she was the “big giver”. She gave everything. If she’d given the same amount without including her heart she would not have been pointed out.
Exactly.
I should have made it simple.
My bad.
Big gift does not NECESSARILY equal big sacrifice.
Little gift does not NECESSARILY equal little sacrifice.
For all of those who have never heard of this or would never be a part of a church like that…you’d probably be surprised at how common it is. I don’t think it’s right, but it is prevalent.
becker – like i said, i’ll just keep giving and very,very blessed to be able to do so – He may take it all away tomorrow, who knows?
i won’t share my story about that knowing that you’ll have a way to bash that, too – due to your personal issues
carry on soldier the whining line starts over there
I have no idea if my church does this.
Who knows. But clicking some of the links and seeing some of the churches some of the naysayers are coming from, I think they might be surprised how many of their churches do this.
And if you are in a small church, Big chance your pastor will cancel a meeting with you if his “big giver” was about to go away.
Not that it is right.
Just human.
I think we did this at Sandals. I can’t remember. I know there were “vision dinners”. I can’t recall why those who were in attendance were there. All I know is that it was always the people who “got it” and would sell their house and move if Sandals asked them to.
Sadly, those people are usually the “biggest givers”.
Los
Looks like someone never really got what this was all about.
The whole thing is celebrating people who give large amounts of money as opposed to those giving smaller amounts of money or who can’t give money at all but may give time to the church in the form of volunteering, praying etc. The bottom line is it’s favoritism and is spoken againts in scripture. Sorry that one person here doesn’t see that.
Los, you’re right. Some pastors would do that in a heartbeat if a big giver was leaving. If someone was leaving who gave nothing, he probably wouldn’t blink an eye. That’s sad, isn’t it.
We still give and always have and always will.
I think that is absolutely ridiculous!! We tithe 10%, and it is a sacrifice, but it’s to the LORD, not man. I don’t want my reward or appreciation from any person on this Earth. I want my Lord’s pleasure and reward.
I hear you Jodi. I’m with you and so are 99% of the people responding to this post of Anne’s.
see you made it first in line
Wow. We have lived in at least twelve cities and visited many churches. We’ve been through lots of building campaigns. I’ve never heard of this. But, that probably just means that I’ve never been part of the “big givers” group. Seems to me that it can only be hurtful: it rewards the big giver publicly (which is against scripture) and it makes the smaller giver feel un-needed.
Anne, I have another “public recognition policy” that I’d love to comment on: Mother’s Day is SO painful in many churches as the mom who is the oldest, youngest, with the most children, and has children from the greatest distance away all stand up. Moms are praised for all sorts of titles …. and I sit there broken hearted for all those “Moms” who are barren and want children but aren’t moms, or those who have lost child after child to miscarriage and those who aborted and later regretted it. They sit in silence. Seems to me that the pain caused on Mother’s Day by all this recognition is much, much greater than all the little praises. Have you ever thought about this?
Blessings,
-|<@ren
(karen h)
someone told me that mother’s day recognition is from the devil, as is groundhog day and flag day – kidding
No it doesn’t…………….thank God!
our church recognizes consistent givers, not specific amounts. it does get hairy in my mind if you start high fiveing people that give certain amounts, but i think it is definitely in order to celebrate, recognize, and encourage the people that give faithfully.
Our church recognized mothers on mother’s day, but then our pastor did something AMAZING! He had everyone who wanted to be a mother stand up and he prayed for us all. We lost a baby on February in a miscarriage and this was so healing and beautiful for us. thanks pastor reece…we love you.
Ladies, I can certainly sympathize with what you’re saying. I don’t particularly like Father’s Day in church. I feel very much like a failure.
I think the idea of honoring big givers in any way is despicable and totally in contrast to scripture which scoffs at the big givers and honors the woman who gave all she had. Now you know what I think. There is a church here in Kansas City (Overland Park actually) that takes its big givers on a cruise with the pastor and his family to thank them. I really think that makes God sick. I am all for big givers, but I think it is not how much you give, but how much you have left after you give that catches God’s eye.
I like your point about what’s left over that catches God’s eye.
If my church had that type of cruise for the bigger givers, I’d be gone before the ship left.
i also understand, from someone at the Kansas church (yes, Virginia i actually called them), that 15 people on that ship gave their life to Christ. small price for a soul i say
So Tony, I guess you’re saying that the same thing wouldn’t have happened (people getting saved) if the cruise was to honor even the small givers.
What happened on the cruise sounds to me like a good example of God working even if, per chance, the motives of people we’re not exactly God honoring.
I can say that my motives have not always been pure when organizing a particular worship concert, for example, but God still worked. Maybe you’ve seen God do this in your life as well?
I think this particular post on honoring big givers has run its course and I won’t be checking it again. See ya.