Giving Questions

1. What is the Church’s debt philosophy? How will the giving campaign affect our current debt load? What is our current debt load and payoff?
When we take the scripture at face value, we find that generally, debt is not considered a good thing. It can tie your hands and make you subservient to lenders. So, historically, we have been very conservative regarding debt.

• Currently, our debt is $3.7 million apart from the new Community Center. Our total assets are $20.7 million (before depreciation). Our plan is to be wholly debt-free of all current obligations by 2006.
• Our auditor estimates that an acceptable debt to tithes and offerings ratio would be 3:1; VCC’s ration is 0.5:1. In other words, we’re doing six times better than the acceptable ratio. An acceptable percentage of monthly debt to total cash flow should be <30%; VCC’s percentage is 4.98%. Again, we are doing six times better than the acceptable limits. (Imagine if your total monthly debt on all your obligations including your home mortgage, your car loans, credit cards, and student loans was less than 5% of your income.)
• Ideally, we will raise enough money (in cash and pledges) through the giving campaign to give $2 million to world missions and pay for the entire Community Center project. However, we are willing to take on some moderate and reasonable debt for the sake of cooperating with God to expand his kingdom, but we do not want to remain in debt. Our hope and prayer would be to pay off any debt incurred to build the Community Center within five years so that future ministry wouldn’t be consumed with interest payments and the distraction of debt in our budget.

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2. How much total money do we hope to raise?
We hope to raise at least 7 million dollars; 2 million dollars for world missions and 5 million dollars (+ furnishings) for the new Community Center.

3. What if we raise more than 7 million dollars?
We will use any funds in excess of our target for the ongoing expenses of the Community Center, to pay off existing debt, to assist on other world missions projects and for other church ministries as the Lord leads us.

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4. What happens if we raise less than 7 million dollars?
The first 2 million dollars that we raise will go to world missions. If we fall short of our 7 million dollar target, we will turn to the Lord for his direction. We may delay our project, or borrow to meet any shortfall.

5. Have we employed another organization for our campaign?
No. We are doing our campaign entirely ourselves without outside help.

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6. What happens if Rich gets disabled or dies?
Most successful churches across America have one key visionary, a strong leader who works with a skilled leadership team to pastor the church. God does not work in a vacuum; he works through people that unite around his will (Eph 4:11-13). But our church has always been larger than any single individual or even the collective efforts of our leadership team. Since the beginning, we have decentralized our ministry by refusing to build around one personality or personalities. That is why we have over 300 small groups. We have many interconnected relationships and loyalties to different individuals based on participation, care and support. Our church is not built on any one person’s gifting or ministry.

Having said that, if Rich or one of the other pastors becomes disabled or dies, we will look to the Lord, as we always have, to provide for the needs of his people here at Vineyard Columbus.

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7. How long will the campaign last?
The campaign will last for three years.

8. How much am I required to give? How do I figure out how much to give?
Nobody is required to give anything. We want individuals to give freely and not under any compulsion, because the Bible teaches that “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6-8).

There are two very different approaches in determining what you should give. One approach would be to look at your checkbook or monthly budget and ask: “What can I/we afford?” This approach simply calculates existing resources and does not demand prayer, faith, or God’s surprising intervention. A second approach is to ask God what he desires for you to give. This approach requires the willingness to risk, listen to God, and then trust him to provide as you step out in faith and obedience. Our church’s leadership strongly suggests this second approach.

At the end of the giving campaign, we don’t simply want to have raised a certain amount of money. If all we do is raise money for the Community Center or to fund world missions, then we have failed. We want more!

• We want each individual and family to experience the thrill of hearing God, and then obeying him in a way that causes you to grow personally and spiritually.
  
• We want you to have your vision and your faith expanded.
  
• We want your values and priorities to shift and align more closely with God’s will.
  
• We want you to see yourself as a steward of all of your gifts and talents.
  
• We want you to more fully comprehend God’s heart for Central Ohio.
  
• We want you to experience God’s abundant provision in a fresh, new way.
  
• We want you to gain God’s heart for the entire unsaved world.

We believe that this project is a huge spiritual adventure that has the potential to make our entire church family more like Jesus and cause us to experience his kingdom more fully than ever before!

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9. How should I think about giving?
Many people have asked for guidelines in praying and discerning the will of God more intelligently during this campaign.

• Step #1: Acknowledge that God is the owner of everything on the earth (Psalm 24:1; 50:10-12) and we are the stewards to whom he has delegated responsibility for its care and administration. As such, we don’t own anything. Everything we have—our time, talents, natural abilities, possessions, financial resources, families, health, the places we live, and so forth—are essentially on loan from God. It is our responsibility to manage these things wisely, at his instruction, and for his glory.
  
• Step #2: We want to affirm that God’s stewardship plan for his family (in both the Old and New Testament times) includes giving of tithes and offerings. Consequently, we want to encourage those who call Vineyard Columbus “home,” but are not yet tithing to the church to begin to do so. Tithing is a voluntary, systematic contribution of financial support to your local church. That is, disciples of Christ are to give the first 10% of all our income to God (Proverbs 3:9; Malachi 3:6-12; Matthew 23:23; Hebrews 7:1-8). Tithing means “a tenth part.” Our tithe should reflect a consideration of everything that we have received from God (1 Corinthians 16:2). This means that we should tithe (give 10%) based on our gross, not our net, income. This would include our wages and salaries, interest or dividend incomes, bonuses, gifts that we receive (particularly through family members or inheritance), capital gains on investments, or the sale of an asset (such as a home), retirement or pension income or any other source of income.

In addition, notice that the Apostle Paul (in 1 Corinthians 16:2) said that “each one of you” should give. Everyone who has income should plan to make tithing a regular part of his or her budget—including students, teens, singles, and even retired people.

Now for more affluent Christians whose income exceeds their need, the tithe becomes restrictive. In these cases, the tithe should be surpassed. These disciples are challenged to give even greater percentages of their income (20%, 30%, or even more).

• Step #3: Once church members are faithful to pay their tithe to God, then they are prepared to take the next step of obedience and partner with the Holy Spirit by giving an offering—in this case, in the form of a gift or pledge to the giving campaign.

Biblically speaking, an offering is any voluntary donation that is given—at the Holy Spirit’s discretion—beyond your tithe. In the Old Testament, not only did the Israelites tithe, but they also gave a number of offerings to the Lord through the course of a year (sin offerings, freewill offerings, the first fruit offering, etc.). The New Testament also teaches that in addition to tithes, the early disciples frequently gave offerings for the purposes of ministering to the poor and advancing God’s Kingdom in other parts of the world (see Acts 4:34-35; 11:29-30)
We believe that it is the responsibility of every member of Vineyard Columbus to ask the Holy Spirit how to participate in this exciting step for our church family. Specifically, we desire every individual and family to prayerfully consider an offering (through a gift or pledge) to the giving campaign. It does not matter where a person is on the economic spectrum. Everyone in our church family—young and old, children and teens, rich and poor, married or single—should give sacrificially towards the giving campaign.

We believe that God wants equal sacrifice, but not equal amounts.

For some, an additional $5 or $10 per week will be extremely sacrificial. On the other hand, a significant percentage of people in our church family have been greatly blessed by God financially and can afford to give substantially more. For the financially blessed, such an amount would hardly be sacrificial. “To whom much is given, much will be required.”

The entire church family now has the opportunity to experience the joy of sacrificial giving. Parents can use the building campaign to teach their children financial stewardship and sacrificial giving. Kids can observe their parents making sacrifices on limited budgets, not just giving out of their extra resources. Teens can give from their baby-sitting money or from their earnings at their jobs. Adolescents can give from their paper route money. Elementary age children can give from their allowance. Even little ones can give from their birthday money. The retired can give a portion of their pension or retirement income.

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10. I gave in the last campaign. Should I give again?
Of course! We began the last campaign in 1998. Since that time you have been blessed. You need to continue to be a blessing.

11. How do I give? Will I get receipts?
On Thursday evening, March 10, 2005, in our all-church celebration service at the Columbus Convention Center, you will have the opportunity to make a 3-year pledge commitment to the Blessed to be a Blessing Giving Campaign in the amount that the Holy Spirit has led you to make. You can begin giving that day as well. You may choose to contribute to the building on a weekly basis, a monthly basis, or some other cycle that is convenient for you.

While most people will choose to fulfill their 3-year pledges in cash or check, other may choose to give stocks, bonds, or some other form of security as a part of their gift. You will get monthly receipts to keep as a record of your gifts.

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12. How will new people be introduced to the campaign?
We have a Follow-Up Team as part of the giving campaign whose job, in part, will be to communicate about the campaign to new members and to encourage their participation when they attend the Newcomers’ Class.

Our desire is that everyone who becomes a member of the church in the next three years will have an opportunity to hear about the reason for this giving campaign and to prayerfully consider contributing financially to it.

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13. What if my circumstances change, is this a contract?
You are not signing a contract by pledging to the building campaign. You are making a commitment to give that we hope you will fulfill. But if at some time your financial situation changes or an emergency happens in your family, you can contact the church office to adjust your pledge.

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