fraud_82503

Posted: 8/22/03

CHURCH TACKLES FRAUD:
The believer's other security

By Bob Smietna

Religion News Service

DENVER (RNS)–When people walk in the doors at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Denver, they might be coming to volunteer at one of the church's outreach ministries, attend the Wednesday night service or take part in the Thursday night dessert-and-theology book club.

Or they might just be coming to use the shredder.

Earlier this year, St. Paul installed a shredder in the church office through a program from the Denver district attorney's office that trains clergy and lay leaders to recognize and prevent fraud, especially against senior citizens.

Using a shredder is one simple but effective way to help prevent identity theft, one of the most common kinds of fraud, said Lisa Curtis, director of the Clergy Against Senior Exploitation partnership, known as CASE.

“Dumpster divers” will sift through trash, looking for bank account statements, expired health insurance cards or other documents that include Social Security numbers, Curtis said. Those numbers can be used by identity thieves to set up false checking or credit accounts.

In one recent case in Denver, “crooks lifted a Social Security number from an expired HMO card thrown in the trash and used it to open several cell phone services, running up over $10,000 in charges,” she said. If identity thieves find discarded deposit slips, “they will lift the numbers to create counterfeit checks on their computers and printers.”

The CASE program is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice and currently works with 170 faith communities like St. Paul.

Besides training clergy and lay leaders, Curtis sends out regular “fraud alerts,” which are passed on to about 40,000 e-mail addresses, and runs fraud prevention seminars in churches, synagogues and mosques. Most congregations are unaware of how widespread fraud is and what they can do to prevent parishioners from being victims of fraud, she said.

The fraud alerts are posted at www.DenverDa.org.

Kevin Maly, St. Paul's pastor, said he was “stunned by what I didn't know” about fraud, as were most of the senior citizens who attended a fraud prevention seminar held at the church.

The people who run the CASE program, Maly said, “understand people in faith communities tend to be people of goodwill and can be easy marks.”

Something as simple as teaching older women in the congregation how to guard against purse snatchers, which is one component of the seminar, has made people in his congregation feel safer, he said.

Beside identity theft, Curtis said, other common types of cons that affect seniors are telemarketing fraud, mail and Internet fraud, home improvement and inspection fraud, predatory lending, security and investment fraud, and caregiver fraud.

The caregiver fraud can range from an in-home caregiver stealing a person's checkbook to a trusted adviser embezzling funds.

“The last couple of cases (the district attorney's office has seen) have been women who made unwise, quick decisions to give power of attorney and lost their life's savings,” Curtis said.

Since attending the seminar, Maly discovered a member of his congregation was being taking advantage of by her financial adviser, who had “weaseled his way into her will.” Maly hopes to find a lawyer who “can talk to her (about the situation) without alienating her.”

Before becoming director of the CASE program, Curtis worked for six years at the district attorney's office on prevention and in helping older victims of fraud. Since religion often plays a greater role in the lives of seniors, working with faith communities seemed a perfect match, she said.

Faith communities also can be a place where victims of fraud can feel safe talking about what has happened to them.

Eighty percent of fraud victims do not report the crimes out of embarrassment, Curtis estimated. “Many times, an elderly victim of fraud will come to a church before they come to their family,” she said.

By training clergy and lay leaders, Curtis hopes more victims will come forward, allowing the district attorney's office to bring con artists to justice.

Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter Jr. said about 750 of the 5,600 cases his office prosecutes each year involve some kind of fraud. And increasingly, he said, senior citizens are the target.

“One of the things that I've seen just explode is the victimization of senior citizens,” he said. “We have always known that physical and emotional abuse existed, but the financial exploitation is something new.”

One thing Ritter hopes the CASE program will do is show simple, effective steps can prevent fraud. Still, he said, once an “economic criminal” has a person's money, there is little chance of getting it back.

“This is a place where an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure,” he said. “You can't get your life savings back–we set up a lot of restitution plans–but the amount that is paid back is very small.”

Senior citizens are especially susceptible to economic crime, because many live alone and are often willing to talk on the phone with telemarketers and give out identifying information, Ritter said. A second reason is that they tend to trust people.

“This is a generation that was raised to believe a handshake was a promise,” he said.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.




garland_book_82503

Posted: 8/22/03

Garland finds strength in telling families' stories

Barbara Massey

EthicsDaily.com

WACO–In today's world, where families face many uncertainties, what resource is better for understanding and dealing with challenges than the stories of other families who have had similar experiences?

Families with a strong faith connection and spiritual dimension seem to weather the storms of life in a particularly positive way, experts say.

And what about the experiences at the opposite end of the spectrum–times of joy and happiness? Just as families of faith weather storms more positively, they also reportedly meet times of joy and happiness with deeper rejoicing together.

In “Sacred Stories of Ordinary Families,” author Diana Garland interviewed 110 “ordinary” families and used their stories to illustrate how faith shapes the way families live.

The stories are representative of all kinds of families–traditional nuclear, single-parent, remarried, blended, single adults and older adults who are both married and widowed. Their stories illustrate how the Bible and the overarching Christian story become the backdrop for living out faith in ordinary, daily lives, observed Garland, director of Baylor University's School of Social Work.

She encourages families within congregations to connect their own experiences with what is holy and to share these stories within the community of faith, thereby offering strength for the journey to other families.

“My hope is that this book will encourage congregations to become communities for the telling of family stories–stories of family struggles and resilience and redemption, stories of family faith,” she says.

Garland suggests that churches:

Look for family relationships beyond the “of-course” family.

bluebull Seek the strength of all families.

bluebull Encourage families to develop their own faith practices.

bluebull Provide ways for families to serve and learn together at church.

bluebull Offer opportunities for families to minister together.

bluebull Use church conflicts as opportunities.

bluebull Show how families can eat together or simply be together.

bluebull Be a place that evokes and listens to family stories of faith.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.




giving_lottie_82503

Posted: 8/22/03

19 Texas churches honored as top Lottie givers

RICHMOND, Va.–Nineteen Texas Baptist churches were among the top 100 congregations nationwide in giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions last year.

Together, Texas Baptists also outpaced all other states in gifts to the offering.

IMB officials recognized the top-giving churches in a news release Aug. 18.

All but one of the top-giving Texas churches are affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Champion Forest Baptist Church of Houston led all Southern Baptist Convention churches in giving to the Lottie Moon Offering in 2002. With an average Sunday School attendance of more than 3,300, Champion Forest gave $358,527 to the missions offering.

First Baptist Church of Rockwall and First Baptist Church of Dallas, both dually aligned with the BGCT and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, ranked fourth and 10th, respectively. The Rockwall church, with an average Sunday School attendance of more than 900, gave $324,668. The Dallas church, with an average Sunday School attendance of more than 3,200, gave $220,525.

Other Texas Baptist churches in the top 100 for giving include:

bluebull First Baptist Church of Odessa, 16, $156,436.

bluebull First Baptist Church of Midland, 19, $137,787.

bluebull First Baptist Church of Carrollton, 22, $135,000.

bluebull Park Cities Baptist Church of Dallas, 24, $134,389.

bluebull Sagemont Baptist Church of Houston (uniquely aligned with SBTC), 31, $120,000.

bluebull First Baptist Church of Henderson, 34, $116,216.

bluebull First Baptist Church of Lake Jackson, 50, $100,353.

bluebull Kingsland Baptist Church of Katy, 52, $100,250.

bluebull First Baptist Church of Houston, 60, $92,475.

bluebull Prestonwood Baptist Church of Plano, 61, $91,900.

bluebull Hyde Park Baptist Church of Austin, 69, $89,754.

bluebull Parkside Baptist Church of Denison, 72, $88,885.

bluebull Tallowood Baptist Church of Houston, 74, $87,335.

bluebull Hunter's Glen Baptist Church of Plano, 78, $84,496.

bluebull Calvary Baptist Church of Beaumont, 96, $74,641.

bluebull Trinity Baptist Church of Amarillo, 97, $74,374.

The top 100 congregations gave $12.2 million to the 2002 collection. However, 89.4 percent of the $115 million total came from thousands of smaller Southern Baptist congregations.

Texas Baptists gave $18.2 million to the 2002 offering, an increase of 0.22 percent. The other states ranking in the total-dollar top 10 were North Carolina, $11.7 million; Georgia, $10.1 million; Alabama, $9.4 million; Tennessee, $9.2 million; Mississippi, $7.6 million; South Carolina, $7.4 million; Virginia, $5.7 million; Florida, $5.6 million; and Arkansas, $4.3 million.

Almost $54.7 million–47 percent of the offering total–was given by 2,108 of the Southern Baptist Convention's 42,000 congregations.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.




giving_newtithers_82503

Posted: 8/22/03

New tithers report freedom from past financial failures

By Ken Walker

Baptist Press

WOODSTOCK, Ga. (BP)–They have suffered such financial setbacks as bankruptcy, car repossession, staggering credit card bills and scratching for cash to buy their next meal.

However, since they started tithing, half a dozen Christians interviewed for this story said they have more than enough money to provide for their needs. And they feel they are making positive contributions to God's work in the world.

“It's not what the prosperity teachers teach,” said Raquel Perez of Elizabeth, N.J. “Give because it's an indicator of your heart toward the Lord. What you love, you put your money into, whether it's your house, car or whatever. Give because (God) is worthy. We're not to serve God for what we can get out of him.”

Kevin Maude of Woodstock, Ga., who started tithing immediately after his conversion in 1999 despite a $15,000 debt, agreed.

“The blessings aren't all monetary,” Maude said. “I'm talking about friends, family and the way your kids are growing up. Just to know that if you leave it in God's hands and let it work his way, it will–that's what we've learned. That's the key.”

Andrew Stull, a 25-year-old environmental health specialist from Lawrence, Kan., started tithing two years ago when he heard the late financial counselor Larry Burkett mention Luke 16:10: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

Often broke in college, Stull wondered why he still didn't have more money left at the end of the month after finding full-time employment. Then he started tithing and saw a huge difference.

“It's strange,” he admitted. “After a month or two, I didn't notice it because I always had plenty of money to go around.”

Two members of First Baptist Church in Orlando, Fla., say they saw God provide for their needs in often-miraculous ways.

Diane Graves had watched her family's debts mount to $25,000. So, after the woman who led her to faith in Christ in 1980 told her she needed to tithe, Graves protested that she simply didn't have the money.

“You have God's money; you just don't have bill money,” the woman replied. “You're supposed to give God 10 percent of your earnings.”

After promising she would start tithing when things improved, Graves sensed God speaking to her, “If you can't trust me when things are hard, you'll steal from me when times are good.”

Initially, her giving was sporadic. When she failed to tithe, mishaps occurred–the car broke down, her children got sick or the family ran short on food. Finally, Graves said, “OK, God, I'll give you your money.”

After that, the Orlando hairdresser secured a new client who gave her $100 a week regardless of how simple a service she performed.

However, still struggling to make ends meet, the family later faced foreclosure on their home. Two weeks before that was to happen, a woman in Graves' Bible study group offered her $5,000, money the friend had made on some investments. Her only condition was anonymity.

“That was the beginning of the miracles I saw with tithing,” Graves said.

Although he became a Christian in 1983, Jim Alafat didn't “walk the walk” until after he moved to Orlando in 1997. Still, it took another 18 months before he started tithing.

Initially, he donated money to a Christian radio station, until an announcer mentioned gifts should only be made after donors tithed to their churches.

Still, Alafat struggled with the concept until reading Malachi 3:10, which states: “'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.'”

Since then, Alafat has paid off more than $10,000 in debt, found a job that pays far more than any previous position, and gotten married.

Last year, he and his wife were able to buy a home and have set a goal of paying it off in seven years.

“Once you start giving, it's like saving,” said Alafat, a mortgage broker. “You realize you can live without it and that it's going to help people. It brings joy to your heart.”

Back in New Jersey, Perez found financial relief when she changed her outlook on money as well.

Before, she was stressed out by the flock of creditors who hounded her. After she started giving to her church, the largest creditor called and offered to write off half the debt.

After settling that bill, another creditor called with the same offer. Eventually, she paid everyone and began planning for her wedding, which occurred in May. She and her new husband paid for the wedding in cash.

But more than those blessings, tithing is a matter of obedience, she said.

“I didn't want to” tithe, said Perez, who owed more on her car than it was worth when she lost it to creditors three years ago. “I had so many bills I couldn't make ends meet. But when I began to be obedient, the creditors stopped calling.”

In Orlando, Diane Graves thinks many Christians don't understand that tithing is a form of worship.

The tithe belongs to God–not because God needs it, but because the believer needs to be obedient and allow God to teach her how to live on God's economy, Graves said.

“It's not only freedom financially, it's freedom inside,” she said. “When you're not being obedient to the Lord in giving, there's a tendency to be in bondage to everything. When you're obedient, you can relax and allow him to take care of you.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.




giving_pattern_82503

Posted: 8/22/03

15-year pattern of mission giving in SBC churches nationwide

Year Undesignated Total Receipts Missions Expend. CP Giving % Undesignated % Receipts Designated SBC
Receipts/Churches in Churches By Churches By Churches Sent to CP Sent to CP Giving/Churches
1987 $3,202,795,030 $4,293,683,245 $662,691,289 $336,856,534 10.52% 7.85% $109,041,821
1988 $3,337,271,350 $4,397,655,050 $689,598,220 $344,517,696 10.32% 7.83% $110,188,268
1989 $3,490,397,570 $4,587,480,205 $712,921,790 $354,764,112 10.16% 7.73% $120,192,358
1990 $3,701,421,945 $4,866,119,560 $718,476,262 $364,166,807 9.84% 7.48% $124,879,325
1991 $3,819,601,780 $5,016,775,505 $732,090,978 $363,987,833 9.53% 7.26% $124,181,625
1992 $3,988,910,440 $5,216,167,835 $751,773,457 $369,415,439 9.26% 7.08% $127,916,369
1993 $4,129,917,905 $5,384,132,020 $761,639,840 $367,718,831 8.90% 6.83% $127,036,371
1994 $4,586,931,164 $6,080,432,324 $815,640,533 $378,251,968 8.25% 6.22% $127,828,517
1995 $4,538,898,609 $6,069,724,030 $858,779,214 $394,620,128 8.69% 6.50% $132,830,195
1996 $5,040,070,313 $6,878,906,615 $891,259,062 $411,926,628 8.17% 5.99% $138,446,505
1997 $5,230,303,634 $7,073,918,840 $936,894,945 $431,015,866 8.24% 6.09% $141,547,992
1998 $5,421,234,605 $7,452,098,393 $953,491,003 $440,759,552 8.13% 5.91% $150,593,868
1999 $5,607,034,479 $7,772,452,961 $795,207,316 $461,629,183 8.23% 5.94% $151,737,197
2000 $5,980,939,876 $8,437,177,940 $936,520,388 $486,141,768 8.13% 5.76% $163,269,485
2001 $6,445,430,643 $8,935,013,659 $980,224,243 $479,623,983 7.44% 5.37% $170,947,075
2002 $6,786,994,352 $9,461,603,271 $1,028,650,682 $501,772,139 7.39% 5.30% $170,092,122
15-year change
111.91% 120.36% 55.22% 48.96% 55.99%
Definitions
Undesignated receipt/churches = All money given to local churches not designated for any specific cause other than the general budget
Total receipts in churches = All gifts of any kind given to local churches
Missions Expend. by churches = All money reported by the churches as spent on missions causes, including Cooperative Program, missions offerings, local missions
CP giving by churches = Total contributions to state and national Cooperative Program as reported by SBC Executive Committee
% Undesignated sent to CP = CP giving by churches divided by undesignated receipts in churches
% Receipts sent to CP = CP giving by churches divided by total receipts in churches
Designated SBC giving/churches = Total giving to designated SBC causes, such as Lottie Moon, Annie Armstrong and world hunger
Source: SBC Annual and Book of Reports, 1988 to 2003

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.




giving_share_82503

Posted: 8/22/03

Churches keep greater share at home

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

The amount of money flowing through Baptist church offering plates has increased 112 percent in the last 15 years, but the amount of money churches give to missions causes has increased at only half that rate.

An analysis of financial data reported by Southern Baptist Convention churches shows congregations nationwide are sending smaller percentages of their undesignated offerings to the Cooperative Program unified missions budget. That budget funds both state and national missions programs.

Further, designated giving to special missions offerings also has increased at only half the pace of increases in undesignated giving to church causes.

This is a trend found not only in Texas and not only among Baptists, explained Sylvia Ronsvalle, executive vice president of empty tomb, a Champagne, Ill., ministry devoted to increasing awareness of missions funding needs.

“These trends are common to the church in the United States,” she said. “Churches seem to be turning inward. They seem to be emphasizing the comfort and happiness of members over the transformation of those members.”

Just the facts

Here are the facts among Southern Baptist churches, as reported on the Annual Church Profile and published by the SBC Executive Committee in the convention's annuals:

bluebull Undesignated receipts in SBC churches grew 112 percent from 1987 to 2002, from $3.2 billion to $6.8 billion.

bluebull Total receipts in SBC churches, combining regular budget gifts and special offerings, grew 120 percent over 15 years, from $4.3 billion to $9.5 billion.

bluebull Total missions expenditures reported by churches, including Cooperative Program, special offerings and local missions, grew 55 percent in the same period, from $663 million to $1 billion.

bluebull Gifts to the Cooperative Program nationwide, including both the portion retained by state conventions and the portion forwarded to the SBC, grew 49 percent, from $337 million to $502 million.

bluebull Designated giving to the SBC's special offerings–primarily the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions, Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American missions and the world hunger offering–grew 56 percent, from $109 million to $170 million.

bluebull The average percentage of a church's undesignated receipts sent through the Cooperative Program decreased from 10.52 percent in 1987 to 7.39 percent in 2002. As a percentage of undesignated offerings, local churches have decreased their Cooperative Program giving by 30 percent.

That trendline more than any other is the one that worries denominational officials, missions leaders and missions workers.

“That's not a healthy trend if you want to name Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,” Ronsvalle said.

Church challenges

So what's going on? Are churches simply hogging more money for themselves while mission boards freeze appointments?

It's not that simple, according to several analysts.

“I personally feel Baptists' commitment to missions is as strong as ever, but it has been influenced by other factors,” noted Clay Price, research director at the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Price has monitored these giving trends across three decades of denominational employment.

First, Price said, “as the education level of pastors and church staff has increased, so has cost of salaries and benefits.”

That was echoed by Phill Martin, education director for the National Association of Church Business Administration based in Richardson.

Specifically, he said, rising health-insurance costs have wreaked havoc on church budgets. “With multiple years of 25 and 30 percent increases in the cost of health coverage, it is a significant impact on church budget issues.”

Second, churches have faced increasing land and building costs.

Third, the price of keeping the lights on and the heat or air conditioning running has increased significantly.

Fourth, churches have experienced a long-term trend of members wanting to be personally involved in direct missions–sometimes as a full or partial substitute for giving to send others.

That point was echoed by Cliff Tharp, research director at LifeWay Christian Resources and coordinator of the Annual Church Profile.

“Many more churches have groups go on trips, do volunteer missions,” he noted. “That may be impacting Cooperative Program giving, but I have nothing to quantify that.”

Price recalled a book written about 30 years ago by Robert Kilgore, then director of church loans at the SBC Home Mission Board. In “How Much a Debtor,” Kilgore drew upon his banking and church experience to estimate that most churches in 1973 spent 15 percent to 20 percent of their money on local expenses, another 10 percent to 15 percent on missions, 40 percent to 50 percent on staff salaries and benefits, and 15 percent to 35 percent on debt service.

Through NACBA, Martin continues to monitor the ratio of church personnel costs to total church budget, and the portion spent on personnel continues to grow, he said.

“We've slowly seen that number rise. In our latest survey, 45 to 55 percent is the norm we see,” Martin explained. “We're seeing it on the higher side of those numbers more often now. Health insurance cost is the driver.”

“As local expenses, salaries and debt have risen, there has been a squeeze on the missions portion of church budgets, including the Cooperative Program,” Price explained.

More local missions?

One of the explanations churches often give for reducing Cooperative Program giving is increased expenditures on local missions.

The statistics support this assertion to a small degree. Total missions expenditures reported by churches grew 55 percent from 1987 to 2002, a better growth rate than the 49 percent gain in Cooperative Program giving. However, that small distinction pales in comparison to the 112 percent growth of undesignated receipts.

Martin, a former church business administrator who has filled out the Annual Church Profile form before, believes it may not accurately report all church missions expenditures.

Tharp, too, agrees with that caveat, noting that while the definition of what constitutes “mission expenditures” on the report is defined broadly, not all the correct data gets passed along. National data in recent years could be slightly skewed downward, he added, because two state conventions have not reported their numbers on this item.

Price is willing to give churches the benefit of the doubt and acknowledge many may not accurately report their full missions spending on the profile. Often, missions spending is spread throughout a church's budget in such a way that the person who completes the annual statistical report may not know where to gather all the data.

Yet, a clear trend still exists, Price added, noting the consistent pattern of Cooperative Program giving, total missions expenditures and designated offerings to grow at only half the rate of undesignated giving to the churches.

“The fact that all three of these have experienced about the same growth seems to be some indication that other factors have pushed or pulled these missions dollars downward,” he said.

Is politics to blame?

Political tensions in Southern Baptist life over the last two decades could be explored as a factor in missions-giving trends, but Price discounted that as not a likely influence. Ronsvalle affirmed that the picture of SBC churches looks similar to what she sees in other evangelical and mainline churches, regardless of whether they have experienced controversy.

Put another way, has the SBC lost missions money to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the group formed by moderate Baptists disenfranchised from the SBC in the 1990s?

Total dollars given to the Cooperative Program did hit a brief plateau from 1991 to 1993, the same time the CBF was launched. However, in those early years, the CBF served as an alternative pass-through funding mechanism for a number of SBC ministries.

That plateau in giving also corresponded to a national economic downturn in the second half of the first Bush administration.

SBC leaders never claimed to have taken a financial hit from churches defecting to the CBF. To the contrary, the SBC has boasted of sailing along without missing a beat.

CBF supporters, meanwhile, have contended the combined missions reach of the two organizations is greater than what the SBC could have accomplished alone.

The $8.7 million in undesignated gifts to the CBF in the fiscal year ended June 30 represents less than 2 percent of more than $501 million given through the Cooperative Program in 2002. The undesignated gifts to the CBF represent less than 5 percent of the Cooperative Program income that flowed to the national SBC in 2002.

In 1996, the first year for which complete giving data is available for the CBF, it received $7.4 million in undesignated gifts. Had that amount been given directly to the SBC's national causes instead–which CBF supporters claim is unlikely–the SBC's undesignated income would have increased by 10 percent rather than 4 percent.

Such a leap is inconsistent with the 1 percent to 4 percent gains posted by the SBC in the decade prior.

What cannot be deduced from the available data is how much of a shift in giving might have occurred between various types of Baptist churches. For example, it is possible that increases in giving to the SBC by more conservative churches have offset decreases in giving to the SBC by CBF-friendly churches.

How low can you go?

Regardless, one fact remains unchanged: The percentage of churches' undesignated receipts going to missions has dropped by one-third in 15 years.

Charted on a linear path that assumes a continued steady rate of decline, that would take Cooperative Program contributions to zero in another 30 years–bad news for state conventions and the SBC as well.

Both Ronsvalle and Price believe that's not likely to happen, however.

“It will never reach zero,” Ronsvalle said, noting her agency had generated controversy in the past by extrapolating such a course to zero missions giving.

Even if the Cooperative Program ceased to exist, Baptists would find a way to cooperate to fund missions, Price insisted. “Baptists have too long a history of working together to do missions. We would come back to the point of saying, 'We could do more if we pooled our money.'”

And despite the decreasing percentage of church offerings given to missions, the Cooperative Program remains a “sizable” force for missions, Price noted.

What's the answer?

If denominational bodies want to increase missions giving from churches, they need to increase feedback, suggested Ronsvalle.

“We have found, repeatedly, church members will give to missions if they understand the need, if it's explained to them,” she said. “But people want to know what their money is doing when it leaves the congregation. If you don't have feedback mechanisms to tell people the difference they are making, they feel like they're sending their money away and it's not accomplishing anything.”

Most denominations are not well equipped for this type of reporting, she admitted. What's required, she suggested, is more like the statements of activity airlines send frequent fliers.

“If you're a frequent flier, you can fly, and two weeks later, you're going to get a specific report back showing you where you've been, how many miles you flew.”

On the other hand, “you can give money to your denomination and not be able to track it.”

That failure combines dangerously with a trend of church members wanting to support missions efforts they not only can see but can personally participate in, added Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics in Nashville, Tenn.

“The day has long been over when churches were willing to give their money to someone else to determine what to do with it,” he explained. “People want to see their money at work. It's an issue of trust. They ask, 'Why should we give our money to a bureaucracy?'”

Back to the root of all evil

While it's easy to blame churches for keeping more of the offerings for their own discretionary use, the root of the missions funding challenge lies with individual Christians, Ronsvalle asserted.

“The church, and particularly missions, is shrinking as a market share of people's spending,” she said.

The average member of a Christian church in the United States gives only 2.6 percent of his or her income to the church, Ronsvalle reported.

If all church members gave a biblical tithe of 10 percent, nearly $80 billion in additional funds would flow into missions annually, she said.

How does that figure compare with world need? By some estimates, a mere $2.5 billion could stop the deaths of 11 million children worldwide under age 5. An $80 billion investment could end the worst cases of world poverty, empty tomb contends.

Ronsvalle wishes churches not only would give more money to missions but would challenge Christians to be better stewards of their financial resources.

“There has been a vacuum of leadership on the national level to raise people's eyes off their own individual needs,” she said. “There has been a lack of comprehensive vision to challenge people to be willing to invest in the kingdom” of God.

Church leaders ought to more boldly counsel church members who seek fulfillment through consumerism, Ronsvalle urged, suggesting that buying a third car and moving to a bigger house is not the stairway to heaven.

“We don't really believe what we say we do,” she concluded. “Because if we did, we'd be spending our money differently.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.




giving_states_82503

Posted: 8/22/03

State Baptist conventions feel
the pinch of decreased giving this year

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

Times are tough all over for state Baptist conventions seeking to fund their ongoing ministries.

A mid-year survey of the largest state conventions found none meeting their Cooperative Program budgets.

Editors of state Baptist papers in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia provided giving data for the period from January through June 2003. Data was not available from editors in Alabama, Virginia, Florida, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas.

In every state for which data was available, Cooperative Program giving not only is lagging behind budget but also behind last year's giving.

Texas and Missouri, two states that have experienced convention splits in recent years, both are running more than 10 percent behind budget. But even some less-politicized states, like Tennessee for example, are running nearly 10 percent behind budget.

Cooperative Program budget deficits at mid-year range from 3.73 percent in South Carolina to 18.5 percent in Georgia.

For some state conventions, the picture is even more challenging regarding funds available for use in state-run ministries. In North Carolina, for example, total Cooperative Program receipts are running 8.44 percent behind budget, but funds available to use in state ministries are running 16.87 percent behind budget.

That distinction is possible in states like North Carolina, Virginia and Texas that allow churches more freedom to customize the distribution of Cooperative Program gifts. In Texas, the amount of money available for state use is running 14.03 percent behind budget, a slightly greater deficit than the 11.65 percent lag in total Cooperative Program giving

June turned out to be a dismal month in giving across the board, editors reported. For example, William Perkins, editor of the Mississippi Baptist Record, wrote that Cooperative Program giving there dropped below the $2 million mark in June for the first time in 34 months.

Although Mississippi started off the year with record giving, that pattern did not hold, he said. “Only April and July have surpassed monthly needs.”

Similar accounts are given for other state conventions.

However, most noted an upturn in giving in July and hopeful prospects for August.

Clear reasons for the across-the-board slump in giving are hard to come by as well, although the downturn in the national economy often gets cited as a factor.

“North Carolina has lost a lot of manufacturing and tech-based jobs, which probably impacts the drop, but I think there's also a growing apathy toward denominational giving, more interest in local church and self-direction of missions money,” said Tony Cartledge, editor of the North Carolina Biblical Recorder.

Staff at the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina are holding expenses to 85 percent of budget, as are staff at the Baptist General Convention of Texas, where 20 positions were eliminated this month.

Designated giving–which includes special missions offerings and donor-directed gifts–also has declined this year in most state conventions. Of those reporting data in this category, only Kentucky showed a slight increase, of one-tenth of 1 percent.

The impact of this year's lower giving through state Baptist conventions is masked in some cases by the fact that budgets for 2003 were set with little or no growth. That decision was made in many state conventions because of slower budget growth last year.

That means, for example, that in some cases the 2003 budget is 5 percent to 15 percent less than last year's budget. When gifts fall below the new budget line, that doubles the impact of the loss over previous years.

Mid-year giving trends in state Baptist conventions

BGCT N.C. S.C. Mo. Ky. Tenn. Miss. Ga.
Percentage
over/under
CP budget -11.65 -8.44 -3.73 -11.15 -4.09 -9.38 n/a -18.5
% Increase/
decrease from
last year -4.02 -2.82 -2 -1.92 -2.71 -4.17 -2.82 -1.48
Percentage
over/under
state budget -14.03 -16.87 -3.73 -11.15 -3.32 -9.38 -4.53 n/a
% Increase/
decrease in
designated gifts -4.28 -6.25 -1.69 n/a 0.10 n/a n/a -4.3

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.




giving_tithing_82503

Posted: 8/22/03

TITHING TAKES A TUMBLE:
Fewer households give a tenth

By Ken Walker

Baptist Press

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (BP)–The news that tithing declined by about 62 percent last year presents the church with both a warning and a challenge, say several experts in Christian financial and theological circles.

Earlier this year, the Barna Research Group reported the results of a survey of 1,010 American adults that showed the proportion of households tithing–giving 10 percent of income–to churches dropped from 8 percent in 2001 to just 3 percent in 2002.

“Different challenges have caused people to choose not to tithe,” researcher George Barna said. “For some, the soft economy has either diminished their household income or led to concerns about their financial security. For others, the nation's political condition, in terms of terrorism and the war in Iraq, has raised their level of caution.”

However, others trace the root of the problem to a failure to educate people about biblical stewardship.

Howard Dayton, chief executive officer of Crown Financial Ministries in Gainesville, Ga., believes the church has made a strategic error. By focusing solely on how members should handle 10 percent of their money from God's perspective, church leaders have neglected teaching anything about the other 90 percent, thus leaving people unprepared for comprehensive stewardship.

“People don't know what God says about how to earn money, save it, spend it and invest it,” said Dayton, who wrote Crown's small-group studies, which are used by 5,000 churches nationwide. “Others aren't motivated to give because they don't know what God says about giving.”

This lapse could sound an ominous warning for the church over the coming 10 to 15 years.

During the 1990s, one Southern Baptist pastor told Dayton that members over age 65 accounted for 58 percent of his church's donations. As the older members died, it required five people under age 35 to replace an elder's giving.

“His question to me was, 'What's going to happen when these dear old saints go home?'” Dayton recalled. “He said, 'We won't be able to fund the work.'”

This trend affects para-church ministries as well, Dayton added, mentioning one whose average supporter was age 34 in 1992 and age 52 a decade later.

However, education can reverse this trend, Dayton insisted.

Within the past year, Crown surveyed 60 churches. It discovered that within three years of completing its biblically based study, the average participant had reduced debt by $20,000, saved $10,000 and increased giving by 62 percent.

One example is Clearview Baptist Church in Franklin, Tenn. There, participants in one small group collectively paid off $150,000 in debt, according to Gary Aylor of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.

“Another way the average church misses it is that the only time the pastor speaks about money is when they have a capital campaign or a stewardship Sunday,” Dayton said. “That's totally wrong.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.




hispanic_womenconf_82503

Posted: 8/22/03

Participants at the Hispanic Women's Conference also chose from dozens of breakout sessions on a variety of topics.

HISPANIC WOMEN'S CONFERENCE:
The meaning of life

By George Henson

Staff Writer

KELLER–Discovering your life's mission is crucial to having a life that renders eternal positive consequences, Albert Reyes told participants in the Celebrating the Hispanic Woman Conference.

Reyes, president of Hispanic Baptist Theological School in San Antonio, told the gathering at First Baptist Church in Keller that a collision with a wandering cow on a dark West Texas road was a turning point in his life. He hit the cow without having a chance to brake, sending the animal up, crashing down on the top of the car and then over the back.

A state trooper who arrived on the scene a short time later looked in the vehicle and then asked where the driver was. When Reyes identified himself as the driver, the officer was greatly surprised.

Flag bearers await their entrance for the annual parade of flags at the Celebrating the Hispanic Woman Conference, held at First Baptist Church in Keller. The flags represent the homelands of women attending the conference.

“He said, 'I've never responded to a call like this that I didn't find a decapitated driver.' From that day forward, I've always believed there was a reason why God spared my life,” Reyes said.

Likewise, Reyes said, God has a purpose for each person's life. “We don't serve our purpose, our family's purpose or our church's purpose. We serve God's purpose.”

The secret is to pinpoint what that purpose is, he said. “If you can write down in one sentence the purpose of your life, you can discriminate against the things that waste your time.”

Reyes provided his personal mission statement as an example: “My life's mission is to develop kingdom leaders from my circle of influence to the ends of the Earth.”

Reyes reminded the women that the greatest power any person has is the power to choose what they want to do with their lives. Being the only part of creation that has the power to choose also is a great responsibility, he said.

“The greatest choice you make is what you are going to do with your life. God expects you to steward your life, to invest it.”

Do something that has eternal consequence, something that will have an impact on the kingdom of God, Reyes urged.

He led the women to develop their personal mission statements using a tool he was first exposed to by Robert Sowell, a California director of missions who previously served in Texas.

The first step is to decide where God is working and then to discover what excites or angers you, Reyes said. “Take what you see God doing and combine it with your passion and develop a statement of how you think the world should be.”

He then counseled the women to consider what God might say to them as they stood before God after death and what those left behind might say about the impact of their lives.

Other considerations include the potential impact of key relationships and learning what others perceive to be your strengths, he added.

The purpose of a personal mission statement is to focus energy on doing what is important so that more power can be exerted. For example, he said, light diffused provides illumination but has little power, but light focused in a laser beam can cut steel.

“God gave you this opportunity, this life,” Reyes said. “What are you doing with it?”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.




hispanic_anger_82503

Posted: 8/22/03

Professor proposes proper purpose of anger

By George Henson

Staff Writer

KELLER–Despite what many people think, anger is not a sin, Nora Lozano told women attending a breakout session of the Celebrating the Hispanic Woman Conference.

Lozano, an assistant professor of theology and Bible at Hispanic Baptist Theological School, said her preparation for the seminar was hampered because “not much has been written about anger from a Christian perspective. It makes us uncomfortable.

“Either we have been frightened by an angry person or are uncomfortable with our own anger,” she said.

While anger in men is considered more acceptable to society, most people do not want to be around angry people, she said. “In society, angry people are not welcome. We don't have signs that say that, but we don't need them.”

Women who display anger generally are thought of as not feminine or as unattractive, she added. “Women are taught to underexpress their anger. We are told, 'Go in the corner and come out when you are done.' This is bad because many times it leads to depression.”

Anger, however, is not a bad thing in itself, Lozano maintained. “Anger is an emotion; it does not have a moral standing.

“The problem is not with the emotion but what we do with it that makes it good or bad,” she explained. “Anger is not a sin; it's what we do with it that can be sin.

“We were all created by God with this emotion, and all God made was good. If we say anger is wrong, then we are saying God made a mistake.”

Anger can be useful if employed correctly, she added. “Anger is a signal that something is happening that we are not comfortable with and should not be ignored.”

Using a definition of anger devised by psychologist and author Harriet Lerner, Lozano offered a catalog of things that might cause anger, including being hurt, having one's rights as a person violated, and not having needs and wants met.

Anger also could be a signal that too much of one's self–beliefs, values, desires or ambitions–are being compromised in a relationship, she added. Or anger may signal that someone is giving more than they are comfortable giving in a relationship.

“Anger is a signal to do something,” Lozano said. “Don't ignore it.”

Properly handled, anger can improve situations, she continued. “All the great social movements we have had are because someone got angry and said, 'No more.'”

Anger also may signify caring, Lozano asserted. “If I am doing the work of getting angry, it is a sign that I care about the relationship and want to do something to improve it.”

Unresolved anger, on the other hand, leads to resentment and bitterness, she said.

“If anger in a marriage is ignored, it can lead to divorce. Or it can lead to Christian divorce, where we live in the same house but you stay on your side and I stay on mine and don't you even think about coming on my side,” she said.

Lozano counseled the women to examine their anger to find its root because the thing that brings it out may not be the real cause.

Safe places to express anger also should be found, she said. “Share it only with someone you trust, not on Wednesday night at church during testimony time.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.




iraq_food_82503

Posted: 8/22/03

Iraq workers anticipate arrival of food boxes

By Mark Kelly

International Mission Board

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)–Southern Baptist workers in Iraq are excited about the expected late-August arrival of 46,000 boxes of food packed by churches this past spring for hungry families in Iraq.

The workers said they are grateful Southern Baptists cared enough to send a practical demonstration of God's love to Iraqis who are struggling to put their country back together.

“I'm thrilled, because I know how much the Iraqi people have suffered,” a missionary said. He cannot be identified because of security concerns. “And I also know what their perceptions of Americans are, and of Christians.

“To have something tangible that we can present to a Muslim family, just to say, 'We love you, God loves you and we want you to have this as a demonstration of that love,' is very significant.”

In April, churches all over the United States began filling 70-pound boxes with rice, flour, beans and other food staples. Each box will feed a family of five for about a month. In June, the boxes arrived at ports in Norfolk, Va., and Houston, where they were loaded into containers to be shipped overseas.

The boxes have left The Netherlands and are expected to arrive in the Middle East in late August to be transported overland into Iraq.

Southern Baptist volunteers and other Christian co-workers will place the food boxes directly into the hands of Iraqi families in September and October.

Collecting 2.4 million pounds of food was a generous demonstration of compassion, another worker in Iraq said.

“I am very pleased and thankful for the response of Southern Baptists to the crisis in Iraq,” he noted. “It makes me proud to be Southern Baptist and for the heritage we have (that is) continuing on in this great and wonderful opportunity.

“The need for prayer is greater than ever now, as we put something tangible in Iraqi families' hands and in their homes. We now need the Lord's presence so that the message of the gospel can go forth–from generosity on that side of the ocean to the hospitality and reception of these Iraqi families–that they would receive these boxes and receive the message of Christ as well.”

The workers in Iraq have requested prayer for several needs:

Safety of the food boxes as they transit stormy seas.

bluebull Delivery of the boxes into the right hands in Iraq.

bluebull A proper attitude in delivering the food and receptive hearts to receive it.

bluebull The volunteers who will help distribute the boxes.

bluebull That the gesture would result in a network of relationships that will further God's kingdom.

bluebull Jordanian Baptists, who are using vacation time and personal money to reach out to Iraqis.

bluebull All believers who are and will be serving in dangerous places.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.




learning_center_82503

Posted: 8/22/03

Groundbreaking set for
Baptist Learning Center

CORPUS CHRISTI–Groundbreaking ceremonies are scheduled Sept. 12 for an addition to the Baptist Learning Center of South Texas.

The new structure will include four apartments, a conference room and office space for the Baptist Student Ministry at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Baptist Learning Center is an autonomous educational ministry that relates to the Baptist General Convention of Texas but receives no BGCT funding. The center collaborates with Howard Payne University and Hardin-Simmons University to offer courses toward the bachelor of arts degree and master of divinity degree.

One of the four apartments to be built will house a retired professor who will teach at least two courses through Baptist Learning Center each semester. The second apartment will house faculty who come from out of town for short-term assignment, including summer sessions and weekends.

The third apartment will be designated for missionaries on stateside assignment, who also will teach while on furlough. The fourth apartment will provide housing for an associate director of the BSM.

The groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. at 7000 Ocean Drive in Corpus Christi.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.