Stewardship

A Financial Snapshot of All Saints

All Saints total annual budget is just under $1,000,000.

For every dollar spent,

58 cents come from pledges
18 cents come from endowment revenues
11 cents come from plate contributions
13 cents come from bequests or end-of-life gifts

Out of our $938,000 annual budget,

16% is spent on worship (liturgy and music)
6% is spent on spiritual life
6% is spent on pastoral care
10% is spent on Christian Education
8% is spent on Parish Family Life
6% is spent on outreach
10% is spent on the Diocesan Assessment
13% is spent on stewardship of resources
27% is spent on overhead and operations of the Church

Our pledges do not pay for that we receive at All Saints

There are a total of 437 households in All Saints Episcopal Church. 265 of those households pledge to the annual budget of the parish.

Do you realize if every household (437) in the parish paid an equal amount or pledge to cover the annual budget, it would be $2,146 per year from every household?

Or, if every “pledging household” (265) paid an equal portion of the total cost of operations, it would be $3,538?

At present, the average pledge per household is $1,839 per year. (The average pledge to churches nationwide is 2.6 percent of income.)

What do you suppose the average household income is for All Saints Church? What if every household gave 5% of that income? Do you suppose All Saints would have a budget problem?

Think about it. Are you giving in proportion to what you are receiving from All Saints?


This is what it costs

This is the breakout for All Saints’ annual expenditures:

 

Worship (liturgy and music)
Spiritual Life
Pastoral Care
Christian Education
Parish and Family Life
Outreach
Diocesan Obligation
Stewardship
Operations and Overhead

Total

$150,937
59,629
58,829
97,578
71,516
60,933
90,095
112,053
236,094

$937.665

“When I see what it costs to provide the ministries and programs of All Saints Church, I can evaluate whether I am paying my share of the cost of ministry. Do I benefit from the Christian Education program? From parish and social life? From pastoral care? Or simply from liturgy and music through “worship” at All Saints Church?”

What's the difference between a pledge and proportional giving?

How do I decide how much to pledge?

Any intentional or regular giving of a specific amount of money is, in a way, “proportional” giving -- the proportion may just be modest and unconscious.

The Bible states a specific obligation to “tithe” – that is, to give a tenth of what you have received from God back to God. One-tenth! Ten Percent! The Bible sets the bar very high – maybe too high for most of us to think about at first.

With proportional giving, the following chart provide s a guideline of potential pledges:

Household
Income		 1% 2% 2.6% 5% 10%
$20,000
200
400
520
1,000
2,000
$40,000
400
800
1,040
2,000
4,000
$60,000
600
1,200
1,560
3,000
6,000
$80,000
800
1,600
2,080
4,000
8,000

Some people here at All Saints do “tithe.” A few even exceed the Biblical “tenth.” The wonderful diversity of our community is reflected in part by our diverse attitudes and comfort levels with annual pledging and proportional giving.

Think of yourself as the next one to be a proportional giver.

Calculating my PROPORTIONAL GIVING pledge

Calculating my pledge:

1) Write down the amount of your 2006 (anticipated ) income:

It doesn’t matter whether you use “before tax” income or after. If you don’t know what to anticipate, use your 2005 income to establish a number. If your circumstances change, you can always adjust your pledge… up or down.

2) Pick a percentage:

Are you new to the concept of proportional giving? Trying using the national average of 2.6%. Of if you have been giving for a while, take last year’s percentage and trying adding 1% to it. Or simply pick a percentage.

3) Multiply:

Multiply your anticipated income by your percentage of giving. This is your pledge for 2006. If you want to pay the amount in weekly installments, divide by 52. If you wish to pay in monthly installments, divide by 12.

“How do I feel about this number? Is it in proportion to the importance of God in my life? Is it in proportion with the importance of All Saints Church in my life? How is it in proportion to the other ways I spend my money?”

Your honest answers to these questions will point to how important God is in your life.

Making my pledge

You can download a pledge card here.
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