The Special Offerings: Reformed, Always to be Reformed

The four churchwide special offerings of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are among the primary ways congregations relate to the national structures of their denomination. Like much about the church, almost everyone knows something about the special offerings, but very few people feel that they know them well. The vast majority of congregations participate in at least one of them, yet only a small minority participate in all four of them. In many ways, then, they are typical of the life of the church in 2007. It’s not too surprising that they, like the church itself, are reformed and always reforming.

Standing Orders
One of the most recent changes in the special offerings is the mode by which congregations receive their promotional resources. Starting two years ago, plans were announced to begin converting the offerings to a standing order method, with acknowledgement that the process would probably be accompanied by bumps and inconveniences. The implementation of those plans began almost a year ago with the materials for the Christmas Joy Offering. As this article is written, the second offering is undergoing the process. We have certainly delivered on our promise of problems — probably better than on the timely arrival of the materials themselves. The good news is that all involved are learning with each offering how to improve the process. We hope that the problems have been significantly reduced by the time you are reading this.

It’s probably worth reminding one another of the goal in order to help reduce the frustration we all feel with the difficulties in getting there. The reason for switching to the standing order mode is to enable all congregations to get something close to what they need for the offering by about the time they would traditionally have received an offering packet. We still believe that this is a good and achievable goal. It would probably have made the process simpler if this transformation had not occurred simultaneously with significant changes in the staffing and structure of the national offices in Louisville, but putting it off would have delayed both the inevitable frustration and the ultimate success of the process. We hope that by the time you read this, the need to ask for further patience is unnecessary.

Evaluating the Pattern of Special Offerings
The General Assembly mandates that the special offerings be evaluated thoroughly every four years. This evaluation concerns virtually everything about the special offerings: the total number of offerings, their focuses and timing, the use of offering gifts, and the mode of promoting the offerings and of distributing their resources.

As part of that evaluation, the Special Offerings Review Task Force solicits comments or suggestions from anyone in the church. If you or someone you know has an opinion or idea to share, please send it to the task force. You can email the Office of Special Offerings or mail your thoughts to Special Offerings, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202, or call toll-free at (888) 728-7228, x5183 or 5168. All thoughts, ideas, and suggestions will be shared with the task force.

Five for Five
If your congregation does not receive all the offerings, why not try receiving at least one more within the next year? Suggest to your session that they try to support all four special offerings and Basic Mission Support as well. If you do, we’ll be happy to send you materials identifying you as one of the small but growing group of Five for Five churches.

For more information: contact Alan Krome, associate for Special Offerings, at (888) 728-7228, x5168.