Does your Women of the ELCA group have money sitting unused in a bank account? Consider how you can put those dollars to work supporting the ministries of Women of the ELCA.
When you give to the churchwide women’s organization, you are making an investment in your future. Your giving comes back to you in the form of resources, publications, events, and support that enable you and the women of your congregation to live out our shared mission of mobilizing women to act boldly on their faith in Jesus Christ.
For the entire life of this organization—now spanning more than 30 years—the churchwide executive board has encouraged congregational units (CUs) and synodical women’s organizations (SWOs) to spend down their excess reserves each year and direct the money to ministry, especially the ongoing ministries of Women of the ELCA.
CUs and SWOs are encouraged to spend down their monetary reserves in a way that reflects the interdependent relationships between the units, the synodical organizations and the churchwide women’s organization.
With fiscal year 2020 coming to a close on January 31, 2021, it’s now time to make those decisions.
Sufficient reserves
In most cases, reserves of $1,000 or less are sufficient. For instance, your CU may need money to place a down payment on a retreat facility for future gatherings or to respond to emergency needs that arise early in the next fiscal year. It is up to each CU and SWO to annually decide how much to keep in reserves for the next year, while recognizing that every dollar saved is a dollar that does not support ministry today.
The churchwide executive board has consistently encouraged spending the dollars in a way that reflects the interdependence between congregational units, the synodical organizations, and the churchwide women’s organization. Interdependence is an important word for Women of the ELCA. Our founders used it many times in our constitutions, especially pertaining to finances.
Interdependence means that all expressions of Women of the ELCA (unit, SWO, and churchwide) should consider the needs of the others when making financial decisions.
Women of the ELCA is organized so that the SWOs and CUs do not need to keep large reserves from year to year. Neither CUs nor SWOs maintain staff, property, or ongoing liabilities for which significant reserves are necessary.
Instead, units are called to be communities of women that support each other and act to bring about healing and wholeness in the church, the society, and the world. SWOs connect units in mission with the churchwide organization. These purposes are best lived out by putting dollars to ministry, not storing those dollars away in a savings account.
Give to Women of the ELCA (welca.org/give) Where Needed Most, and support our ongoing ministries of advocacy, leadership development, discipleship and program resources, Gather magazine, Boldcafé e-zine and podcast, racial justice education, Bible studies, and more. Become a Faithful Friend of the organization by giving monthly through automatic withdrawal from your checking account or automatic charge to your credit card. Learn more at welca.org/faithfulfriends.
Visit womenoftheelca.org/give to learn more.
Audrey Novak Riley is director for stewardship for Women of the ELCA.
Feature photo: Gifts collected at the Tenth Triennial Gathering Thankoffering service in Minneapolis. Photo by Jim Veneman