An update on giving

For those of us who work for churches and non profits, giving and finances are important topics. When you factor in that it's three days before 2009 and the current economic climate, it's no wonder I find myself almost in a daily conversation with a peer, friend, family member, or church member regarding the economy and its affect on churches in general, and Hillcrest in particular. Hillcrest currently operates on a fiscal year, so we won't really know how well we've done budget-wise until April or May, but what we do know about 2008 is that for Hillcresters, it was a very generous year, as Hillcrest has given over $500,000 in 2008. Granted our budget is less than that, but also some of that $500,000 was for projects and ministries outside of the budget (Backpack buddies and the South Africa trip come to mind). Even in the month of December, while giving to Hillcrest's general budget has been down slightly, when you factor in the amount given to the backpack program (which is some $8,000 or over 60 backpacks!) the weekly average is pretty much unchanged.

Certainly many non-profits and churches alike are wondering what 2009 holds and what charitable giving patterns will look like. I know we at Hillcrest wonder about the future holds too, but I try to keep in mind some of my own personal opinions on this matter:

• We can make giving a statement of faith. A recent Christianity Today (CT) report showed that only 21% of evangelicals tithe (give 10% of their income away), and while this is the largest number of a faith group that does tithe, it's still means only 1 in 5 families tithe. And this includes non-profits and other charities. Yikes.
• We can grow in our giving. The recent CT report also demonstrated that there is significant room to grow in giving, and that's just in evangelical homes. The dollar amounts are staggering, but American Evangelicals could tackle some real problems (clean water, education, homelessness) with those additional dollars.
• We can become more patterned in our giving. It's interesting that whenever there's economic woes (whether it's a sagging stock market or $4 a gallon gas) that giving is presumed to drop. What this means is that "Joe the giver" gives what's leftover at the end of the check. I am not writing that those enduring difficult circumstances ought to continue current giving patterns (if you have lost a job, for instance), but it is interesting that these market fluctuations affect our giving.

May we give generously, and sacrificially, during the good times as well as during the not so good times. Also, as an FYI, we hit 200 backpacks yesterday (Sunday) morning! This also means Hillcrest will be writing a check for 100 more backpacks (yes, 300 total) as part of our match. Good stuff.

Wrapping gifts

Last Wednesday evening a group from Hillcrest was wrapping gifts for the Children's Inn during their annual fundraiser. I thought it'd be fun to show some pictures from the evening as our gift wrappers got to wrap with some of the folks from KSFY's evening news team. You'll also notice Tarina and Riley got to participate, and they said it was a great time. Incidentally, I was ringing bells for the Army with Burke and Deena. It was so cold that we had two people each running a kettle and the third person was in ShopKo warming up!

Tarina and Phil Shreck wrapping a gift.

The crew wrapping some gifts.

Riley wrapping a gift.

Rick Warren is in the News

Rick Warren is all over the news. Ever since President-Elect Obama invited him to give the inauguration's invocation, Warren's been at the center of the news. It is interesting that to the extreme left, he's much too conservative and to the extreme right, he's much too liberal! The AP has a pretty fair piece on Warren here. Brian McLaren offers some additional insight regarding Warren here.

Regardless of one's opinion of Warren, you can't fault the guy for trying, leading, and advancing the cause of Christ in southern California, throughout America, and to the ends of the earth. You disagree with Warren's theology, perspective, opinions, methods, and even results. But what you can not argue is that he's did (and doing) something. Can every church or her leaders say the same thing?

The 10 Year Rule

I am currently reading Malcolm Gladwell’s new book Outliers and really enjoying it though to be fair Gladwell is one of my favorite authors and Blink and The Tipping Point are among my favorite books. In the book, Gladwell strips away how we normally understand why some people are successful (the typical answers being a person's talent, hard work, passion, etc) and points at some different, and really unexpected reasons.

Gladwell doesn't argue that successful people aren't talented, just that there is more going on with a successful person than just talent. For one Gladwell shares the 10,000 hour rule, or the 10 year rule (Seth Godin also blogs frequently about this). Gladwell unravels the success stories of bands like the Beatles and entrepreneurs like Bill Gates and found that they both had this rule in common. For Gates, by the time he dropped out of Harvard at the age of 21, he had already logged in 10,000 hours programming computers, which is incredible when you consider first, how rare computers were back in the late 60s and early 70s, and second, how even rarer that a young kid would have had access to those rare machines. For the Beatles, they got their time in with 10 years at joints in Hamburg, Germany, where they were forced to play for several hours in a row, for several days in a row, where they honed their craft, perfected their stage presence, and took the United States by storm as a battle tested and seasoned group.

Gladwell summarizes the 10,000 hour rule when he writes “researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours. The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert- in anything . . . no one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery."

For most, success doesn't happen overnight. And for most, there's more going on than just talent, strengths, gifts, hard work, and perseverance. But think about the extensions of such a hypothesis- that to be good at something, or successful at something, you have to put in 10,000 hours. What might this rule look like in the following situations:

• in a marriage?
• in parenting? We often like to talk about quality time, but the 10,000 hour rule seems to imply that quantity time matters in gigs like parenting as well.
• in your job or career?
• in the life of a church? I am not saying that we give every program (or ministry for that matter) 10 years to prove itself, but if a church switched its overall vision or mission every few years, it may prove difficult to feel as if we're gaining any ground.

What other situations might this rule apply? And as with most rules, there are probably exceptions . . .

Tough questions

A week or two ago I was with some seminary students facilitating a discussion on finances in both their work within the church and also their personal finances. Towards the end of our time, we got to talking about missional churches and the work they are doing to serve their communities. The class knew some of Hillcrest's story and so it was fun to share some of how we got to where we are today, but it was also encouraging to see these seminarians and their current churches also wrestling with what serving their community looked like. One student expressed what almost every leader thinks (and says) as they make a move to serving their community: how do we help without enabling? This has rattled around in my brain for the better part of two weeks as I continue to think through this and other seemingly paradoxical questions, such as the following:

• How does one reconcile debt-free living (advocated by the guru Dave Ramsey) with the revolutionary teachings of Muhammad Yunus, the infamous banker to the poor who believes community redevelopment comes through micro-lending (in essence, debt)?
• How does one employ the work of Jeffrey Sachs, who argues that economies develop according to established patterns (and thus argues that some less than ideal working conditions may exist say in a textile company in a developing country such as Bangladesh while their economy develops) against the writings of those who argue that trade must be kept fair and thus insist on fair labor, good working conditions, etc?

These are just two of the difficult questions that inevitably lead churches away from simply serving to educating and advocating.

Re-reading Paul

I do not consider myself a Biblical scholar by any means. And for the past couple of months, my own time with the Scriptures (and reading in general) has been somewhat on the shelf as we've worked through Wes' feet issues (he did get his casts off yesterday- yeah!). But this past week I've been able to spend some time in Galatians, and am re-reading Paul in light of his perspective on what we might call 'good deeds'. The apostle Paul is obvioulsy infamous in his advance and defense of a gospel without works. Many of the verses I memorized growing up centered on this this theme (Ephesians 2:8, Romans 3:23, 5:12, 6:23, etc) and Paul often stresses the grace and 'freeness' that surround the gospel. In Galatians, Paul apparently resumes this theme by chastizing the Jewish folks for insisting that the gentile converts be circumcised per teh Jewish custom. He even admonishes Peter for his hypocrisy over his table fellowship. But later on in Galatians, Paul seems to make a new argument for the importance of good works in connection with the gospel. Consider the following:

• Galatians 5:6 "For in Christ Jesus neitehr circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; but faith working through love"
• 5:13 "for you were called to freedom, brethern; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another"
• 5:14 "you shall love your neighbor as yourself"
• 5:22-23 "the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control . . .
• 6:9-10 "let us not become weary in doing good, for in due time we will if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith".

Don't read what I'm not writing: I'm not arguing for a works-based salvation. But I do find it interesting, and challenging, that the man who we presume to be the ultimate defender of a works-less gospel also has a few things to say about the idea of works.

A night out

The pastors and wives went out for a pre-Christmas supper last night. Though we were without our fearless leader Doug (who's sick with pneumonia), we had a great time.

Christmas thoughts

Highlighting some good recent posts centering on Christmas:

• A Hillcrester sent this video to me that perfectly complements this past Sunday's teaching
• Pastor Richie's thoughts here
• Greg Boyd offers a balanced perspective here

Backpack update

In October of 2007, Hillcrest set a goal of 50 packbacks for the Food Bank's weekend backpack program. Hillcresters responded by supporting 110 backpacks. At $125 a pack, that came out to $13,750. Good stuff.

This past August, the Food Bank asked Hillcrest to sponsor 200 backpacks. An audacious goal, but one we were all challenged with. As of last week, Hillcresters had sponsored 132 backpacks. At $125 a pack, this comes out to $16,500. Very good stuff, especially when one considers the economic conditions.

This past Sunday, we were again challenged to do all we could to make the goal of 200 by year's end which you can read more about here. Don't want to give anything away, but this Sunday Hillcresters will be encouraged to see the progress made just in the past couple of days. Very, very good stuff.

The Red Kettle Tax

First, don't let the title of this post mislead you. I appreciate what the Salvation Army (hereafter referred to as 'the Army') does in local communities and understand the importance of the kettles to their overall fundraising campaign. My brothers-in-law have been ringing bells for the Army as long as I've known them and Hillcrest is even sending out some folks to ring bells on Wednesday nights in December. But for me, there are two inherent problems with the kettle drive:

• First, repeat trips to the same store. Say I go to Lewis Drug this evening to get stamps. There is a kettle there, I toss in my pocket change, the bell ringer says "Merry Christmas", and I get to go into the store. If I need to go to Lewis tomorrow, yesterday's visit is null and void. The bell ringer has inevitably changed, the new ringer knows nothing of my previous visit, so I feel the need to toss in some more change in order to get reenter Lewis.
• Second, trips to other stores with kettles. HyVee Grocery is across the street from Lewis. If I toss change into Lewis, and then head over to HyVee, that bell ringer knows nothing of my recent donation (short of an instanteneous text between bell ringers), and then there is the 'pressure' to toss change into HyVee's kettle. Soon, normal errands in Sioux Falls can take on a similar feeling as driving on Chicago's tollway, where one makes sure you have enough change to make it through the tolls!

So here's my suggestion (maybe the Army already does this, but if not, it might be worth a shot): sell a button dated with the year's holiday season (for instance, Christmas 2008) that one can wear on their coat or jacket. The button would cost more than what most people probably toss into buckets throughout the season, say $25, and the donor can freely enter stores of their choosing without having the hovering guilt of paying the holiday kettle tax! Who knows, the Army just might raise more funds as well . . .

Are you as generous in March?

Sioux Falls is a generous city. In fact, it got national notoriety a couple years ago for its generosity. During the holiday season, there is a lot of attention on the needs that exist in our community and the opportunities we have to meet those needs. Some of my previous posts detail some of these opportunities that exist in Sioux Falls. But this post concerns whether our generosity extends past the Christmas season. I was on the phone with one of our community partners last week. As we were talking about a recent project that we had been through together, the partner made the comment that they were receiving many different material offers from other partners. As our partner was discussing this infusion of holiday goodwill into their organization, the partner made the comment of 'where is the help in March'? The point of the comment was that while the parnter and organization were grateful for all of the assistance they were receiving between Thanksgiving and Christmas, they wondered aloud what it might look like if that help was distributed a little bit more evenly across all 12 months of the calendar. In March, it's not as popular to be generous. There are no Red Kettles, no Christmas specials, or intentional food drives. In March, most of us are honestly paying off Christmas and not in as generous of a mood. It's simply tougher to strike the generosity chord in March, or May, or July, even though the needs continue.

Followers of Jesus ought to understand all of this and work hard to be generous throughout the year, not just at Christmas time. Churches with strategies that seek to meet needs (and more importantly, address the problems that create the needs) throughout the year prove to be a good witness for Jesus.

Alternative Gift Giving

Today during morning services we learned of a couple of different ways we could give some different Christmas gifts this season. The first is the Backpack Program, which we continue to make a push for. Right now, we're about 55 packs short of our goal of 200. Each backpack costs $125 and goes to a child in Sioux Falls who otherwise would have no (or limited) food for the weekend. We heard from a counselor from Whittier Middle School describe this real need and learned that however many backpacks we sponsor at the end of the year that Hillcrest will match 1/2 that amount from our land funds. So, if we end up sponsoring 160 packs, Hillcrest will kick in 80 additional packs for a total of 240. If you're in the Sioux Falls area and interested in this opportunity, let me know.

We also heard of World Vision's gift catalog, which you can access here. This is a neat catalog which allows your gift giving to also meet real needs throughout the world. Last Christmas the pastoral staff pooled money we would have bought each other a gift with and instead bought a family a llama. This year my brother and I are going to do this instead of buying each other gifts. Wherever you're located, everyone can participate in this one. So consider some alternative gift-giving this Christmas.

Compassion Brokers

I've begun reading Shane Claiborne’s Becoming the Answer to our Prayers and it’s typical of Claiborne: gut-wrenching and convicting. The premise of the book is that we can answer many of the prayers that we pray, especially when it comes to matters of injustice. Claiborne writes that “We worry about how to protect ourselves from them (the poor) while at the same time feeling guilty for our complicity in their poverty. So we give to charities. And charities become the brokers for our compassion toward the poor.” The last statement, brokers for the poor, made me pause. I agree that many churches and followers of Jesus, myself included, outsource compassion. We prefer to let other groups and organizations do the heavy lifting while we observe like a spectator and cheer on their efforts, giving money and mental energy to their good work. Yet we miss out on opportunities to take part in processes that may make the overall system better. Clairbone then goes onto compare our society to a sort of high school lunchroom where we all have our tables carved out and never dare to sit with people from other tables, especially those from so called ‘lower’ tables.

For me, this is what makes the Genesis Project appealing in that it gives people like myself a set up opportunity to meet and engage with people from a different socio-economic setting than me. While this method still requires the work of a ‘broker’ (in this case the Community Outreach), at least what is being brokered is a relationship and a learning opportunity (for both parties) and not simply another transfer of goods or services. We had a good group attend the Genesis training this past Wednesday night and I am excited to see who makes the leap to be part of the mentoring group. It will be interesting to hear what stories begin to emerge from a little bit riskier type of ministry, but also a little bit more fulfilling type of ministry as well.

A Best Buy of Love

At a recent meeting, Pastor Richie had a great phrase when describing the various Christmas-related opportunites that Hillcresters have this holiday season- he called it "a Best Buy of Love"! How great! His point is that when you go into Best Buy looking to purchase a TV, you like the fact that they have 60 different flat screens from which to choose from. If they only had one or two, you'd call that a garage sale! So the fact that Best Buy offers many TVs makes your decision perhaps a bit more difficult but also more fulfilling (I had 60 TVs to choose from, but when I decide to buy one, I am all in).



At Hillcrest, the holidays can feel a bit like that. We're offering lots of great things to be a part of, from continuing to purchase backpacks for Sioux Falls' hungriest students to particpating with a local Angel Tree project, to ringing bells for the Salvation Army, wrapping gifts at the Empire Mall for Children's Inn, or particpating with Sioux Falls Cares. The goal isn't to do all of them or feel like just because the church is doing it, then I have to do it. You don't buy all 60 TVs at Best Buy, you buy one, or perhaps two. The goal is to offer options and then choose one or two that best fit who you are and what God is up to in your life.



Over at the Point, one of Sioux Falls' newer church plants, they too provide a bunch of holiday options, encouraging their folks to do one thing and give to one thing. I like that as it removes the guilt from feeling like you have to do everything and people can maximize their impact.

If you build it . . .

One of the first movies I can remember seeing in the theatre was Field of Dreams. A classic movie by any definition with unforgettable lines- none more memorable than "if you build it, people will come". I don't want to necessarily tackle the notion on whether churches ought to build new buildings or not, but how churches can utilize their facility as a blessing to the community and specifically their multi-purpose buildings and/or gymnasiums.

At Hillcrest, we've been all over the map with this issue. 3 years ago, we were renting out our Family Life Center often to sports teams, non profits, and other groups. We were cheap and available but unfortunately had no purpose or system to our efforts. The result was often a building that was double booked and created confusion and anxiety for the people and the groups using our facility. 2 years ago we overcorrected this easy policy with a much stricter policy that significantly raised the fees and added an elaborate system complete with request forms and lease agreements. We lowered the double booking and the axiety, but still had no purpose. Our facility thus sat empty most nights and while we were embarking on an effort to love our neighbors and community, our message when it came to our facility was don't bother us. On Tuesday night our Leadership Council adopted a policy that resembles the one from three years ago (with much lower fees) but now has a purpose behind it in that we want to bless our neighbors with our building. We want families across the street to use it for a graduation open house, for the dad in the neighborhood to use it for his son's basketball practice, and for the local boy scouts pack to use it for their meetings. We're paying the costs associated with running the building so why not use it?

Sioux Falls Cares

A KELO story on a neat organization among the many that are doing good this Christmas season. Hillcrest will participate with Sioux Falls cares Wednesday, December 10th.