Church members get envelopes with money to do good works
Scott Lehr’s sermon last Sunday was all about money. The pastor of Southbridge Fellowship said Jesus mentions money in nearly half of the parables, and tells his followers that their hearts always follow their treasures.
Money talks. Hearts follow.
Many of those listening were probably ready for “the ask.” As a startup church with no building — services are held at the Brier Creek movie theater — Southbridge Fellowship needs money.
Surely Lehr would implore them to dig deep into their wallets.
Instead, church volunteers passed out envelopes to every person in the theater. They contained a letter, along with a crisp bill of varying denominations: $1, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100.
“Don’t feel guilty about it,” Lehr said. “We want you to have it.”
As the accompanying letter explained, the money is to be invested in the community. For some people, that may be supplying a homeless person with a coat. Others may get friends to match what they were given and donate the pooled total to a worthy cause. Members were encouraged to e-mail the church within 70 days to describe how they invested the money.
The idea of churches giving away money is not new, but it’s gaining traction in hundreds of congregations across the nation. Two weeks ago, Elevation Church in Charlotte gave attendees $40,000 as part of a “bless back project.” Books have been written and foundations set up for exactly this purpose — inspiring Christians to contemplate giving, not just getting.
“People are tired of hearing from the church,” said Leesa Bellesi, who with her husband, Denny, started the movement seven years ago. “They want to see the church in action.”
The Bellesis, who served as pastors at Coast Hills Community Church in Orange County, Calif., gave away $10,000 to members of their church in 2000 after watching “Pay it Forward,” the movie starring Kevin Spacey and Haley Joel Osment, about a schoolboy who houses a homeless man as part of a social studies project.
The Bellesis now run the Kingdom Assignment Foundation, a nonprofit charity that next month will give $1,000 to 50 churches as a way of spurring more community giving.
Dave Travis, managing director of the Leadership Network, a Dallas-based organization that gives strategic advice to large churches, said charitable ventures such as these are part of a counter-cultural move against materialism.
“In the past 50 years the methodology was to have a big Sunday offering for a building or a project benefiting the church,” said Travis. “Now it’s turned externally, for a project outside the church.”
Churches say the benefits of such projects are multiple. They enable Christians to catch the joy of giving and to cultivate a life of generosity — traits well worth practicing for those who take their faith seriously. But these projects also have practical implications.
At Calvary Bible Church in Boulder, Colo., a $10,000 give-away to church members in 2003 resulted in a yearly commitment to cleaning and sprucing up public schools.
“Evangelical churches are known to stand off to the side,” said John Boyle, director of communications for Calvary Bible Church. “But the Boulder community has embraced our church. We’ve spread goodwill.”
The benefits may also help the church. The two North Carolina churches that undertook the giveaway — Southbridge Fellowship in Raleigh and Elevation Church in Charlotte — have no homes of their own. When the time comes to take on a million dollar capital campaign, members may be more practiced at giving.
“When the church does decide to build, people will say, ‘This church has been a wise steward. I’ll support it,’” Travis said.
But Lehr, the Southbridge pastor who launched the church in March, said he had no intention of seeing the $3,700 handed out Sunday returning to the collection plate. The church, which attracts 375 people to its two Sunday services, doesn’t even have a collection plate. It posts a mailbox near the entrance to the theater where people can drop off donations.
“It wasn’t ‘Here’s $20, we want you to come back with $40,’” Lehr said. “Our whole motive is seeing people’s lives changed. We want to be doers of the Word, not just hearers of the Word.”
Thinking about what to do
Those attending Sunday services at Southbridge walked out clutching their envelopes, unsure how they would spend their money.
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