by Phil Mote

Jane and Mindy, friends who attend Bethany, are jogging around Green Lake.

“Doesn’t it seem as if every time you turn around, someone is asking you for money?” Jane asks. “Yesterday I got a letter from Bethany with a yellow pledge card. As if Bethany needs my money! It reminds me of a wealthy Ivy League college, with that beautiful brick building, the green lawn, the beautiful stained-glass window. And they probably have an endowment too.”

“That beautiful old brick building was built a long time ago,” Mindy responds, “and it needs a lot of maintenance. The bricks could fall off in the next earthquake.”

“Wow, you’d think all the lawyers in Bethany could see the problem with that. Bethany should get that fixed.”

“They want to,” said Mindy, “but it takes a lot of money. Bethany doesn’t have an endowment - in fact, they try to trust God so that if giving exceeds expenses, they give away the entire surplus so they start fresh every year. Giving to Bethany isn’t much about the building, it’s about ministering to people.”

“Yeah, I like the way they minister to me in the service. I usually put five or ten bucks in the plate,” says Jane. “I figure that’s about what a live show is worth. The organ postlude alone is worth that much.”

“But Jane, church isn’t a show. It’s about worshiping God. And while you’re sitting in the sanctuary, there’s a whole lot more going on. Over a hundred kids are meeting friends, learning about Jesus, having some caring adults in their lives. That takes a lot of volunteers and a lot of paid staff, from nursery supervisors to the director of children’s ministry...”

“Oh yeah, I’ve seen her. Always smiling, seems to know every kid by name right away.”

“And then there’s the youth ministry. You don’t even see them because they’re in another building. Lots of volunteers working with the youth director to keep dozens of Seattle’s teenagers growing in their relationship with Christ.”

“Well, that seems worthwhile. Lots of churches don’t have any teenagers in them and that’s pretty sad.”

“And every week we feed 150-200 people at the Wednesday Night Dinner.”

“Wow. That’s quite an outreach.”

“That’s not the half of it. Bethany gives away almost a quarter of its budget to outreach ministries from Seattle to Kenya to Cambodia.”

“Wow, Mindy, thanks for telling me. Bethany is doing a lot of good with my money.”

“Yeah, God really uses that place and the people in it. And you know what? Bethany hardly ever asks for money. They won’t hit you over the head with financial requests, or even say much about money in their monthly newsletter.”

 

Phil Mote is Bethany’s elder for Stewardship.