Understanding New Life's Financial Picture

Pastor Tim Isbell, New Life Church, Cupertino

New Life Church receives money primarily from 3 sources: contributions from worship attendees, Little People Christian Preschool/Day Care, and Far East Education Institute. The Church Board reviews the Treasurer’s Report each month and publishes an annual financial statement to the congregation. Contact the office for a copy.

“Tithes & Offerings” and “Special Offerings”

Worship attenders give money to New Life in response to God’s grace. People do this by returning to God some of the resources he entrusts to them.

“Tithes & Offerings” are undesignated monies given for ongoing ministry obligations of our local church. Several people give a 10% “tithe” (some even higher), which means they give 10% of their income to the general needs of the church. Those with an uneven flow of income estimate monthly. In April, when filing tax returns, Christians add their “adjusted gross income” plus any other tax-free investment income, and then adjust their giving to tithe the whole income.

Giving this much money is a BIG decision, so new people usually start slowly with occasional offerings, eventually decide to become regular tithers at some starting level such as 1-2%, and then increase their tithe as the Lord leads and provides.

“Special Offerings” are monies designated for specific purposes by the donor. The church is careful to use special offerings ONLY for the designated purpose.

Usually people give to the church by check or in cash. In addition, some people donate stocks. The church maintains an account at Morgan Stanley to receive such donations. Contact the office for a description of how this works.

Each year in July and January New Life provides receipts for tax purposes. The individual accounting system works like this: when New Life receives a check with no particular designation, it is recorded as Tithes & Offerings. If it is annotated for a special purpose, such as Global Missions, Local Compassion, Scholarship, etc. the office follows the instructions. For example, if it is a $250 check and indicates on the front that $25 is intended for Global Missions, $25 to directed to Global Missions and the rest goes to Tithes & Offerings. When people give cash, they can instruct the office of how to account for it by using a ‘Weekly Offering’ envelope available from the back of each chair.

Where “Tithes & Offerings” Go

The elected Church Board and its Finance sub-committee manage New Life money. This includes establishing and monitoring an annual budgeting process. This process determines how Tithes & Offerings are spent. Here is a list of the kinds of expenditures paid from general Tithes & Offerings:

Where “Special Offerings” Go

 The largest Special Offering category is Global Missions, but there are others.

Global Missions Offering

New Life is part of the support network for about 750 Nazarene missionaries located in over 140 world areas. In January or February of each year we organize a Global Missions Sunday to encourage support for our Nazarene Missions International program. On that Sunday the congregation is invited to indicate, subject to God’s provision, how much they expect to contribute to the Global Missions special offering in the following year.

In addition to Global Missions Sunday, throughout the year there are several other Global Missions Special Offerings. Examples are deputation for visiting missionaries, global compassion and disaster relief, child-sponsorships, the Alabaster Offering for constructing buildings around the world, and others.

Global Missions money is managed by our Global Missions Council, under the direction of the Church Board.

Local Compassion Offering

This fund extends the hand of Christ to local people in need. The Local Compassion Committee provides guidance when needs arise among members of the New Life Church, regular attenders, weekday campus users, people who walk into our campus needing help, and local compassionate organizations. We have established a new tradition of having a Local Compassion Sunday each fall to promote serving the needy around the Bay Area, and to receive a special offering for Local Compassion.

Scholarship Fund Offering

A needs-based scholarship program helps church members further their education so that they can impact the world for Christ. The program is open to students pursuing either secular or ministry career paths. Recipients use their best efforts to eventually “give back” the money they receive by investing in the education of others. The Scholarship Fund Committee manages this fund.

Other “Special Offerings”

There are other special offering opportunities from time to time: Nazarene Theological Seminary, Nazarene Bible College, Vacation Bible School, children’s and youth camp sponsorships, Gideon’s, SJSU Chinese Campus Fellowship, support for our 2 Nazarene compassionate ministries in San Francisco, etc.

Snapshot of 2003-4 Finances

Here is a snapshot of our financial picture from church year 2003-2004, when we operated on about $350,000.

Expenses

Local Operating 77 %
Global Missions 11 %
Other Nazarene Connections 10 %
Capital Improvements  2 %
  100 %

Receipts

Tithes & Offerings 65 %
Global Missions/special offerings 13 %
Rent 11 %
Little People Contributions  11 %
  100 %

On average, adults, teens and children in our 3 congregations gave $42.46 per person per week. Here’s the giving profile:

Tithes & Offerings $35.02
Global Missions special offerings 3.30
Other Global Missions special offerings 2.06
All other special offerings  2.08
    $42.46

This is outstanding stewardship!

New Life Church does not have any debt. We do have some investment funds set aside for eventual capital and ministry expansion. As of February 28, 2004 our investment accounts were:

General Investment fund   $165K
Parsonage repurchase fund 328K
New Worship Center fund 28K
Little People Equity 112K
Please feel free to contact our pastoral staff or Finance Committee with any questions you have. We will respond promptly so that everyone is as fully informed as possible.

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