12819 - 160th Avenue SE Renton, Washington 98059 (425) 226-2871

   What Happens When I Give Money to Lord of Life                                                                                                                  

 

Here's how the Lord of Life offering envelopes work.

The "General Fund" supports the ministry of Lord of Life Lutheran.  The congregation receives no support from any source other than member giving to the "General Fund."  Although we are a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we receive no money from the ELCA.  On the contrary, we voluntarily send about 7% from General Fund giving to support ELCA work done on our behalf. Money given to the "General Fund" supports the congregational budget enacted at the November member's meeting for things; such as, education, worship, the care of people, youth, fellowship events, facility costs, salary, and so on.

The "Benevolence of the Month" supports various ministries outside of Lord of Life Lutheran; a different ministry each month.  We support non-profits; such as, the Compass Center (a service to Seattle's homeless), projects in Tanzania, Africa, Lutheran Community Services, our scholarship fund for college students and others.

If "Other" is chosen the funds go to the work selected.  Remember the IRS does not allow us to give money to individuals; only non-profits.  And we reserve the right to return money given which does not fit our mission.
 
To use the envelope simply place your check or cash inside and mark on the outside how much you would like given to each category (General Fund, Benevolence of the Month, or Other).  You may put your name on the "Name" line but do not need to as the number in the upper right hand corner identifies you on our business managers computer. 
 

Financial Fact Sheet

 

1.  Lord of Life tithes its income.  Our congregation voluntarily gives 10% of all income received to support the mission of our Northwest Washington Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, as well as other ministries.  This money goes to things, such as; training pastors and church professionals, missionaries, synod ministries (Compass Center, Lutheran Social Services, etc.), the production of Worship, Sunday School and educational materials, and administration (finding pastors for congregations, for example). 

 

2.  The budget theology of Lord of Life is that the General Fund (money to support the on-going ministry of the congregation) is supported solely from regular member giving and not from outside sources or from fund raisers.

 

3.  The Lord of Life's Preschool is owned and operated by the congregation.  It is not a pre-school which simply uses our buildings.  It is our preschool.   It is our outreach to the community.  It supports itself financially and contributes monthly to costs; such as, utilities.

 

4.  The last two years we have met or exceeded our expenses. 

 

5.  Click here to see our budget for 2008.

 

6.  How are we doing?  A monthly report can be found on the bulletin board on the left side of the hall leading to the restrooms in the worship building.

 

7.  The Resources Ministry leads the congregational budget planning process.  It involves input from committees and ministries of the congregation in September of each year.    In October the church council acts on the proposed budget and distributes it to the members.  There is a member's "Annual Congregational Meeting", usually the first Sunday of November, which acts on the budget.  Lord of Life's fiscal year corresponds to the calendar year. 

 

8.  It takes about $2500 per household per year to support our budget.  However; about 30% of the households give 70% of the resources.  These percentages do not necessarily relate to household income; that is, there is not a direct relationship between the amount of individual household income and individual household giving.  It is estimated that if everyone would tithe (give 10% of their financial resources to the work of Christ) and gave ¾ of that tithe to Lord of Life, we could support a budget of $500,000 and dramatically increase the ministry and mission of the congregation.

 

9.  "Planned Giving" is a term referring to gifts given to non-profits through wills and estates.  You might want to consider, when  doing a will, setting aside some of your estate for the work of Christ's church.  As far as Lord of Life is concerned we have an "Endowment Fund," which people may use to see that a portion of their estate does the work of Christ's far into the future.  Check on the Endowment Fund here.  The Endowment Fund supports ministries outside of the the congregational budget.