Dear Bellaire UMC Family,

The past four months have been remarkable.  Friends, you are a resilient, God-loving, faithful people who have chosen to look forward instead of living in the past.  You have remained consistent during an unusual season of pastoral transition for United Methodists.  You have not only welcomed me, you have welcomed my family and for this I am extremely grateful.  

In a short time together, I have watched your tenacity through hurricane Beryl.  You rolled up your sleeves and helped family and neighbors in a time of need.  BUMC Vacation Bible School is unquestionably one of the most joyful events of the year.  It’s a very exciting time when every generation invests deeply to minister to our youngest followers of Christ.  As  God’s Family served each other this year, we saw lives (in every generation) transformed for Christ.  I saw you pack the pews to celebrate the work of education in our society at Blessing of the Backpacks.  We continue to pray for the Lord’s guidance this school year.  We broke bread together with the Family Dinner in August and returned to the Fellowship Hall in September to study how to live a Life in Rhythm.  

Between big events, I have seen deep compassion for a sister in need, and a person physically healed from sickness because God’s people prayed. You have shown extreme generosity when no one else was looking.  You are devout in worship and the Spirit of the Lord ministers to each of us on Sunday mornings.   I’ve seen people forgive one another and lay their burdens at the foot of the Cross.  And I’m watching the obedient wait faithfully for the Lord’s timing in critical circumstances.  

The Lord has done beautiful things at Bellaire UMC through you.  This type of Christian community is destined to thrive and I can’t wait to see how God is going to bless this church in 2025.  Please pay close attention over the next few weeks as we lay out financial needs and dreams.  You have been impressively faithful in your pledged giving through this year, even with the pastoral transition.  What many do not realize, is that we are still paying off the note for all of the remodeling done in 2020.  The current note balance is $1.3 million.  To put it simply, we pay $10,000 per month toward the debt reduction.  Because you are already generous in giving to the operating budget we have met our current expenditures but will still have a $40,000 deficit this year.  The previous building campaign was very successful, but the commitment for paying those pledges has ended.

Instead of allowing this to be an albatross around the neck of the church, let’s be responsible stewards of all our blessings and handle the debt so that BUMC will thrive in the very bright future.  Yes, this is a tall ask – but instead of parsing out several requests right after each other, we are laying all the cards on the table during this campaign and asking you to reach for Higher Things.  Enclosed with this letter you will find your 2025 Commitment Card.  Pledge Sunday is November 17.  Let’s pray together, worship together, and give together.  If you commit to meeting the 2025 operating budget and pledge extra toward the building debt, just think of all the Lord can do with the overflow!  

The Spirit of the Lord is doing a fresh work at Bellaire UMC.  Let’s make sure we are free to follow with joyful obedience – not looking back, but only ahead for the glory of God and transformation of the world!  

Your Grateful Pastor,

Betsy

Stewardship Letter

from Pastor Betsy

2025 Estimate of Giving Card

Proportional Giving

We encourage everyone who calls Bellaire UMC home to engage in the practice of proportional giving as a way of supporting the ministry of the church. The biblical standing is a tithe, which equals 10% of the total income. This chart will help yo think about your giving and how you can take a step toward, or beyond, the tithe in your giving this year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do Christians give?

Giving money to God through the church is a core practice of Christians the world over.  It has been since the very beginning of the church.  We give because giving is a way that we show obedience to God.  Giving is a way that we show love for God.  Giving is a way that we grow spiritually.  We sometimes think that if we can help people become mature Christians, then they will learn to give more freely.  That’s true, I’m sure, but for me it was the opposite.  Learning to give, helped me to become a more mature Christian.  Giving, you see, is an act of worship that helps us to grow spiritually.  That’s why we give.

And, as an act of worship, giving ought to be something we do on purpose.  That is, our giving ought to be intentional.  Through scripture, God guides us to the practice of proportional giving-that is, giving a particular percentage of our income.  You can’t give proportionally without thinking about it ahead of time, without being intentional.  The biblical standard of proportional giving for God’s people is ten percent-10% of total income.  The biblical word to describe that 10% is the “tithe,” which literally means “ten percent.”   It’s the portion that belongs to God, which we return to God as an act of obedience, love, and worship.

What should I do?

When you think about the connection between faith and money, I hope you’ll ask more than just whether you should give 2% or 10%, whether it should be pre-tax or post-tax.  I hope that you’ll ask: In what I’m doing, am I being faithful to God?  I hope that you’ll ask: How can I be more faithful to God?  I hope that you’ll ask: How can I be growing into the generous life that God wants me to have?

Jesus isn’t trying to convince us to follow some rule or requirement. Jesus has a much greater imagination than that.  Jesus has much greater plans for us than that.  Jesus isn’t calling us to get better at math and calculate more precisely what our offering should be.  Jesus is calling us to a life of unbridled generosity in which we are willing to part with everything for his kingdom.   I hope that for you, tithing is a part of that.  If not right now, then something you work toward.  Not because Jesus cares all that much about the percentage points, but because Jesus longs for us to be generous.  And tithing can help lead us to a generous life.

What is tithing?

Tithing–giving ten percent–is a concept that is familiar to many Christians, but for the vast majority of Christians in America, it is not standard practice.  Research reveals that Christians in America, though more affluent than ever before, are giving a smaller percentage of our income to the church and to charitable organizations than ever before.  As a whole, we currently give a smaller percentage of our income to the church than we did at the lowest point of the Great Depression.  Currently, mainline Protestants-Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Methodists-give between 1.0% and 1.1% of total income to the church.  During the Great Depression, we gave 3.4% of total income.  I know all the reasons why folks might not tithe, but the reality is that the vast majority of professing Christians in America do not tithe.

Nonetheless, giving ten percent-a tithe-of one’s total income is indeed the scriptural standard.  It seems pretty simple on its face, but talking about tithing always brings up a whole bunch of questions.  Here are some of the most common ones I hear:

Am I supposed to give 10% to the church?  Or 10% total-to the church and any other religious, spiritual, or charitable organizations that are doing good work?  When the tithe was established, there was no such thing as the church that we know.  The tithe began among the Jewish people, our spiritual ancestors, and the 10% that God instructed them to give was to be given every year to support the priests.  In God’s design, the priestly families hadn’t been given any land, so the tithe of the people was to support the priests, the temple, and the worship of God through the faith community.  The way I read that, and the way I practice it, is that 10% of my total income goes to the church.  Additional support to other worthy organizations-like the colleges we attended, Methodist Children’s home, our conference’s Emerging Leaders Endowment-is over and above that 10%.

Another question I hear fairly often:  Is that 10% pre-tax or post-tax?  A pastor that I know tells the story of how her family began tithing.  Money had always been tight for her and her husband; they had some serious debt; full-time daycare payments-all the bills and stresses about money that you and I know well.  She had a powerful experience that convinced her they needed to get their spending under control and start tithing.  They didn’t know how it was going to work out exactly, but they were convinced and they just started giving 10% of each paycheck to the church she served.

They needed help making a plan for the future, so they enlisted a financial planner to assist them.  The financial planner arrived at their home with a folder full of plans about what a young family should be thinking about: saving for college, retirement, and life insurance.  He looked at their pay stubs, their credit card bills, and then asked about charitable giving.  This pastor was worried to tell him about their tithing plans, because having seen their financial situation, she was pretty sure he would point out that charitable giving made no sense right now.  Instead, the planner responded, “Is that ten percent before or after taxes?”  “After taxes, of course.  We’re religious, but we’re not crazy.”  “Well, that’s fine,” he said, “If all you want is an after-tax blessing.”

So pre-tax or post-tax?  Well, that’s a decision we have to make, but what I know is that when tithe pre-tax, we give more to God.  When we tithe post-tax, we give less to God.

A final question that I often hear about tithing: Isn’t the tithe an Old Testament concept?  Aren’t we free from those rules and regulations?  It’s true that Jesus never talks about the tithe.  He never asks or instructs anyone to give 10%.  Maybe that’s because tithing was assumed in that culture-standard practice.  I actually think that Jesus never talks about the tithe, because he wouldn’t ask his followers for something so small.  Following Jesus requires radical sacrifice.  When we say yes to Jesus’ leading in our lives, it’s an all-in sort of thing-not two percent or ten percent, not pre-tax or post-tax.  It’s all that we have and all that we are.  When Jesus visits Zaccheus, Zaccheus says that he will give half of his possessions to the poor.  Jesus says good job.  When Jesus encounters a rich young ruler, he says, “Sell all you have and give it to the poor.”  Jesus doesn’t talk about the tithe-10%-Jesus talks about fifty percent, one hundred percent.

A number of months ago, I heard a man tell the story of the connection between faith and money in his own life.  When he was a boy, his father taught him to tithe.  Every time he got an allowance or made money doing chores around the neighborhood, ten percent went into a jar that they would take to church as an offering.  Years later, after the man was grown, he was talking with his father one day, with understandable pride in his voice, he said to his father, “Dad, you taught me to tithe when I was a little boy, and I want you to know that I have tithed every year since then.  Even to this day, 10% of every paycheck goes to the church.”  And his dad looked at him a little puzzled and said, “Oh, son, that’s just where we start.  I thought for sure you would be giving more than that by now.