Faith Promise Giving
What is Faith-Promise giving?
In Faith Promise giving, individual church members--including adults, young people and children--are asked to prayerfully consider what amount of money God may be calling them to give for specific missionaries, projects or agencies as suggested by the congregation (usually through its missions, evangelism or outreach committee). The committment is between the giver and God and stands alongside other church giving commitments.
How does Faith-Promise giving work?
Each church member fills out a commitment card which describes the weekly, monthly or yearly commitment that they wish to carry out. This card is not signed, though it is collected and totaled by the church leadership. This total becomes the congregation’s missions budget for the year. Ordinarily there is a duplicate side of the card which the church member takes home as a reminder of the commitment they made.
Why promote Faith-Promise giving?
Congregations using Faith Promise giving testify that mission awareness and enthusiasm increases significantly, as does the amount of money given towards missionary support. The congregation’s involvement in ministry around the world grows and through it, God is honored.
Why does Faith Promise result in increased giving for missions?
Churches using Faith Promise cite two reasons: First, it seems that missions committees do a better job of informing the congregation about the various missionaries or projects before Faith-Promise commitments are made. Second, church members tend to be more involved and give more when they make personal and prayerful commitments.
Does Faith Promise hurt other church giving?
All the studies show that Faith-Promise missions giving actually enhances other church giving, especially regular budget giving.
How do churches collect their Faith-Promise gifts?
Many churches set aside one Sunday per month as their Missions Sunday or Faith-Promise Sunday. This is also a good Sunday to have a moment for missions awareness, a period of time to inform the congregation of what and whom they are supporting. Some churches prepare special Faith-Promise envelopes which they make available to the congregation. The members put their special offerings into any offering taken. Other churches prepare regular budget envelopes which allow for multiple designations, including Faith-Promise gifts.
Where to Start
- As a committee, decide in advance which missionaries and/or projects you wish to support. Gather up-to-date information from World Missions on these missionaries and/or projects and prepare a handout for the congregation. Check out this sample handout, or request one from your Regional Missions Mobilizer.
- Prepare Faith-Promise giving commitment cards. Check out this sample (feel free to edit it), or request one from your Regional Missions Mobilizer.
- Distribute a Faith-Promise giving packet several weeks before your Faith-Promise Commitment Sunday, including: (1) Enough cards for each member of the whole family; (2) A thorough explanation of the Faith-Promise giving program; (3) Up-to-date information on the missionaries and/or projects your committee is suggesting they support.
- On your Faith-Promise Commitment Sunday, after prayer and further explanation, ask the congregation to complete the commitment cards (have plenty available for those who forgot to bring them from home). Collect the cards and announce the total as soon as possible.
- Keep the congregation informed about the level of giving and the disbursement on a regular basis. Most congregations disburse their missionary support on a quarterly basis.
For more information, contact your Regional Missions Mobilizer or World Missions Development Staff.