July 1996

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I want to take a few moments to thank you for your generosity and to explain again how the church is using the money you provide. I also need to share with you the urgent need for your consistent financial support.

Our daily mail income average has been slipping and we must maintain or improve this average if we are to continue present (already drastically cut) operations. The daily average will stay up if we all commit to a giving plan and give consistently according to that plan. Dear friends, we do urgently need you to do this. Reports in the current Worldwide News (please take time to read them) give you details on our budget cuts, budget projections and current income needs. Your consistent giving at whatever level God moves you to budget for is so important for church planning.

Our common goal is to serve Jesus Christ, our King and Savior. Everything we do, whether on the job, in the home or in the neighborhood, even the time we give to the local church, is for his honor and glory.

The money we contribute to the church is also for Christ's honor, to further build his kingdom and to proclaim his praises. Not too many years ago, most of the church's income was spent on headquarters operations,2 especially for mass media—television, radio, booklets and magazine circulation. This expenditure was consistent with the goals of the church at that time, primarily giving a warning message about the rise of a European beast power. Less than half the contributions were spent on local church expenses.

Today, by God's grace and mercy, he has directed the goals of the church to be gospel focused—spreading the good news around the world in every place God has scattered us—baptizing believers and teaching everything Jesus has commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). Consistent with this, goals for church expenditures are also quite different from former years. Today, well over half of all expenditures are for the expenses of field churches, in the form of pastoral salaries, hall rentals and other local ministry related expenses. And this percentage will increase.

Even a significant portion of the money that is spent in Pasadena is for the benefit of the local churches. For example, our centralized donation processing means that church areas do not have the local expense of hiring accountants and maintaining complicated, but necessary, records for meeting all government financial requirements. By using a centralized system, the church is able to maintain and audit such operations much more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Another advantage, incidentally, of a centralized financial operation is the ability to spread income from one part of the nation to another. Some church areas contribute enough to cover their expenses, while others do not. If every church area kept its funds locally, many areas would not be able to have full-time pastors. Some would not be able to afford a meeting hall. By pooling our finances, however, more people can be served in more places.

Two other budget categories account for most of our other central expenses: Ambassador University and Plain Truth Ministries. Ambassador University has long been subsidized by the church to serve its young people.3

The church also subsidizes Plain Truth Ministries, which uses the mass media to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in a modern, compelling manner, adding to and supporting the work of individual Christians and local congregations. Every Christian is a witness to the work of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and every congregation should be an evangelistic force in the community. In tandem with these, The Plain Truth and other mass media tools can provide support and instruction to help spark interest and nurture growth. These different aspects of evangelism work together—each plays a role the others do not, and they work together to increase the effectiveness of each other.

Each individual in the body of Christ has a part. Even a child can be an effective witness for Jesus Christ. Through weekly worship services, small group worship and prayer, Bible classes and studies, training classes and seminars, the local congregation is worshiping God and growing in grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. All this is preparation for opportunities to reach out as effective witnesses for the gospel—and preparation to invite and welcome new members to the family of faith.

Friends, as you know, we have a tremendous task in front of us. The job is enormous, and the laborers are few. We really need to hire some more pastors—faithful shepherds who can train and encourage members to use the spiritual gifts God has given them—Spirit -led shepherds who can lead and inspire men, women and children to work together for the kingdom of God. We already have a large number of dedicated and talented pastors who work long hours and are stretched thin with numerous responsibilities. However, as acute as this need is, we are now facing more cuts because giving has fallen. I urge you to read the financial column in The Worldwide News and to prayerfully consider your contributions this month.

Jesus Christ has been wonderfully generous to us. No matter how tight the budget is, God has made the church today a far better place than it was 10, 20 or 30 years ago. I praise the Lord for his patience and mercy—and I thank him for working in you. You see, you make a difference. I thank you for your prayers and for your much needed, steady financial support. We strive to serve you so that we all may serve our Lord and Master.

In Jesus' love,

"I have mentioned before that I would like to return a sizable portion of each person’s contributions to the congregation he or she attends. This idea excites some people so much that they fail to hear what I say next: We can’t do this until after we sell the campus!"

"Friends, we are a church, and we sincerely want headquarters to serve the spiritual needs of our members, rather than thinking that the members exist to serve us."

"Why then would we terminate the employment of a few of our field ministers? The primary reason is that pastors who don’t have the spiritual gifts needed for pastoring are not able to effectively lead the members to faith in Jesus Christ…"

"Jesus warns us about the dangers of greed and about the danger of storing up wealth for self…"

"I do not want to belabor the point, but I want to make it clear. The church does have financial needs. Members do have financial responsibilities toward the church."

"It is no secret that neglect of financial support of the church is often symptomatic of a general neglect of living in Christ."

"We should not lay guilt trips on people…"

"a tithe really ought to be considered a general minimum standard…"

"Are we planning to balance the budget by cutting field ministers? Certainly not."

"I also want to mention that SEP in Orr, Minnesota, and Pasadena will not be cut."

Following is a letter ESN received in 2005:

I am certain that the WCG is planning on downsizing like Hank Hanegraaff did to CRI.  No employees, no benefits--pure profit.  I think they will plug their wares through CRI, and in return CRI gets use of all the "quality equipment" that Herb left behind. --Former WCG member

"Unavailable" Worldwide News– Prior to September 1995 (WCG says their WN's are "not available before September 1995." What is it they don't want others to read? Choice quotes from these "unavailable" Worldwide Newses with comments by ESN.) [Note: The Worldwide News in the United States changed its name in Feb. 2005 to WCG Today in Feb. 2005. In May 2006 it was changed again and is now known as Together.]

Return to top