Sample Letters to Accompany Quarterly Giving Statement

SAMPLE LETTERS TO ACCOMPANY QUARTERLY GIVING STATEMENT

Elements to consider including in your pastoral letter:

 Appreciation

 Check your records

 Success story

 Statistic

 Your personal commitment to your work

 Your personal commitment to tithing

 The strength & stability of the church

 Mission/Passion/Vision of the church

 Options for giving

 Bible verse on giving.

SAMPLE LETTER 1

Dear xxx:

Enclosed is your giving statement year-to-date. We want to make sure our record keeping is correct. Please examine it to be sure it is accurate. Let us know if anything needs to be updated.

Thank-you for giving! One of the disciplines which disciples of Jesus practice is giving. Your generosity to put God’s tithes and offerings first shows how important He is in your life.

Zig Ziglar said that money is not the most important thing in life, but its right up there with oxygen! Money is not the most important thing to our church, but without it, fewer missionaries are sent, fewer people hear about Jesus, and fewer ministries are done.

Just this past Sunday, our children & grandchildren learned about obeying God from the Bible story of Noah and the Ark. Your tithes and offerings provided our volunteers good Sunday School material so they can creatively teach God’s word to our kids. Thanks for giving!

As your pastor, I want you to know of my commitment to serve this church and be available. Since I was a child I have consistently practiced giving more than 10% of my total income to my church. I do this joyfully. God consistently meets my needs. We are so glad our church is financial stable, but so much more could be done. With only about 20% of our members actually tithing (giving 10% of their income) then the church operates on only 1/5th of its potential.

We are on a mission for God, literally! What could we be more passionate about than to see more people go to heaven and less people go to hell? We BELIEVE Jesus is the only way to heaven. We BELIEVE we are called to live out Jesus 24/7. We BELIEVE the Bible is totally true. We BELIEVE the gospel is a lifestyle, not just a story. We BELIEVE God is in the life-changing business!

Jesus said, “Give … For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38 NIV)

Gladly Serving Jesus,

SAMPLE LETTER 2

Dear xxx:

Thank-you so much for your support of Christ’s call to our church: to fellowship with each other, to help each other grow spiritually, to serve each other, to tell others about Christ here and around the world, and to worship our Lord together each Sunday.

Just last summer a teenager, Jim, who received a scholarship to go to camp, was saved and baptized. His life is different now because of your generous and joyful giving which made the scholarship possible.

It’s a joy leading our church to accomplish God’s mission: To share the love of Jesus. You and I do this using our unique gifts, talents, & skills to point more people to Jesus. You financially support ministry through giving tithes and offerings.

Be assured, your pastor, ministerial staff, and support staff are committed to making an impact in the Kingdom of God. Our desire is to serve Christ by serving you.

Your church is financially stable! But we can do more. Like a ship on a mission for the King, we are determined to carry out that mission with all its risks and rewards.

Enclosed is your giving statement for the past quarter. Please check it to be sure it is accurate. We want to do everything with integrity. If you inadvertently missed giving your regular tithe and offering, please feel free to mail it or drop it by the church.

THANK-YOU FOR GIVING!

God bless you and yours in honoring our Lord Jesus,

SAMPLE LETTER 3

Dear Church Member: What a great privilege we have to serve our Lord here at First Baptist Church. As your pastor, I count it a wonderful blessing to work with you as we strive to be the church on mission that God wants us to be.

You will be blessed by the testimony of one our Sunday School teachers who recently had the privilege of leading a young boy to Christ. He expressed great appreciation for the privilege of serving our Lord through First Baptist Church; and he was very grateful for the wonderful literature the church furnishes for our boys and girls. The plan of salvation is printed in the literature; and he was able to use that material as he talked with this young boy. You were part of that experience because of your faithful giving.

Also, recently our youth participated in a mission trip. You supported this effort because of your gifts to the Lord through our church. On this mission trip, forty-two people accepted Christ. Needless to say, our young people were really fired up when they returned. I pray that this let you know that your contributions to the Lord are really having great impact and results for Kingdom work.

Your quarterly statement of contributions is enclosed. I just want to say “thank you” for your gifts. Your gifts along with the other members enables First Baptist Church to be on mission in our city, our state and around the world.

Please check the statement of contributions for accuracy. If you think there is an error, please contact the financial secretary as soon as possible. She will work with you to make sure that your statement is accurate.

As we continue through the year, I pray that we will always be faithful in our giving in order that many more people will come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior and many can continue to be discipled to follow the Lord’s will for their lives.

Please feel free to call or email me personally if I can be of service to you.

Sincerely,

SAMPLE LETTER 4

Dear ______,

As your pastor, I think it is important to say thank you as often as possible to the members of this church who give sacrificially of their time, talents, and resources. The ministries of this church would not and could not operate without you. Thank you for being faithful to take part in the work God has given our church to do in our community and to the ends of the earth. Enclosed with this letter, you will find your quarterly giving statement. Please take a moment to review it for accuracy. If you find that we have not credited a contribution, please contact the church office, and we will send you a corrected statement as soon as possible. If you discover that you inadvertently forgot to give, we have enclosed an offering envelope with this letter. Feel free to mail it in, drop it by the church office, or just add it to your next offering. I can’t count the number of times I’ve gotten busy on Sunday morning and had to give my tithe and offering to the secretary on Monday. Your church staff takes the responsibility of stewardship very seriously. We strive to maximize the potential of every dollar given by the members of this church and community to further impact our world for the Kingdom work God has called us to do. Therefore, with each contribution statement you receive, I will include at least one example of how your giving has impacted the life of a real person.

Each summer our budgeted funds enable our students to go on a mission trip. This past summer, the students that went worked with the homeless in Dallas. They did street witnessing and assisted with a food kitchen started by a church in an area of Dallas with a large concentration of homeless. Not only were six people saved by God’s grace, but our students were bitten by the bug of social consciousness and Sarah Smith’s senior project is to raise one thousand dollars to minister to the homeless right here in Sherwood.

You are a part of that! Because you are willing to support this church financially, lives have been changed in Dallas, and right here among the students in our own church. These students will further impact lives right here in our own community as they have begun looking for ways to minister to the homeless living in our own back yard. Many of their ministry ideas will be funded by our church, by the dollars you willingly place week after week in our offering plate or online.

I have discovered a simple truth about ministry. No money means no ministry. More money means more ministry. God will certainly provide for us in the areas of ministry into which He guides us, and He provides the money for ministry through the members of His body, the church.

Thanks again for taking part in the life changing ministry of our church! My prayer is that as a church we will do all we do for His glory! Have a blessed day!

In Christ Alone,