Year of Jubilee celebration underway
From the office of President Mark Schroeder
During the months of November and December, congregations throughout the synod are participating in the Year of Jubilee celebration and offering. This effort, you'll remember, is the result of a resolution passed overwhelmingly at the last synod convention. The intent was that congregations and individuals would unite in an effort to eliminate or significantly reduce the synod's debt—resulting largely from capital expenses. The underlying motive was not simply to "get the synod out of debt." Rather, the offering was to be an opportunity for all of us to respond to God's grace with our gifts, and through the reduction of the debt to make additional resources available for expanding our mission efforts and maintaining our ministerial schools.
This effort was not something proposed by synodical leadership; rather, it came from the convention delegates themselves. The idea was to give every congregation the opportunity to share in this effort in its own way and in keeping with its own time schedule. For that reason, the plans were kept simple and congregations were given several different options for carrying out the offering. Some congregations immediately chose a congregational goal and made a commitment. Others chose to have the amount of the offering determined by the amount of the gifts received. Some congregations chose a one-Sunday emphasis; others carried out the Jubilee theme over four or more weeks.
To keep costs to a minimum, the printed resources for the Year of Jubilee celebration were developed "in house" rather than by outside professionals. Congregations were provided with those materials and were invited to carry out the effort in whatever way that worked best for them.
The Jubilee DVD that was made available was developed by the synod's Communication Services with the help of the same production company that produces WELS Connection. The intent of the video was not to provide detailed financial information, explanations of the size and nature of the debt, or an outright appeal for gifts. Rather, the video shows the very personal story of one man and how the Holy Spirit, through the gospel ministry supported by our synod, brought him to know his Savior and changed his life. The message of the video is that our task of spreading the gospel is centered on people—people who need to know their Savior and whose life may also be changed by the gospel as we carry out our mission as a synod.
As the Jubilee offering continues, please ask God to use the gifts we bring for the good of his kingdom and for the spreading of his gospel to more and more people. And as you offer those prayers of request, remember to include prayers of thanks to God for the greatest blessing of all, the blessing of new life in his Son Jesus Christ.
Serving in Christ,
Mark Schroeder
Filed Under: Christian Giving, donation, Finance, gift, jubilee, Year of Jubilee
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