Giving to JUMC
Do all the good you can, wherever you can, for as long as you can.
The church asks all those being ordained to “teach and model generous Christian giving with a focus on tithing as God’s standard of giving.” Tithing is commonly understood as the giving of one-tenth of one’s income for God. This standard of giving comes from several passages in Scripture (e.g. Genesis 28:10-22). This has the basis that all we are given is a gift from God, so giving back to do His work should be our highest priority, just as we are His.
At Jefferson, our church community would not exist without your generous support. We offer online giving (above), or you may mail or drop off your donation.
The founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley, offered an even higher standard for giving, and for our entire approach to living. It’s found in Wesley’s sermon, “The Use of Money,” which is the foundation of our teaching: “Gain all you can…. save all you can… give all you can.” As he develops each of these points in his sermon, his message is plain. We are to seek to earn all we can in ways that are helpful to ourselves and others, never harmful. We are to “save all we can” by being frugal in our expenses. And then having earned all we can and spent only what we must to care for our own basic needs and those of our family (which we are never to neglect!), we are to give everything else away.
Indeed, Wesley says, “Render unto God, not a tenth, not a third, not half, but all that is God’s.” For some of us, after earning and saving all we can, while caring for our family’s basic needs, there may not be much left over. For others, there may be much, indeed. Whatever that is, we say, give it all!