TN116 Global mission giving

First published on this website in August 2019 and last updated in August 2023

Synopsis

Christ’s final command to us was to go into all the world. These notes assume your church believes it is right to support worldwide Christian work and lists what and who to support and how you might organise this.

There is a list of seven ideas for different kinds of global work you might give to.

• Christian mission agencies
• individual mission workers
• specific worker within a society
• Global South projects
• global relief work
• link church or diocese
• child sponsorship.

The notes then give a second list of seven ways to organise such giving. These include direct giving to individuals, earmarked funds to a society, a percentage of a church’s general fund income, a percentage of project giving, and others. The challenge is to see whether you might broaden your present range.

There are then specific issues to consider whatever choices you make, the right context of teaching and prayer, and the idea of appointing a ‘mission champion’.

Helpful comments received from a mission agency Operations Director about the growing idea to see mission in terms of 'from all to all'. The need in future may not be so much for the UK Church to send mission workers abroad but to support local nationals - though without creating a culture of dependence. This raises issues of trust and accountability. Such thinking goes much wider than these Training Notes but opens a new context for mission strategy and, therefore, financial practice.

These notes were updated in August 2023 with minor amendments.