Beckmann is an ELCA pastor serving in various interim and other capacities since her layoff. She lives in Chicago. A version of this article first appeared at
http://mcsletstalk.org/.
Hard times pull to front new ways to consider church’s work By Kim L. Beckmann
O
n Nov. 5, 2009, I joined the ranks of 14 million laid-off Americans. My household’s hastily revised pledge forms, reflect- ing a two-thirds loss of income, resulted in a reduction of $7,000 in undesignated offerings (tithe) to the two congregations my family supports. Then there were the gifts, which suddenly we could no longer afford.
In my example (see box), one per- son entering unemployment in 2009 meant an annual loss of approxi- mately $10,685 in giving/lending to ELCA institutions and ministries. Because my spouse is a rostered
leader, his congregation picked up the additional burden for our health insurance. That resulted in another $3,000, or 3 percent of the budget, drawn from dwindling reserves of a renewing congregation already in a race against time.
Because I happen to be a laid-off rostered leader, Portico Benefit Ser- vices (formerly ELCA Board of Pen- sions) is not accumulating contribu- tions for me that will also be the basis for my 2023 tithe in retirement. All of which brings the economic impact of my layoff to the ELCA closer to $18,000 annually, with a compounding future. I don’t know how many of the millions losing jobs or homes are ELCA Lutherans, tithers and gifters. But this exercise illustrates the effect job loss, housing insecurity, and the sharp decrease in investment and retirement income has had on ELCA budgets across the church’s three interdependent expressions. It’s not difficult to see the necessity for steep reductions in and the loss of: • Personnel in churchwide offices, synods and congregations—dedi- cated, paid expertise to spark, direct,
inspire, administer and support mission/ministry. • Program support—grants or gifts to “goods” such as campus ministries, colleges, seminaries and outdoor ministries that have been considered held in common and sup- ported by all three expressions. • Major cooperative campaigns— reduced in scope to assure our com- mitment to our companion churches and organizations across the nation and globe.
The spiraling effect of the Great Recession and its fallout is clearly illustrated in my study: less offerings given locally, less ability to increase or maintain percentages of mis- sion support, and less mission sup- ported in the ways to which we have become accustomed through dollars and expertise at congregational, syn- odical and national levels. It doesn’t take an economic genius to see how the ELCA as an interdependent organism has been impacted by the ripples and whirl-
pools of economic downturn.
Is it just the economy, really? Perhaps you are tired of the phrase “the perfect storm.” Instead, how about a constellation of events: the 30-year decline in mainline church involvement, the lasting effects of the 2008 recession, and the loss of congregations and the withholding of money due to disagreement with Churchwide Assembly decisions to allow for support of members and rostered leaders of all sexual orienta- tions and gender identities and their families. There’s been interest expressed in determining how much of the decline in mission support and loss of what we have called capacity in all three expressions of the ELCA is “fallout” and how much is the economy. With the interplay of these factors vary- ing so widely across the country, this would be difficult if not impossible to unravel.
What does it look like in your con-
Author’s pre-layoff giving Tithes to two congregations of membership* Gifts in donated pulpit supply Gifts in service to world hunger Seminary
Global mission Building inclusivity
Immigration/border ministries Lutheran campus ministries
Quarterly tax savings in Mission Investment Fund** Total
$7,000 $475 $250 $780 $200 $300 $60
$120 $1,500 $10,685
*Includes a little more than $700 in mission support for the ELCA churchwide organization and Metropolitan Chicago Synod.
**Average available to new mission land/building. SOURCE: KIM L. BECKMANN
For a study guide, see page 26. January 2012 21
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