Generosity is the natural, consistent, and occasionally spontaneous giving of our material possessions to God’s service and to our communities because of what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross. As God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all (Romans 8:32), so our posture toward God and others in response to his love should be one of cheerful sacrifice and generosity.

A steward is a person who has been entrusted with another’s resources and who seeks to manage those resources according to the owner’s vision and values. The gospel calls us to recognize that everything we have is a gift from God and that those gifts are to be used for his glory and to further his Kingdom. Thus, our money is not our money; it is God’s. We are merely stewards of the resources he has given us. 

The Israelites were required to consistently give a tenth (i.e. tithe) of their income to support the ministry and the needs of the poor. (Lev 27:30ff; Num 18:26; Deut 12:17; 14:23ff; 26:12; 2 Chr 31:5f; Neh 10:37; Mal 3:10)

Additionally, God’s people were commanded to leave some of their crops unharvested so that the poor in the community could come and glean (i.e. harvest) the leftovers. (Deut. 24:19-22; The Book of Ruth, a story about King David’s great grandparents who met when Ruth was gleaning.) The practice of gleaning allowed for spontaneous giving on top of the regular tithe.

Also, the Israelites were instructed to bring their first fruits as an offering, which meant that people were giving their offering before they even knew what the whole harvest – their whole income – would be. It was an act of trust. (Deut. 26:1-11)

So, people were called to give consistently (tithe), spontaneously (gleaning), and out of a deep trust in the Lord’s provision (first fruits). We are called to embrace a similar outlook on our finances today. The New Testament teaches that we should give as we are able and even beyond our ability. (2 Corinthians 8:3)

There are seasons in our financial life, but the goal is to give something and to follow God's leading in how much you give over the course of your life. Some people can easily give 10% and perhaps more. For many of us, a lower percentage is a meaningful sacrifice and well worth giving. 

Your gift is an act of personal worship in response to God’s grace and the gift of his Son, and the allocation of your money should be a byproduct of prayer. However, if you consider CCLW to be your home church, you should allocate a significant portion of your tithe and offering to the community where you invest most of your time and where others are investing in you.

It is true that we are called to be good stewards of all that God has given us: money, time, skills, influence, and position. Therefore, generosity and stewardship are about much more, but not less, than our financial resources.

Jesus said where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). Our heart’s inclination is to worship anything other than God. Jesus also said You cannot serve both God and Money (Matthew 6:24). Giving generously to God’s purposes is an investment in keeping our hearts and allegiances in the right place. Our culture defines financial freedom as autonomy gained through material wealth. From a biblical standpoint, the road to financial freedom is paved with trust in God and generosity toward others.

We desire for CCLW to be a church with a generous heart. For that to be true, we must be generous both as individuals and as a church body. To that end, we give away at least 10% of our church's annual income to help people locally and globally, praying that our organizational heart follows our treasure. Visit this page to learn about how we use our financial resources to help other organizations.

The church's finances are handled professionally, prayerfully, and with multiple layers of internal and external accountability. The financial assets of the church are managed and reviewed regularly by the church's Business Manager (staff) as well as the CCLW Leadership Council (made up of mostly nonstaff church members). An external audit is conducted annually. 

The Leadership Council has the following financial responsibilities, as stated in our bylaws:

1) Develop an annual comprehensive financial plan, including financial  stewardship and fund-raising, budget preparation and monitoring, and capital matters.

2) Make recommendations on financial decisions to be made on behalf of the Congregation.

3) Receive and evaluate the annual audit and provide oversight to ensure that any modifications to financial procedures recommended are carefully reviewed and, if appropriate, implemented.

4) Communicate with the Congregation on matters related to Church finances.

5) If requested, collect, count, and prepare the Sunday worship offerings for deposit.

The Church Treasurer, a member of the Leadership Council, has the following responsibilities, as stated in our bylaws: 

1) Ascertain that the Church is using recognized and proper accounting procedures in all areas of its financial bookkeeping.

2) Oversee the fiduciary responsibility to protect the financial assets of the Church.

3) Report to the Leadership Council the financial condition of the Church on a regular basis and at Leadership Council
meetings.

4) Oversee the fiduciary and Internal Audit responsibilities for the Church.

5) Ensure an annual audit is conducted each year and report the results back to the Leadership Council in a timely manner.

6) Act as a full voting member of the Leadership Council.

7) Serve as Chair of the Financial Management Committee.

If you have any financial questions, please contact our Business Manager, Nansi-Lee Cole: nansi@cclw.org