Funding the Mission

Where your offerings goes, and why to give it

Download bulletin insert   Mission Support budget   Why we give

Why we give?

Our financial generosity is an expression of our love for God, for our neighbor and for ourselves. We are new people in Christ: compassionate and eager to share.

As members of the ELCA, our faith in a loving God frees us to be bold and courageous, open to the Holy Spirit’s invitation to be active in the world.

Mission Support—the portion of our regular offerings that our congregations share with synods and the churchwide organization—unites us in this vital, life-giving work. Mission Support makes it possible for ELCA members from Alaska to the Caribbean to be responsive as one church to exciting new opportunities for ministry.

More than 76 percent of the revenue for churchwide ministries comes from Mission Support. It continues to be the most important source of income for the work of the larger ELCA. Your generosity makes this possible.

Where your offering goes

Your congregation shares a portion of this offering -- called Mission Support -- with the other two expressions of this church. Mission Support is the lifeblood of the work that God does through the ELCA.

In your congregation you support ministry within your congregation and local outreach in your community.

Your synod supports congregations and rostered leaders as they work in their communities and throughout the world.

Your churchwide organization responds to local and worldwide ministry opportunities, helping to feed those who are hungry, train future leaders and advocate for justice on behalf of you neighbors around the globe.

Some Mission Support funds may return to your congregation in the form of grants, services, programs or resources.

To see an example of the good that God does through your giving, take a look at how mission dollars are spent.

In 2010, ELCA members gave $1,830,676,032 in regular offerings to support God's mission and ministry through the three expressions of the ELCA.

		CONGREGATIONS $1,722,217,970 or 94.1 percent remained in congregations to fund local mission and ministries
		SYNODS $55,812,147 or 3.0 percent was shared to support ministries through synods
		CHURCHWIDE MINISTRIES $52,645,915 or 2.9 percent was sent from synods to support churchwide ministries

Read Frequently Asked Questions about Mission Support.

Details at A Financial Expression of Faith.