Contributions
Opportunities for Giving
The Sunday offerings are acts of worship that return to God a portion
of the time, talents or treasures that God has first given us. By giving
to God through Good Shepherd, you strengthen the church's ministries of
social justice and spiritual outreach and reach countless lives. No matter
the amount or type of your gift, giving will increase your joy and deepen
your walk with Christ.
The Noisy Offering
At Good Shepherd we receive two offerings during the Sunday worship service.
The first is just for the fun of it - the gift of loose change collected
in coffee cans, local, national and international ministries beyond Good
Shepherd. Recent recipients have included families in crisis, Laotian
Community ESL, Paws for a Cause, Center for Independent Living, Safe Haven
Ministry, Wings of Mercy, Salvation Army Tsunami Relief, ELCA World Hunger,
Children's After School Assistance, Lutheran Disaster Response Hurricane
Katrina Relief, Community Action House, and our missionary to Slovakia.
The Offering of Our Gifts
Funds collected in the second offering pay for the ministries offered
by Good Shepherd, and we reflect that generosity by donating 15% of every
undesignated or unrestricted contribution to our denomination's state
and national offices for statewide, national and international ministry
and outreach.
Make or Fulfill a Pledge
Pledging increases your commitment to giving, while building Good Shepherd's
foundation and helping the church confidently plan for a vital ministry.
An opportunity to prayerful consider your pledge is offered at the culmination
of our annual stewardship campaign.
Memorial Gift to Honor Another
Make a gift in memory of a loved one. Honor someone on an important occasion
or as a way of expressing your appreciation.
Planned Giving
Discover how to give through wills, bequests, life insurance, life income
plans, retirement gifts, gift annuities, gifts of stock and more. ELCA
link.
Offering Envelopes
For income tax and pledging purposes, offering envelopes are assigned
to all members of Good Shepherd and are available to all others on request.,
at any time, by contacting Carol Ruggles at maggieb62@charter.net or 269-751-4204.
The envelopes are self-addressed for ready mailing to the church, for
those times when you are not able to deposit them in the Sunday collection.
Simply Giving
Simply
Giving is an automated giving program from Thrivent Financial for
Lutherans, designed to help members conveniently, consistently and joyfully
provide financial gifts to their church through electronic funds transfer.
Through Simply Giving, donations are made to Good Shepherd through a pre-authorized
withdrawal from one's bank account. The giver determines the frequency
of their gift - weekly, semiweekly or monthly - and those funds are deposited
on the same day into the congregation's bank account. No fees are charged
for those transactions or for the service. Just think: no more writing
checks...no fees or cost to you...no more remembering to fill out your
weekly church envelope... no more trying to make up for the Sundays you
weren't able to attend. For more information or an enrollment form, contact
Carol Ruggles at 269-751-4204 or maggieb62@charter.net.
Sunday School Offering
To help children learn to help others and develop a solid foundation of
giving, students are provided a box of offering envelopes when they enroll
in Sunday School. The use for those funds is determined by the children
themselves, and they participate directly in the distribution of those
offerings to the ministries they select. Recent donations have included
Christmas gifts for children in the Holland Rescue Mission, and care packages
for those in military service in Iraq.
Gifts in Kind
Contributions of office equipment and supplies for ministry, lightly used,
serviceable furniture and vehicles for members and friends in need, and
building supplies for Habitat for Humanity or Hurricane Katrina Relief
are deeply appreciated. For income tax purposes, you will receive a receipt
documenting the tax deductible value of your material donations.
Meijer Community Rewards
Every time you shop at Meijer you can earn rewards for Good Shepherd through
the Meijer Community Rewards program, which allows our church to earn
cash back on up to 4% of qualified purchases. There is no cost to shoppers.
To sign up contact the church office for an enrollment form, enroll on
line at www.meijer.com/rewards, or, if you have a Meijer credit card,
call 800-962-7011; our code number is 699740. For more info contact Larry
Heckel at 399-8238 or lheckel@chartermi.net.
Printer Cartridges
Good Shepherd receives cash by recycling old printer cartridges through
Cartridge World. Bring your used cartridges to Corpus Christi Sunday morning
and drop them in the yellow recycling container or drop them off at the
church office during office hours, Tuesday-Thursday, 9:00 am-3:00 pm.
