Seguin congregation gives away
$45,000, gets $70,000 in return

By Rachel L. Toalson
Staff Writer
Dale Kane of Seguin never dreamed his idea would work so well.
Around the time last year that Kane was looking for an out-of-the-box stewardship campaign, his church, First UMC, Seguin, received an $80,000 undesignated gift.
Then Kane’s daughter told him about a church in the Northeast that had given money back to the congregation after it had received an unexpected gift. Kane, chair of the First UMC stewardship committee, thought the idea was crazy. But he presented it to the stewardship and finance committees anyway.
Both groups thought it was just crazy enough to try. They would give and, as Luke 6:38 says, expect even more gifts to be given to the church.
In the middle of October, leaders of the 1,422-member congregation handed out more than 400 envelopes that contained a note paper-clipped to a $100 bill. The note told recipients to use the gift as they saw fit.
Kane said the Seguin congregation has received back almost $70,000. He expects to double the $45,000 given out in October.
“We wanted to have a stewardship campaign that would make people talk with their kids and families about what they would do for the church in the following year,” Kane said. “We had so many good stories—children buying shoes for other children in their class, people giving food to the needy.
“It was an eye-opening experience, and it shook up the church.”
Every person who walked through the church doors that October Sunday received an envelope, Kane said, no matter how old. Recipients were free to give the money to the needy, use it themselves or add it to their own “talents” to bless the church.
“It’s like the Oprah Winfrey show, Methodist style,” said the Rev. Terrence Hayes, Victoria District superintendent. “It’s one of the greatest commitments to good stewardship I’ve ever seen. I know that the residual effects of that kind of thing will be given back to them over and over again.”
Church leaders slated Feb. 3 as “Harvest Sunday.” They would collect stories that day from people about where their money had gone and what it had done.
The Rev. Lonnie Phillips, senior pastor of the Seguin congregation, said he’s been hearing incredible stories. Some worshipers gave their money to activities like Heifer Project International or local food banks. Other used it for their rent because they were running short.
The campaign served its purpose well, Kane said.
“It made people think about what they can do for the church and certainly gave them better insight into the cost of running the church,” he said. “The best thing of all was the kids got to be a part of the financial structure. The Sunday schools had a number of conversations about it. It was pretty big news.
“I think that’s the best of all. It became a family program.”