I love collecting – dare I say I find it almost as fulfilling as leading somone to Christ!The following points aren’t all applicable to Annual Appeal but they are all applicable to local collecting, street stands, pubs etc (which is what I’m really talking about). The points are not in any order of importance.
- Collecting allows me to exercise my responsibility to make my Corps financially self-sufficient. Being on mission support is a little bit like owing your Mother money – if you ring her up and say we’ve bought some new curtains she wants to know why she’s not been paid back first. Financial self-sufficiency gives freedom.
- Also, if my Corps becomes financially self-sufficient I am releasing funds to help other Corps in need of money.
- Collecting takes me into the real world – where I should be. When I collect I am vulnerable, often the subject of abuse (and sometimes praise and thanks). Either way it keeps me on my toes.
- Collecting is evangelism (sometimes verbal evangelism – always presence evangelism). The uniform declares that ‘Mr/Mrs Salvation Army’ is around. (I learnt this from my great friend Alan, who at Ripon, and then North Allerton (and now undoubtedly at Pill) was instantly recognisable to so many in his community as the Salvation Army Officer.
- Collecting gives me a chance to pray – it’s a bit like standing still prayer-walking. I can target certain places and individuals with my prayers. I can pray generally for the Corps and its mission.
- Collecting gives me chance to pay back both God and The Salvation Army for the undeserved generosity they have shown me.
- As a Corps Officer I have some considerable control over how the money I collect is spent and therefore I don’t need to feel guilty that I am collecting under false pretences.
Sometimes I think that if we returned to the principle that we don’t get paid if we don’t raise enough money I think we might prosper more.
The ‘burden’ of fund raising doesn’t distract me from mission it is an integral part of it – hallelujah!
Love and prayers
Andrew
3 comments:
Thanks for the timely reminder Andrew! Personally I don't mind the collecting, its the enveloping that I don't enjoy, and my corps folk demand envelopes!
Still I'm not going to look at it as an opportunity to double prayer-walk an area as I'm collecting the same places as I envelope!
I have to say I really don't enjoy collecting.
But I do welcome the chance to do something practical so that people like Howard http://howardsway1.blogspot.com/
can do what they do.
I also think there is some value in doing something you don't enjoy if it's for a good purpose.
But I'm no good at it.
We went out tonight for just over an hour and I collected less than I earn in an hour. Most people were out. Some were in but didn't come to the door and some came to the door but said "no thank you".
Maybe I'll pray more tomorrow :-)
One of the many good things about being the CO at Dartford is that I have complete control over how the money (which is collected locally)is spent.
Apart from our meetings on a Sunday our hall operates almost exclusively for the community.
We regularly give out food parcels, recently provided a fridge and a washing machine for a lady with mental health problems, a mobile phone (with credit)for a vctim of domestic violence and are in the next few weeks going to start ‘down and out’ breakfasts and a soup run. We have quite a few drunks in the town most of whom I have got to know by name. So I have no qualms about spending public money on keeping the hall open. The few people we have are good givers and I am sure that their giving covers their costs (if that makes sense). However, I agree completely with Howard's point and I am horrified when we are deceptive in our fund raising.
Please be assured that that at Dartford we are very up front about what we spend our money on and we also make it clear to those who donate jumble and at this time of the year harvest goods (we get a lot of that from schools) where their donations go.
At the end of the day at least this way the Dartford public get to fund Dartford whereas mission support comes out national public giving.
Love and prayers
A
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