Well, there is a lot, actually. But in short, the Bible describes God making us into generous people in all areas of our life, including the money we give. He’s moving us out of greed and self-sufficiency into gift-giving people. His desire is for us to be joyful givers of our money, not compulsion-based givers of our money. You can listen to some teaching we did on money here.

We take a physical offering on Sunday mornings by passing baskets. Also, you can give online HERE or through our App (available on GooglePlay & the App Store under Foothills Church Stayton). Both allow for automated, recurring gifts. There are other creative ways to give through your personal banking or by talking to a wealth management advisor.

We currently have 5 full-time and 4 part-time staff. They are listed HERE along with our preschool staff, who are paid through tuition funds.

The money goes into a reserve fund typically used for special projects or ministry efforts. A recent example is when we installed the lift in our building to give better access to our upstairs classrooms. This was paid for out of excess giving.

We have entrusted the elders to lead the church. They (along with the budget team) spend a lot of time thinking, planning and praying over the budget. Next the elders set the budget by presenting it to the church and asking for an “affirmation” of the direction they are leading. We then allow two weeks for people to look over the budget, ask questions, pray about their commitment/pledge and to affirm it.

An elder serves indefinitely, but he is “reaffirmed” each year as part of the whole elder board.

Indefinitely. Our elders who are being “affirmed” each year are technically already voted in from a previous year. They are committing to another year and we are asking the church to affirm them as elders for the next year.

After prayer and discussion, our current elder board first approaches a “future elder” to determine his suitability for the board. Subsequently, the elder board initiates a process known as “elder in training.” During this phase, he is introduced to our church as an elder in training and participates in elder meetings as a non-voting participant. After a trial period of approximately 6-12 months, the “potential elder” is presented to our church for voting by our covenant members.