November
General Superintendent
Max Edwards
26, 2024
Thanksgiving Day is nearly upon us. And we have so very many things to be grateful for. The Lord has showered us with provision, health, grace, and peace. Most of us know nothing of real hardship such as having too little to eat, or harsh and dangerous exposure to the elements. Our European ancestors and early settlers braved those kinds of things intimately.
Most of us have warm and comfortable homes with amply stocked pantries. As we gather with friends and family, or even if we are alone for the holiday, let’s take time to be thankful, and genuinely worship the Lord of Lords for His immeasurable mercy and grace.
The November missions offering this year has a matching donor that has committed to match up to $10,000 of giving from our local churches, and those funds can be received at our HQ office all the way up to December 31st .
I’ve set out to establish a new pattern of missions giving in the EMC, but as I’ve noted, it is an old pattern, with the Spring missions offering being strongly promoted and received at our District Meetings.
For a generation, the EMC has been inviting local churches to participate in a free-will Thanksgiving or November Offering. It has roots in our documents and Discipline. The General Board of World Missions is charged with promoting our annual November Mission Offering. As the Discipline describes it, “… Every local church receives an offering in November for missions. The goal is $10 per member/attendee. This annual offering is distinctly separate from all other mission appeals.” (from ¶1117)
And in a separate section of the calendar entirely, the annual district meetings of the EMC were historically times for gathering a second offering. Prior to 2010, It was in those District meetings that a second denomination-wide missions offering was received, and our history testifies that they were moments in which we saw significant investment in our growing global presence. I know personally that one of our Districts would annually see 10’s of thousands of dollars given to missions, brought in by individuals and local church missions designations.
The Resurrection Offering (or Journey Missions Offering which are one and the same) will be welcomed starting in April of 2025, and I will continue to write about that between now and then. It is my hope that across the four Journey meetings, we will see a total offering from our people and churches that crests the $40,000 dollar mark.