Giving is the result of understanding what it means to live a life of discipleship – putting God and others first in our lives.

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”  John 15:8

Let Our Light Shine

The 2023 Stewardship Initiative focuses the congregation on Let Our Light Shine. Our centering Bible Scripture is Matthew 5:16 – “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

The “need to give” came to be understood as the most powerful human need of all. Through this need, God himself motivates us to follow the example of Christ, living our faith in sacrificial love, just as Christ gave himself to us.

God blesses each of us with unique gifts, skills and experiences. Discipleship is about sharing these unique gifts, skills and experiences with others just as Christ has shown us.

So then what is stewardship? Simply stated, stewardship is using the gifts God has given us to do the things God calls us to do. Stewardship is discipleship — all we have, all we are, belongs to God. Spiritual benefits of being a good steward are a deepened trust in God; reordering of personal priorities; and experiencing God’s abundance in providing for your needs.

Giving is the result of understanding what it means to live a life of discipleship. It is essential because it involves putting God first in our lives.

In what ways can we put God first? One way is to spend time with God in a daily quiet time with him. Another way to put God first is to trust Him to take care of us. Trusting comes before giving. Sometimes it is easier to trust God for our eternal salvation than it is to trust Him to give us this day our daily bread. However, Christians know that if we trust in God and live according to his will, he will take care of all our needs.

Blessings on your stewardship journey!

Ways to Give

SIMPLY GIVING PROGRAM

Christ the King offers electronic giving which allows you to make donations from either a checking or savings account on a scheduled, automatic basis. If you are writing checks and preparing envelopes every week, you will especially appreciate electronic giving. It is both convenient for you and provides donation consistency for our church.

To set up electronic donations, simply complete a Simply Giving Authorization Form (download & print PDF). Return the completed form to one of the following people:

• Jan Grimshaw, Financial Secretary – Mailbox #7
• Kathy Voerg, Business Manager – Mailbox #114

Once you have signed up for electronic giving, the Financial Secretary will send a letter of acknowledgment of the amount and frequency of the donation. Secure donation services are provided by Vanco Services, LLC. Vanco processes donations for more than 10,000 churches and nonprofit organizations.

PERSONAL BILL PAY SYSTEM

You may elect to use your own bank or credit union bill pay system to provide continual support and donations to Christ the King. This option, allows you to set up a secure method for providing your donations to Christ the King on a regular basis. Each financial institution has their own system for bill pay. However, here are the “best practices” to follow when setting up your bill pay service for Christ the King.

1. Address: When setting up the Payor please specify the following:
   Christ the King Lutheran Church
   1125 Bettis-Tribble Gap Road
   Cumming, GA 30040
2. Account Number: It is best to use your offering envelope number as the account number. This helps CTK to record your giving quickly and effectively.
3. Memo: If you wish to focus your giving on a specific area or ministry, please specify it within the Memo field.

Additional Ways to Give

In addition to the yearly Stewardship Ministry initiative there are some additional opportunities that we have available to give to Christ the King Lutheran Church.

SCRIP PROGRAM

Since 2009 Christ the King has implemented the Scrip Program of selling gift cards in which the church gets a small percentage of each card sold. The money we receive from this program goes directly to mortgage debt reduction. The Scrip table is always in the Fellowship Hall every Sunday from 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. for the purchase of gift cards. There you will find a list of the different gift cards available in the program.

KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM

Whenever you use your Kroger Plus card for Kroger purchases, a percentage is given back to Christ the King, but you need to enroll with the program in order for this to happen. These monies, just like the profits from our Scrip sales goes directly to pay down the principal on the mortgage. Please make sure that you register/verify with “Kroger Community Rewards” with the instructions below.

1. Visit the Kroger Community Rewards web page and follow the online directions
2. Here you can choose the organization you want to support or verify that you have already signed up to support CTK. Search for ‘Christ the King Lutheran Cumming’ and the first choice should be CTK.
4. You can also add/verify CTK to your account through the Kroger app if you use that. Look under ‘Rewards’

THRIVENT DOLLARS

For those who own certain Thrivent Financial products, each year you are asked to designate where you want your “Thrivent Choice Dollars” to go to. Your congregation is one of those organizations that you can designate to receive those funds. For questions about this program, please contact your Thrivent Financial representative.