Give
Your gift helps us glorify God, make disciples, and serve others in the name of Christ. All donations are tax-deductible. Thank you!
Ways to Give
On Sundays
Place a check or cash gift in the offering box located on our welcome table. To receive appropriate documentation for tax purposes, please make sure your name and address are correct on your check. Cash may also be placed in an envelope you provide with your name and address if you would like tax documentation.
Online
Make a one-time gift or set up recurring giving securely online.
By Mail
Give by mail, either personally or via your bank’s online bill pay feature, to:
South Durham Church
PO Box 1630
Durham, NC 27702
Through Your Brokerage Account
Contact office@southdurham.org.
Stewardship
One word the Bible uses for Christians is “steward”. A steward is a person who manages something that belongs to someone else, in accordance with the owner’s will.
Christians are to steward the gospel message (1 Corinthians 4:1-2) as well as their own talents and gifts (1 Peter 4:10). The Bible tells us, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price,” the price of God’s own Son (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 8:32).
In recognizing this, we see that nothing we have is ours, but all belongs to Christ. Therefore, we are stewards of the financial resources God has entrusted to each of us.
At South Durham Church, we desire to help every disciple grow in his or her understanding of the theology of money and practical ways of stewarding financial resources well.
Common Questions About Giving
-
Generous, cheerful giving, done in faith, increases our faith, our joy, and our righteousness. Jesus taught, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).
Giving back to God from what He has given us moves our heart toward Him and His mission in the world. In doing so, we “lay up for [ourselves] treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20).
We are constantly tempted to worship money. In it, we look for security, peace, and hope. Generous financial giving to God’s church helps to free us from idolatry and fix our eyes on Christ.
-
In the Bible, 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
In the Old Testament, God’s people were subject to a number of tithes, meaning 10%. There were tithes for the support of the priests and the use of the temple, and tithes to provide a safety net for the poor.
As Christians living on this side of the cross, however, we are no longer under law, but under grace. The example of the early church is that they gave “according to their means…and beyond their means, of their own accord” (2 Corinthians 8:3).
We teach all members to set 10% of income as a recommended minimum goal for their regular offerings, and to give above and beyond that as God leads and as gives them joy.
-
We recommend that the majority of your giving go to your church home. The reason is that in the New Testament, the examples we see of giving all happen in the context of a local church. In addition, the church is the only non-profit organization that consistently sends money out to other organizations.
Each act of giving is an act of worship to God. Allocate your money, therefore, in response to God’s grace, in prayer, and in the accountability of other Christians you trust.
-
There are times when giving 10% is not feasible. We would encourage you to set a lower goal for regular giving with an eye toward moving up to 10% as you are able. Generous giving is sacrificial and costly, and regular giving requires good planning and healthy financial discipline.
-
At South Durham, we strive for financial transparency. At each quarterly member meeting, we present a financial report to the congregation showing budgeted and actual expenses in each budget category. For a copy of the most recent report, please contact our bookkeeper.