Let me start with saying I love the local church and believe wholeheartedly in it. I love pastors, I love staff, I love volunteers. This is not a divisive post that references anything negative about the local church. I'm aware staff have families, heavy burdens and could likely make more in the private sector. That out of the way.
“Just to see the impact of what’s possible” — if you are one of the people who give financially to a church, what if we took 20% of what we already give and directed it to an organization that distributed directly to orphans and widows in dire need? Specifically: $1,000 a month attached to the care of each child — both those in foster care and kids waiting for adoption — until age 18, and $500 a month to widows with no family help or support and not enough social security or savings to survive, while they are in that situation.
We could cover all approximately 400,000 kids in foster care and waiting for adoption combined, and the 2,000,000 or less widows in dire need of food, shelter, medicine and basic needs. That would be the best testimony we could ever come up with.
Statistically, between $100–$150 billion is donated to churches in the US annually. Of that, the vast majority is donated by 15% or less of attendees. 20% of $100 billion — the conservative floor of annual US church giving — is $20 billion annually. If we had established foundations dealing directly with these two initiatives, that $20 billion covers both programs and leaves over $3 billion to fund the organizations needed to oversee distribution, combat fraud, and verify need.
This isn't asking anyone to give more. It's asking whether 20 cents of every dollar we already give could find its way directly to a widow eating alone tonight or a child waiting for a family.
That's solving and greatly impacting 2.4 million people in need annually — from the Church, not the government. By not changing anything except where a portion of what we already give actually lands.
I realize this intersects with the current local church model in the US, where the average church needs 70–88% of its giving to pay salaries, buildings, maintenance and repairs. I am also aware this makes the math tight and could slow down building programs, remodels, new AV equipment, etc.
It's just been something I personally have been dealing with and thinking about for years. And having adopted a sibling group of four kids in one day 13 years ago and having taken in a parent who was incontinent for 4 years, I have experienced this firsthand and walked this out.