I'm clearly not very effective. Every church I have served has sooner or later -- and often both -- bumped up against the hard reality of financial limitations. Our missional aspirations outpace our fiduciary obligations. We tighten our belts, we eliminate staff, we do more of the cleaning ourselves; chastened, we rein in our field of vision.
We are in good company. Every non-profit I know -- food pantries, counseling services, after school programs, emergency assistance agencies -- struggles to navigate the monthly journey from hand to mouth -- often failing in the endeavor. Non-governmental Organizations working in war-torn or draught-stricken or AIDS-crippled or hurricane-bludgeoned regions experience the same: too much to do; not enough with which to do it. An abundance of" will"; a scarcity of "way."
I ponder that sad and perennial reality as I read the report in today's Wall Street Journal about political fundraising. The first quarter reports are beginning to trickle in from Presidential candidates, and so far the indications are that the candidates are doing well. There are many more to be released, but what we know so far is that Hillary Clinton has set a record for early fundraising, taking in $26 million in the first three months of the year (and hopes to raise $70 million by year's end). John Edwards, while financially far behind, has nonetheless recorded more than $14 million in the same 3-month period, and Bill Richardson has drawn a respectable $6 million. We haven't yet heard from Barak Obama, but his campaign hopes to raise between $15 and $20 million. On the Republican side, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani each hopes to raise about $20 million. Assuming they are all successful, that amounts to $126 million raised in three months. Pretty soon, to paraphrase the late Senator Dirksen, you are talking about real money.
I don't begrudge the candidates their "war chests." I suppose I have different feelings about those who have filled them. Think of all the other things that we, as a people, could do with that money -- even a tithe of it.
We have evolved an odd set of financial priorities. Which is to say that I'll have a hard time nodding my head the next time someone -- a politician, a Board member, a congregant -- tells me "we just don't have enough money." The truth is, we have plenty of money. We just have some screwy ideas about where to put it.
We are in good company. Every non-profit I know -- food pantries, counseling services, after school programs, emergency assistance agencies -- struggles to navigate the monthly journey from hand to mouth -- often failing in the endeavor. Non-governmental Organizations working in war-torn or draught-stricken or AIDS-crippled or hurricane-bludgeoned regions experience the same: too much to do; not enough with which to do it. An abundance of" will"; a scarcity of "way."
I ponder that sad and perennial reality as I read the report in today's Wall Street Journal about political fundraising. The first quarter reports are beginning to trickle in from Presidential candidates, and so far the indications are that the candidates are doing well. There are many more to be released, but what we know so far is that Hillary Clinton has set a record for early fundraising, taking in $26 million in the first three months of the year (and hopes to raise $70 million by year's end). John Edwards, while financially far behind, has nonetheless recorded more than $14 million in the same 3-month period, and Bill Richardson has drawn a respectable $6 million. We haven't yet heard from Barak Obama, but his campaign hopes to raise between $15 and $20 million. On the Republican side, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani each hopes to raise about $20 million. Assuming they are all successful, that amounts to $126 million raised in three months. Pretty soon, to paraphrase the late Senator Dirksen, you are talking about real money.
I don't begrudge the candidates their "war chests." I suppose I have different feelings about those who have filled them. Think of all the other things that we, as a people, could do with that money -- even a tithe of it.
We have evolved an odd set of financial priorities. Which is to say that I'll have a hard time nodding my head the next time someone -- a politician, a Board member, a congregant -- tells me "we just don't have enough money." The truth is, we have plenty of money. We just have some screwy ideas about where to put it.
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