Temptation is an ever-present threat to our spiritual faithfulness. Even when writing fund appeal letters. Especially fiscal year-end fund appeals!
Here’s what I mean. While preparing to write this letter, I tried to identify the various temptations that I may encounter en route. The following top the list:
To sound more desperate than circumstances actually warrant. This temptation gains strength when I hear some donors report that their normal giving to Western went instead to ministries who “sounded like they needed it more than we did” after they received appeal letters from those organizations using “we’re in a severe crisis” language.
To use a tone that calls into question God’s faithfulness and sufficiency. This temptation is associated with the preceding one. While it is true that God often meets the needs of His people (individually and collectively) through others, sometimes appeals designed to generate donor concern give an impression that He is stingy or weak when it comes to providing for His people. That kind of impression falls far short of glorifying Him (i.e., enhancing His reputation) in all that we say and do.
To adopt a competitive stance towards other ministries. It can also be tempting to talk up one’s ministry by talking down others. This can be subtle and not even name any names, but still reflect a spirit that fails to recognize that genuine believers are ultimately on the same team. Parachurch ministries like Western must also be careful to honor donors’ primary responsibility to their local churches and not compete with them for financial support.
To appeal to carnal motives. Here again pragmatism trumps principle. Certain offers of premiums, public recognition, etc. in exchange for a substantive gift can sometimes look a lot like a bribe that appeals to the fallen part of human nature. Thus, what should be an opportunity for spiritual growth (learning as a faithful steward to give the right amount to the right cause for the right reason) can instead end up being a spiritual set back as carnal considerations prevail over spiritual motivations.
To confuse one’s devotion to God with giving to a particular ministry. Appeal writers may try another form of psychological leverage: to link giving to a particular ministry with spiritual maturity. While faithful stewardship is indeed a sign of such maturity, that faithfulness can manifest itself in a wide variety of ways. Just because you may not value Western’s ministry as much as I do, not supporting it financially doesn’t automatically mean that there is something wrong with your walk with God.
To assume that our ministry should be spared from the effects of the recession. This temptation is especially timely in the current economic climate, and suggests that donors who have already tightened their belts should sustain their generous support of a ministry that refuses to do the same. In one way or another, everyone needs to practice greater frugality in times like these.
There are of course other temptations, but I trust you get my point. As president of a seminary that takes Scripture seriously as a guide for faith and practice, my responsibility in every appeal is to present the opportunity to support Western in a manner that reflects well upon the God we serve by honoring to my best ability the values that He has revealed in His word. Hopefully the rest of this letter meets that goal.
So how is Western doing as we approach the end of our fiscal year on June 30? God has been good to us in these challenging times. We have a fairly good chance of ending this year “even” in our general fund. We will likely have a restricted fund deficit of around $100K, however, due to additional depreciation and scholarships we are providing students. Enrollment remains strong in both head count and quality. Gift revenue is still a bit lower than we would like, but shows signs that it will improve as the economy rebounds. Tight controls on expenses have helped to compensate for that shortfall.
Our plans for the coming months include: (1) implementing our “Gospel-centered transformation” theme; (2) launching an effort to provide tools and resources for churches to help them train their key lay leaders; (3) beginning a partnership with Mt. Hermon Christian Conference Center to provide theological education for their interns and staff; and (4) rolling out the experimental enhanced coaching and mentoring program for some students in our M.Div. and M.A. Specialized Ministry programs. The latter initiative has been partially funded by a generous grant from the M.J. Murdock Trust, which has enabled us to add to our team in part-time roles both Chad Hall as director of coaching and Bill Mounce as a consultant in using technology to deliver theological education (Bill is a world-class Greek teacher and will also be doing some teaching for us). These initiatives and gentlemen will play key roles as we expand the impact of our mission to be a catalyst and resource for spiritual transformation by providing, with and for the church, advanced training for strategic ministry roles. The Lord is obviously blessing our efforts to produce men and women who have confidence in the unique power of the gospel to change lives and competence in applying that gospel to all of life, and for that we are very grateful.
Now here is where you can help. As mentioned above, covering scholarship costs is putting some significant pressure upon an already lean budget. If we cut back on those scholarships, that adds even more to the sacrifice (financial and otherwise) students make to come to Western and adds to the indebtedness that they many carry into their ministry. Few (if any) go into positions that pay well enough to make it easy to pay back student loans. Especially high unemployment rates in areas where Western has campuses also impede their ability to get part-time jobs while attending seminary. Thus, some top-notch students face the prospects of slowing down or delaying their studies; that, in turn, slows down graduation rates and the steady supply of Western graduates who will bring a Gospel-centered theology and heart to strategic ministry roles.
Thank you for prayerfully considering this request. Times are tough, and there are a lot of worthwhile causes out there. But if you share my burden that the Church needs more of the kind of men and women that Western is training, then I trust you will consider joining me in helping to offset a portion of their training costs so they can complete their programs in a timely manner with (at most) manageable debt.
Your co-laborer in Christ,
Randal Roberts
President
P.S. Another way that you could help is to opt to receive Western communications via email. Not only would this save mailing costs, but it would also enable us to include electronic links and multi-media components in our communications. I know, however, that for a variety of reasons some of you prefer traditional mailings of fund appeals, news updates, The Communicator, etc. and we are more than happy to continue those for you. But if you would like to at least experiment with e-versions, please let us know on the response card and include your preferred email address.
