Regular offerings are just one of the ways that Pilgrim and her members support Christ’s mission and serve their neighbors. For example, the congregation also collects food and other goods to support Helping Hands of Kilgore. You can read about the congregation’s switch from passing an offering plate to using an Offering Box in the July 2020 issue of the parish newsletter.
Many people are familiar with a mission statement, as such are popular with all sorts of organizations. Such a statement of purpose is intended to guide an organization’s direction and decision-making by giving it an overall goal. With that goal, a mission statement often plays a significant role in strategic planning, as leaders try to anticipate changes in their market and to use human methods to make their organization succeed.
That sense of the word “mission” goes back to what the Bible says about God the Father’s love for the world leading to His giving or sending His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him might have eternal life (John 3:16), but that is where the similarity stops. The Father sent Jesus with the authority to accomplish that good purpose, and Jesus, in turn, sent the disciples turned apostles with the authority to forgive and retain sins (John 20:21-23). The word for “sent” used in the Latin translations of that text is the word that gives us our English word “mission”. The apostles (from the Greek for “sent ones”) then ordained pastors in congregations in specific places along their journeys. Through that pastoral office the Holy Spirit still creates faith when and where God pleases in those who hear His Word. God’s plan of salvation is carried out in ways no person can anticipate, and no human methods change the plan’s success.
Pilgrim Lutheran Church is the product of mission work from Trinity Lutheran Church in Tyler and itself has done similar mission work, planting two other East Texas congregations (see Our History). And, Pilgrim continues to be where some of God’s East Texas sheep come to hear the voice of their Good Shepherd from His called under-shepherd. As those sheep gather around the purely preached Word and the rightly administered Sacraments, they receive the forgiveness of sins from the apostles’ authoritatively sent successors. The “mission” of the sheep is to go and live faithfully in their callings (or vocations). As they do, they show in their words and deeds the love of God in Christ for the world to the people with whom God brings them into contact.
At the same time, the pastor and people of Pilgrim give of the resources that God has entrusted to their stewardship in order to support the work of bringing the Good News of forgiveness by grace through faith in Jesus Christ to the world. Such giving has good Biblical precedents. In the Old Testament, for example, the patriarchs gave one tenth of all they had received to the Lord (Genesis 14:20; 28:22). The people of Israel gave likewise to the Levites (Leviticus 27:30), who in turn gave a tithe of that tithe to the high priest, as to the Lord (Numbers 18:26-32). Such tithing does not justify a person before God, of course, as Jesus makes clear (Luke 18:9-14). Rather, such a tithe is given in thankful appreciation for all that God does for us. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul encouraged the congregations in his care to set aside a sum of money on the first day of every week (Sunday) to give to the church in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem congregation had not only served as the mother church to many others, but at the time it was also plagued by drought and persecution (1 Corinthians 16:1-2). As St. Paul encouraged, Pilgrim Lutheran Church strives both to have its members cheerfully and proportionately give to the work of the local congregation and to have the congregation likewise give to the work of the Church at large (2 Corinthians 8-9).
Pilgrim Lutheran Church not only reaches out directly through its own people and activities, but the congregation also reaches out indirectly by supporting the work of Christ through other agencies. As the book of Acts records the Holy Spirit spreading the Gospel from a single city, to the region and nation, and to the ends of the world (Acts 1:8), so Pilgrim Lutheran Church strives to support the mission work of the Church at large in the Kilgore area, across Texas and the United States, and around the world. However, we do not support any and every mission effort. As the pure preaching of the Gospel and the right administration of the Sacraments are the identifying marks of the Christian Church and the basis for the true unity of the Christian Church, so our Pilgrim congregation does best when it supports mission work that shares its confessional commitment in teaching and practice.
Once, a faithful congregation could send its mission dollars to its District, which forwarded a portion on to the Synod, and trust that the monies would be used to support the purposes for which the District and Synod were established, but that is less the case in our time. Consequently, more recently Pilgrim has redirected portions of its tithe of its unrestricted plate offerings to other agencies that faithfully support those purposes, as indicated in what follows.
- The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod: Pilgrim Lutheran Church gives a portion of its tithe (1% of the plate offerings received or 10% of its mission offering given) directly to The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod was founded in 1847, and now is organized into 35 districts, with The Texas District dating to 1906. The Synod was originally founded in part for conserving and continuing the unity of the true faith and resisting schism and sectarianism, for protecting pastors and congregations as they fulfill their duties, for bringing about the largest possible uniformity in church practice and customs, and for a united effort to extend God’s kingdom and to promote aims such as seminaries, publications, and missionary activities. Sadly, the extent to which monies sent to the Synod support these goals is debatable.
- Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri and Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, Indiana: Since neither of the Synod’s two seminaries any longer receives significant operational funding from monies given to the Synod that was in part founded to support them, the seminaries have increasingly come to rely on direct donations. As a result, Pilgrim Lutheran Church gives a portion of its tithe (2% of the plate offerings received or 20% of its mission offering given) to the two seminaries of the LCMS (each seminary receives 1% of the plate offerings received or 10% of the congregation’s mission offering given). God works through both institutions, with their world-renowned faculties, to provide His Church with faithful pastors and deaconesses. In recent years, under new leaders, hopes have been revived for Concordia Seminary in St. Louis to be more faithful.
- Luther Classical College: As the diminishing number of individual universities in the LCMS’s Concordia University System struggle to maintain a Lutheran identity, attract Lutheran students, and provide an education that prepares not only Lutheran church workers but also Lutheran laypeople in other professions, Luther Classical College is being built from the ground up in Casper, Wyoming, to be “proudly and unapologetically Lutheran in liturgy, theology, and culture.” As Concordia University-Texas was breaking away from the LCMS in content and governance, Pilgrim’s Voters’ Assembly decided to support an institution of higher education that was truly Lutheran (with 1% of the plate offerings received or 10% of its mission offering given). Expected to open for the Fall semester of 2025, Luther Classical College plans to enroll only Lutheran students, charge tuition of only $8,500/year, and take no federal monies.
- Lutheran Missionary Alliance (no website): Given the Texas District’s abject refusal to plant and support confessional and liturgical mission congregations within its bounds, a number of congregations banded together some time ago to do just that. Lutheran Missionary Alliance has supported a number of faithful congregations around the state, and Pilgrim is convinced that supporting LMA is a faithful way of reaching out to our region. Pilgrim Lutheran Church gives to LMA a portion of its tithe (1% of the plate offerings received or 10% of its mission offering given), and LMA decides which confessional and liturgical mission congregations in Texas to support and how much support to give them.
- The Luther Academy: The Luther Academy promotes genuine, confessional Lutheran theology and research, through conferences, scholarly exchanges, and publications that assist the Church both to preserve and to proclaim to the world the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the only saving faith. While the Luther Academy attempts to cover the cost of its publications through sales and memberships, the organization seeks contributions to support its work overseas, which work could not take place without such contributions. Pilgrim is convinced that supporting the Luther Academy is a faithful way of reaching out to the world. Pilgrim Lutheran Church gives a portion of its tithe (1% of the plate offerings received or 10% of its mission offering given) to the Luther Academy.
- Missionary Pastor James Neuendorf and Deaconess Christel Neuendorf working with the LCMS in Puerto Rico: Since money given to the Missouri Synod does not flow to missionaries in the field but only to the administration of missionaries in the field, Pilgrim has been giving a portion of its tithe (1% of the plate offerings received or 10% of its mission offering given) directly to missionaries in the field whom are known to the congregation or its pastor to be faithful in their missionary efforts. Currently the missionaries are two of those working through the LCMS in Puerto Rico, Rev. James Neuendorf and his wife, Deaconess Christel Neuendorf. In 2019, Pastor Galler was able to visit briefly with the Neuendorfs and see some of their operations in Puerto Rico, when Pastor Galler and his mother were there on vacation visiting their extended family.
- Issues, Etc.:Issues, Etc. is a ten-hour weekly syndicated radio talk show and podcast, hosted by LCMS Pastor Todd Wilken, produced by Jeff Schwarz, featuring expert guests and expansive topics, and extolling Jesus Christ. Issues, Etc., bills itself as a comprehensive source for news, information, and truth. One can listen on-demand at www.issuesetc.org, the Lutheran Public Radio (LPR) mobile application (app), and favorite podcast providers. Pilgrim Lutheran Church gives a portion of its tithe to Issues, Etc. (1% of the plate offerings received or 10% of its mission offering given, more than $500, which $500+ contribution makes Pilgrim an Issues, Etc., 500 congregation, which status makes Pilgrim an “Issues, Etc., sponsoring congregation”, featured on the program’s website and in its produced content).
- Higher Things: Higher Things supports the Church in passing on the faith by teaching the next generation the Gospel of Jesus Christ: that they are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, as revealed in Scripture alone. What began with a few pastors and laypeople’s planning a youth conference designed to be uniquely Lutheran has grown into an organization that has impacted people from more than 1,700 LCMS congregations, striving to keep young people focused on Christ and His gifts (the “higher” things of Colossians 3:1-2) as they grow and mature in their faith. Higher Things “dares” youth to believe the Gospel is for them. Pilgrim Lutheran Church gives a portion of its tithe to Higher Things (1% of the plate offerings received or 10% of its mission offering given).
- Lutherans for Life: Lutherans for Life endeavors to equip Lutherans and their neighbors to be Gospel-motivated voices for life. The organization emphasizes what God has done in Jesus Christ that gives value and dignity to all human life, not only the conceived unborn child but also the aged infirm adult and all those in between who are vulnerable and defenseless. And, the organization recognizes that only the Holy Spirit working through God’s Gospel can change hearts and so change society. Pilgrim not only supports Lutherans for Life (1% of the plate offerings received or 10% of its mission offering given), but it has taught about Life Issues, annually observes Life Sunday, frequently publishes in its bulletin life thoughts about the week’s Readings, and weekly prays for such things as an end to society’s threats against God’s gift of human life.
- Lutheran Heritage Foundation: Lutheran Heritage Foundation is at work in more than 80 countries, translating more than 1,000 titles of good Lutheran books into more than 100 languages, and publishing and distributing more than 3 million copies of those Lutheran books to pastors, seminary students, missionaries and churches in the last decade alone–all at no cost to them. Pilgrim Lutheran Church collects an offering in its Opening of Sunday School and Adult Bible Class that is designated for Lutheran Heritage Foundation and sent to LHF when the funds collected total $500, stemming from a particular LHF appeal in 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation seen as beginning with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther’s publishing his Ninety-Five Theses against the Preachers of Indulgences.
Beyond Pilgrim members’ faithful financial support of the congregation’s local ministry (a portion of which is distributed as described above), members may prayerfully choose to provide additional contributions to the mission efforts of the above or other agencies. In so doing, members are mindful that an agency’s having a formal relationship with the District or Synod is not necessarily an indication of the agency’s faithfulness, just as an agency’s not having a formal relationship with the District or Synod is not necessarily an indication of the agency’s unfaithfulness.
Although Pilgrim does not pay third parties in order to receive online offerings (usually consisting of a subscription fee, transaction fee, and a percentage of the contribution), donors likely can set up a free “bill pay” through their bank or credit union, so that the institution automatically either sends a physical check to Pilgrim or transfers funds electronically. If donors need help setting up such a regular offering, including Pilgrim’s account number, they may email Pilgrim’s Treasurer.
