Giving @ HRAC

I want to recognize that for many who are new to the life of Hood River Alliance Church they may not be familiar with some of the different ways available to give, or be aware of different accounts that we have the ability to give to, or even know who helps steward the funds that are given. So, I’d like to take a moment to talk about those things.

First – why do we give? At Hood River Alliance Church, we believe that tithing is part of how we choose to be fully engaged in the life and mission of Jesus. Cheerful and sacrificial financial giving is a way we respond to God in worship as King with every area of our lives. Through giving to our local church family God shapes us to be more like him: generous and invested in the redemption of our city and world. God uses our gifts to help people follow Jesus and to meet real needs. Every gift is an act of worship and is stewarded as such. On a really tangible level – it gives us the ability to build a budget year to year to support the work of ministry that happens at HRAC.

WAYS TO GIVE:

  • SUNDAY SERVICE: When we gather together on Sunday mornings, we invite you to leave a gift in the ‘Giving Boxes’ that are located on the walls by each of the sanctuary doors. Checks can also be mailed to: Hood River Alliance Church – 2650 Montello Avenue – Hood River, OR 97031.

  • ONLINE: Gives you the ability to make a one time gift, or to set up a recurring donation. This is a great option to set your giving and have it happen automatically. This is found HERE on our church website.

  • TEXT-TO-GIVE: Text any dollar amount to 84321 to enroll in this and give at any time.

  • PLANNED GIVING: If you’d like to know more about planned giving – you can find that HERE.

EXPLANATION OF ACCOUNTS:

  • General Fund: The account that funds the budget for our day to day operations.

  • Great Commission Fund: This is a national fund that provides for the needs of more than 700 missionaries oversees as well as CAMA services which is the relief and development arm of the Christian and Missionary Alliance.

  • Building Fund: Resources specified for the building fund will be set aside to be used for large capital expenditures related to the maintenance or remodeling of current buildings/grounds or for new construction. Use of these funds must be approved by the governing board.

  • Benevolence or Special Funds: At different times throughout the life of the church, we will have opportunities to give towards special circumstances that we want to bless. This could be things like the ‘Rock Valley Flood’ we discussed earlier (or any other specific needs we see in the church or community), raising funds to support student scholarship to camps, or joining in giving towards church-wide initiatives like ‘Advent Conspiracy’.

FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING: When it comes to financial planning, budget preparation, and decision making - Hood River Alliance has three specific teams that we lean into.

  • GOVERNING TEAM & STAFF: The team tasked with receiving and stewarding the funds ultimately rests with our Governing Team. They are involved in discussions and approval of an annual budget and all ministry spending. The staff, as our on the ground day-to-day leaders, use great discernment and intentionality in their ministry spending – following a spending policy that our Governing Team has implemented.

  • FINANCIAL ADVISORY BOARD (FAB): Financial discussions are an important part of any healthy entity, so our Governing Team has a specific ‘ad-hoc’ team that meets regularly to help provide insight, guidance and recommendations. That team is known as the ‘Financial Advisory Board’ (FAB) – and is led by our treasurer and Lead Pastor.

  • FACILITIES PLANNING TEAM: We are in the process of forming this new team to be focused on helping to oversee the needs of our physical church facility. This included assessing the useful life of different aspects of the building (roof, heating/cooling units, etc.) and providing some recommendations on what items should be addressed in the annual budget, and what items should be considered for additional spending, and what items might we need to consider capital campaigns for. This team will also carry the work of ‘looking forward’ for HRAC and what facility needs we anticipate as we move into the future.