Offering & Budget

How can I financially support the work of the church?

Are you looking to make a one time gift to the church?  Maybe you are looking for an easy way to set and maintain a stewardship goal?  We recommend using our Egiving platform to set up either a one time or recurring gift.  Click here for more information and to begin.

Why do you take up an offering and where does the money go?

Simply put the church is a community of believers who have been given a task by God to carry out - to glorify His name by spreading the gospel, discipling believers and helping others.  To accomplish this community project requires the community to support it.  (See 1st Corinthians 9, 2nd Corinthians 9 & 3rd John 5-8 among others.)

Visitors and guests are not under any obligation to give to the offering.  Church members, including our pastor, are expected to give financially as they feel led in support of the church.  There is no set minimum for someone to give and, with the exception of individuals who request it, we do not track how much one person gives or does not give.

The money taken up in the offering goes to the church and local missions as well as to state, national and international missions.  Our budget is prepared and approved by the members of the church each year. No one can spend church funds without the approval of the church.  A printed copy of the church budget including offerings received and money spent is made available to church members monthly.  An overview of our current budget is given below.

7% of all offerings go to the Cooperative Program (learn more about the Cooperative Program here).  This is the funding program used by Southern Baptists to fund mission and education ministries.  These include six Southern Baptist seminaries, two Tennessee Baptist universities, Baptist Disaster Relief, World Hunger Fund, church plants in North America and missionaries abroad.  This also helps to fund Tennessee Baptist Children's Homes and adult homes for those with special needs, Baptist collegiate ministries and more.

7% of all offerings go to our local baptist association, the CrossNet Baptist Network. This money is used to fund mission and outreach work here at home, including Project Helping Hands which provides food for needy during Thanksgiving and Christmas, Ocoee Outreach which provides low-income home repair in the summer, other services for low-income families in our hometown as well as outreach events.

7% of our church budget is dedicated to ministry, outreach, and education right in the Oak Grove and Taylor communities including Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, benevolence to those in need and other initiatives.

In addition, we also give directly to such organizations as the Gideon's, Baptist Collegiate Ministries, Baptist Children's and adult homes, Teen Challenge and more.

The remaining funds are used to fund the working needs of the church including utilities, insurance, repairs and the salaries of the pastor and custodian.  Our pastor is bivocational which means he works outside of the church to support his family and draws a minimum salary for his work in the church. He is also expected to contribute to the church financially just like any other church member.

If you would like to give online or set up a recurring gift plan then please use the form below.  Thank you.