# If you're church got 500,000 dollars overnight



## Pergamum (Jun 12, 2008)

How would you spend it?

Whart would you do with it?



Secondary question:


IF you would spend it on missions, what sort of missions, places, peoples and missionaries would you prioritize? And how would you do this?



P.S. the wealthy widow of Mr. Barrister in Nigeria has the money waiting...


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Jun 12, 2008)

I would set up a foundation that would hand out grants to small congregations to help pay full-time ministers for churches that cannot usually afford one.


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## raekwon (Jun 12, 2008)

Plant more churches throughout the city.
(This is also the answer to the Missions question. Our city is our mission field, in desperate need of the Gospel.)


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## py3ak (Jun 12, 2008)

I think it depends on the situation the church is in. Is their minister working full-time because they can't pay him a living wage? Then there is one obvious thing to do. But assuming that the church itself is fine financially, I think I would do the following:

Find a good Reformed person who was planning to go to Iceland and having trouble raising support because of the high cost of living and enable them to get there and settle in.

Fund the publication and wide distribution of a complete metrical Psalter in Spanish. As much as possible send Psalters free of charge to all sorts of congregations in the hopes of sparking an interest in singing the Psalms throughout Latin America. Also fund the translation of actual Puritan and Reformation texts (though a lot is being translated, I think it's true that Piper and MacArthur and such are more translated into Spanish than Perkins or Peter Martyr).

Distribute significant amounts to trusted missionaries with instructions to disburse responsibly as they know of needs.

Contribute to funding the translation of the Bible into the most spoken language still without one.

Set up a fund to assist projects like what TimV was talking about in another thread.

If anything was left over, I'd give some tired servant of God a chance to rest and a nice set of books.


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## Zenas (Jun 12, 2008)

One. Huge. Potluck.


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## Jon Peters (Jun 12, 2008)

Buy a building.


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## Ivan (Jun 12, 2008)

Our congregation needs a building. That amount would do it, but I don't think I'd spend it all on a building. I think we could do with a lot less building right now and build according to need and add on as in the future.

The portion that would be left over would most certainly go to ministries/missions, but I'd have to pray and think a long time with my fellow church members before deciding where to invest it in the Kingdom.


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## NaphtaliPress (Jun 12, 2008)

My current church received this kind of money and is building a gym/classroom extension to the church building, if they can ever get an economic design in this economic environment. In this case, there was not a choice in using the funds (designated gift in memoriam etc.).


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## Presbyterian Deacon (Jun 12, 2008)

Zenas said:


> One. Huge. Potluck.






Building project--add a Christian Ed wing (several classrooms and a dedicated library, ie-- a room that does not double as a Sunday School classroom) to current building.


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## Pergamum (Jun 12, 2008)

THe Iceland thing still intrigues me. Half a million for an Iceland fund is, I think I will concur with Rube, one of my wishes if I ever come into a good chunk...


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## N. Eshelman (Jun 12, 2008)

I know that Davidus has something to say. 

I would purchase a building and set up scholarships for poor sem students. That is supporting the ministry of the future as well.


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## staythecourse (Jun 12, 2008)

I couldn't help but think of this scene. If I was a pastor of a small church and someone bequeathed the money to our church I would have these competing thoughts.

[video=youtube;XIYb_NH3rrQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIYb_NH3rrQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIYb_NH3rrQ[/video]


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## Josiah (Jun 12, 2008)

Either: 

1. I would put give the money to the OPC committee for the Historian towards the effort to build a new OP historical center/Repository Building for the massive ammount of OP church history items that are being stored in WTS PA. Something similar to the PCA historical center.

2. I would give the money to an OP missionary in Uganda (Phil Proctor) for the furtherence of Knox Theological College. Many have enrolled in the college, but there is a need for good concordances, bible commentaries and good reformed/Presbyterian Literature.

3. I would give the money to help my local seminary (Northwest Theological Seminary) to cover travel costs for their recruitment efforts.


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## Amazing Grace (Jun 12, 2008)

Backwoods Presbyterian said:


> I would set up a foundation that would hand out grants to small congregations to help pay full-time ministers for churches that cannot usually afford one.



Let them become tentmakers like Paul!!!

I honestly have a hard time supporting dead congregations. Once they are on life support, I usually vote to pull the plug. God has a plan for all congregations. Nad just like he told Joshua that His servant moses is dead, He also tells congregations the same thing.

That being said, I would start a scholarship fund for people interested in seminary training within the congregation. This way hte unscriptural practice of pastoral search committees importing pastors across the country instead of rasing up leaders within a geographic area would cease for a while.


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## N. Eshelman (Jun 12, 2008)

Amazing Grace said:


> Backwoods Presbyterian said:
> 
> 
> > I would start a scholarship fund for people interested in seminary training within the congregation. This way hte unscriptural practice of pastoral search committees importing pastors across the country instead of rasing up leaders within a geographic area would cease for a while.
> ...


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## staythecourse (Jun 12, 2008)

Amazing Grace said:


> Backwoods Presbyterian said:
> 
> 
> > I would set up a foundation that would hand out grants to small congregations to help pay full-time ministers for churches that cannot usually afford one.
> ...



Yeah, snuff out the wicks. It's more practical and God prefers the bigger and healthier groups as proven again and again in history and Scripture. His pragmatism is worthwhile to note.


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## Amazing Grace (Jun 13, 2008)

staythecourse said:


> Amazing Grace said:
> 
> 
> > Backwoods Presbyterian said:
> ...





Either you heard what I did not say, or I am totally missing the sarcasm and point of this statement. Keeping a dead congregation open by having a full time pastor is far from pragmatic. It is chasing bad money.


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## Amazing Grace (Jun 13, 2008)

nleshelman said:


> Amazing Grace said:
> 
> 
> > Backwoods Presbyterian said:
> ...


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## staythecourse (Jun 13, 2008)

> Either you heard what I did not say, or I am totally missing the sarcasm and point of this statement. Keeping a dead congregation open by having a full time pastor is far from pragmatic. It is chasing bad money.



No one can say what congregation or dead or alive but God.

People meeting to hear sermons and Scripture is a starting point.

A pastor can bring dead men to life by preaching the Word faithfully and accurately.

I have not met a pastor yet who can look across a congregation and pronounce it dead. That would be omniscience. Nor can he look at a group and say it will never live. Faith in one pastor can bring the dead to life and revive those who are almost asleep. Lack of money is one of the lousiest reasons to stop a working for God because he can supply needs to finish his work anywhere, including a seemingly dead church. If a man has faith in something, supernaturally supplied from God above, it can be done and will be done as God can't fail.


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