When Zionsville Presbyterian Church in Indiana found itself in the enviable position of having a financial surplus at the end of a recent year, they faced a seemingly simple question: What to do with the extra?

They could tuck it away in a reserve account for future years when times might be lean. They could make capital improvements to the church campus, such as upgrade HVAC units or repair siding or sidewalks. Or, they could ask the congregation for ideas – which is what they did.

“Zionsville Presbyterian Church has talked about the importance of generosity for many years,” said Rev. Jerry Deck, Pastor of Zionsville Presbyterian Church, which is located north of Indianapolis.

“We have a generosity team whose role is to remind the congregation of the gift it is to give in order be a part of what God is doing in our community and our world. We give around 22 percent of our operating budget to mission every year. It was around this time that we had an end-of-life gift that helped us pay off our mortgage, which then freed up our budget in beautiful ways,” he said.

“When we realized we were going to have a surplus, one of our elders courageously suggested that we give some of these gifts away,” Deck said. “We decided that we would give away 50 percent of the surplus.

“We knew that we could give a bunch of smaller gifts with the surplus, or we could just choose one or two recipients and have a larger impact. We chose the latter as we thought this would be helpful with communication and would allow us to see more clearly the difference our gifts made.

“We gave half of it to a prison ministry in the Indianapolis area, and we gave half to help build a retreat center for the Presbyterian Church in Syria. We wanted to give half to a local ministry and half to an international ministry,” Deck said.

Sharing the surplus directly with the community builds a deeper relationship with the community. Zionsville Presbyterian became even better known as a key partner with local non-profits and community organizations. In short, they helped their immediate neighbors – but also contributed to the international ministry.

Pinnacle Presbyterian in Scottsdale, Arizona, found similar good fortune when donors underwrote the costs of two concerts, enabling the church to use money collected at the concerts as “surplus.”

“We (were) thrilled to share that a check for $5,000 will be sent to Habitat for Humanity’s Veteran programs in Maricopa County. Habitat for Humanity is one of Pinnacle’s first mission partners, and it is a great joy to support their programs for Veterans in this way,” said Rev. Erik Khoobyarian, senior pastor, in a newsletter to the congregation.

Then, in December, an anonymous donor sponsored the Celebration of Christmas concert, “enabling us to invite concertgoers to contribute to a special collection for those who are food-insecure in the Valley. I’m pleased to share that we will be sending $30,000 to our mission partners at Andre House, which provides daily meals to the unhoused,” he shared.

Sharing a surplus, and sharing the opportunity and obligation with the congregation, helps build new bridges across church membership and the community.

“My favorite story might be that a man who had just started worship with us came up to me and said that the previous week he had, for the first time, given some money (in the offering),” Rev. Deck at Zionsville Presbyterian said.

“He wondered if that meant that some of his money had gone toward these two ministries. I told him that yes, that was exactly what that meant. I could see the joy in his eyes when he realized that he was now a part of something much larger than himself.”

Both of these stories of impact show how congregations can support mission and ministry both in their community and around the world. Sharing these stories inspires members of your congregation to continue to support your church, knowing that the good the church does extends far beyond the church walls. It also shows that the church is accountable for gifts given and transparent about how those gifts are used.