Treasurer Talk  - Sunday, November 8, 2026

Hello Bethany members and guests.  My name is Richard Tatara and I volunteer as the elected Treasurer of the congregation. We go out of our way NOT to talk a lot about money around here—since the Gospel is free—but we HAVE to talk about it every now and then so that this congregation can continue operating faithfully and smoothly.

Every Sunday and throughout the week, the joyful gospel of Christ-crucified is delivered to all who gather here in our Church and School. Because of that, we get to rejoice every day in the comfort of sins forgiven and eternal life won on the cross for us. One way that joy is expressed is in our generosity toward others in this world, including our generosity sharing our time, talent and wealth with our church. Through your regular giving, we are able to maintain our facilities and ministries, and improve upon our ability to serve the saints of Bethany.

Giving is always done in freedom and comes in many forms. For some, periodic large gifts may give them the most joy, such as gifts from a Donor Advised Fund or a Qualified Charitable Distribution from an IRA. For most members, great joy can be found in supporting our congregation financially with regular giving in joyful response to what God has given you.  If you might not give currently, I’d like to encourage you simply to start now—at any amount. After a few weeks or months you can reevaluate how this is working out and consider if you have more giving capacity available than you first thought—but just get started— sharing in the joy of supporting our Lord’s Gospel here at Bethany.

There is a QR code in the bulletin and on the cards we have in the back of the sanctuary today to lead you to our preferred giving tool, Vanco Mobile. Other members who previously have used the Subsplash tool can continue using that tool, but we encourage you to switch to the Vanco Mobile tool because it will reduce our fees.

In just a few more weeks, we will further enhance our joy when the new organ project completes.  We encourage those who made a pledge toward the cost of this instrument to complete their pledges before the end of the year if possible.

Finally, as we approach the holidays, we want to remind you of the additional ways to express your generosity by your support of our giving trees, as well as the many other ways you can be generous to those in need in your community.

Thank you for your generosity and support of Bethany, and please find me after services if you have questions or need more information on giving strategies.