Why should small churches give to seminaries?
A colleague came to visit me at my office. He had been asked to talk with all the Presbyterian pastors in our geographic area to see if we would add the Theological Education Fund (TEF) to our budget. They wanted each church to give at least 1% to the fund that would be disbursed to our denominational seminaries.
I have always given to my seminary personally, but when I imagined bringing the request to our local church board, I (literally) hit my head on my desk.
“You have to understand. We’re a small church. I’m the pastor, secretary, janitor, and plumber. Last week an elder instructed me on how to put termite poison in the piling foundations (that’s where I drew the line),” I exhaled and continued.
