GA2011 DELEGATES: Take Advantage of Tax Advantages

Ted A. Waggoner, Attorney

Former 2nd Vice Moderator

A change to The Design of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), was made to encourage attendance from all congregations. While the decision will increase the number of delegates from some Disciples congregations, it also can make members eligible for certain tax advantages.

Originally, The Design allotted congregations two delegates, and more if the participating membership exceeded 500.

Currently, The Design (par. 41a) provides “Each congregation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) shall be entitled to have two voting representatives, plus one additional voting representative for each 100 participating members or major fraction thereof over the first 100. These voting representatives from congregations shall be in addition to persons holding with standing in the Order of Ministry.”

Do the math

So a congregation with 275 participating members shown in the Yearbook of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) would be entitled to four delegates: two for the first 100, one for the second 100 and one for the major fraction (51+) of the third 100.

Make sure your congregation is taking full advantage of the number of delegates to which it is entitled – and not just so you have more votes in business sessions!

Why does this matter?

There are certain tax advantages that may be available to lay delegates attending the General Assembly.

The IRS will allow deductions for certain out-of-pocket expenses incurred by “chosen representatives” or congregational or regional delegates to the General Assembly. These are outlined in IRS Publication 526 (2010).

For instance, page 5 explains the "Out of Pocket Expenses in Giving Services" such as mileage, lodging and reasonable meals incurred in attending “conventions” away from home (sorry Nashville residents). Charitable mileage is limited to 14 cents a mile for travel.

(These lay delegates are in addition to the folks in your congregation who have standing as clergy. Clergy are automatic delegates. BUT, their tax status falls under business expense rules, which are not covered here.)

Opryland, here I come

The primary purpose of the trip must be the Assembly, but a day of sightseeing does not disqualify the trip. The sightseeing expenses, and expenses for family members who are not delegates are not deductible.

Any expenses paid/reimbursed to the delegate by the congregation or any other group, are not eligible as tax deductions.

To take deductions, you need to itemize them on your federal tax return form 1040. You should keep detailed records of mileage, meals and lodging expenses and discuss the expenses with your tax preparer, or carefully watch for the questions about unreimbursed expenses on the TurboTax or other tax preparation software.

Being a delegate to Assembly has so many advantages!

Cultivate Community

Debbie VanDeventer

North Christian Church, Columbus, IN

It is 90 degrees outside on Memorial Day Sunday. Shouldn’t I be at a family picnic or lounging by a pool or something? What am I doing digging around in the dirt this afternoon in a small yard not far from the church? How did I get myself, my husband, and three of my closest friends into this hot mess?

As I place a baby tomato plant into the newly formed garden bed, I remember a conversation I had with Keith Moore a few years ago concerning church growth. 

“You know,” Keith said, “When North Christian first started, we went around the neighborhood, knocked on doors and invited our neighbors to come to church.”

Inspired by Keith’s comment and by an idea from Tammy Shaw and Karen Whitson, the Evangelism and Nurture Committee made more than 100 candy cane invitations for our Christmas Eve service this year. On a cold December afternoon, several church members – including our youth – hung invitations on door knobs in the neighborhood. I didn’t think that we would get any response, so I was surprised when the church office called and said that one of our neighbors had called to ask for a ride to the Christmas Eve service. That’s how I first met Kenneth.

From our doorsteps

Kenneth lives close to our doorstep. He has been our neighbor for many, many years, but we didn’t know each other. Luke 10 teaches us to get to know our neighbors, really know them, and discover what needs they might have. 

I really didn’t want to get involved in another project but our missional challenge says ... “go forth to cultivate community … from our doorstep..” So, I joined in the Community Garden project this spring, which would take our members and their gardening skills into the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, I kept thinking about Kenneth. I hesitated a bit, then gave him a call. I told him about our project, and asked if we could put a small garden in his yard. After taking a few days to process my request, our neighbor excitedly agreed.

On my knees
So here I am, a few weeks later planting lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, and carrots in an 8-foot-by-30-inch frame filled with an enriched soil mixture. I glance over, and see my fellow Luke 10 cultivators (husband Ed, Debby and Terry Shaw, and Ken Lanteigne) listening to Kenneth’s stories. 

He shares stories of the 1953 green Chevy pickup truck in the garage. Kenneth’s dad bought it brand new and used it when he was building bridges around Columbus. It is still Kenneth’s only form of transportation. We stand in the shade of the limestone house that was his parent’s home. Our 83-year-old neighbor has lived there for many years by himself. Although he takes great pride in his home, it is obvious that it is difficult for him to maintain.

What else does our neighbor need? I sense that his need for community may be greater than his need for the vegetables that will grow here. 

I also sense that Keith Moore was on to something. We do need to knock on a few neighbor’s doors. But this time instead of inviting our neighbors in, perhaps they are inviting us out. 

“To cultivate community from our doorsteps to the ends of the Earth.” I am experiencing firsthand what it must mean to be a Luke 10 missional church.

And it takes my breath away!

TO DO List for General Assembly

As you peruse this handy “To Do” list, simply click the (underlined) links to get to pages where you can learn more... Then come back and finish the list as you prepare for the 2011 General Assembly, Saturday, July 9 through Wednesday, July 13, 2011, Nashville, TN.

1. Register for General Assembly - Get this party started! Find our handy online registration process, where you can register for General Assembly, before you even change out of your jammies for the day.

2. Consider adding a day to your trip to take in the Pre-Events on July 8 and 9

3. Consider adding a lot of days to your trip to take in the Hands-on Mission Opportunities beginning July 6 in Nashville.

4. Make sure your whole congregation knows how to take advantage of the 2011 GA with these handy resources; especially your youth.

5. Invite someone else to register, or a lot of someones to register through your personal networks -- like your Disciples youth, women’s or men’s groups at your church; or through social media like Facebook.

6. Make sure your congregation understands how to participate in the 2011 General Assembly even if they can’t attend (worship, prayer, Bible Study, making stoles, creating Assembly “watch parties” for streamed worship services)

7. Read up on how to “be green” before, during and after General Assembly.

8. Reserve your Nashville hotel room at reduced rates for Assembly.

9. Review Learning Opportunities most of which will even earn you Continuing Education credits.

10. Save Your Seat in the Learning Opportunities you don't want to miss.

11. Select From among Meal options/Buy tickets

12. Consider how you will participate in each of the offerings that will be received during Assembly worship and celebrations: Saturday worship - 13th Check; Sunday Concert - Week of Compassion; Monday worship - Reconciliation; Wednesday worship - Disciples Mission Fund.

13. Watch for the electronic docket in the mail/and check online for it

14. Review the reports and resolutions coming before the Assembly

15. Check the website regularly for updates

Packing List: Many attendees have learned to bring particular items that help make their stay more enjoyable at General Assembly. Here are a few recommendations. Add your recommendations in the comment area below.

Comfy shoes, umbrella, yoga mat, any pages you want printed from the docket, your guitar for the Guitar Ensemble... Share your ideas for what to bring in comments below this blog!

We'll see YOU in Nashville!

Life in the Household of the Father

Bible Study* to Prepare for General Assembly

The Rev. Dr. Raymond F. Person, Jr

Professor of Religion at Ohio Northern University

*Downloadable PDF Available on Assembly Website Scroll down to “Bible Study”

The narrative setting of the Book of Deuteronomy is Moses’ farewell speech to the people of Israel before they cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Moses begins by reminding the Israelites about their coming out of Egypt, the wandering in the wilderness, and the giving of the law at Mount Horeb (Deuteronomy 1-11) before teaching them again about the law itself (Deuteronomy 12-25).

In Deuteronomy 6, Moses admonishes the Israelites to remember and observe the statues and ordinances. “Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey” (Deut 6:3). These statues and ordinances should become something that is a part of their every waking moment, something that they must diligently teach to their children. “Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise” (Deut 6:6-7).

We, twenty-first century Christians, have much to learn from Moses’ speech to the ancient Israelites, if we want to live in a way that is pleasing to God, so that we too can live in a “land flowing with milk and honey”—that is, a bounteous land that provides for more than we physically need.The purpose of the law certainly focuses on our relationship with God, but it does so by emphasizing how we relate to all of the things around us. Most of the law concerns how we relate to other humans: whether family, neighbors, or strangers. “Honor your father and your mother … You shall not commit murder. Neither shall you commit adultery. Neither shall you steal” (Deut 5:16-19). “You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deut 10:19). Although the emphasis of the law is on our relationships with other humans, too often we overlook how the law provides guidelines for how we live with the non-human members of the Earth community. Admittedly, not too many of us North Americans tend vineyards or herd sheep and goats, but from the perspective of Deuteronomy we must nevertheless broaden our understanding of what God requires of us, if we want to live sustainably in a “land flowing with milk and honey.”

The Household of the Father

The fundamental basis of Israelite society was the bet av, the household of the father. This phrase does not simply refer to what we understand as the nuclear family and the structure they live in, but refers to all of the humans, animals, plants, and land that together make up the basic socio-economic unit of ancient Israel. The humans in the bet av would have included the father, mother, their grown sons and their families, and any servants. The land would have included not only the land on which the dwelling was built, but also the  surrounding gardens and orchards as well as the more distant cultivated fields and pastures under the control of the household. The actual structure of the house was not simply a dwelling place for the humans, but was also where some of the livestock lived and where a variety of food storage and preparation activities took place. Given the Israelites’ broader understanding of what was home, we should not be surprised that the law addresses relationships between all of the members of this household, including the land, animals, and plants.

The Land
According to Deuteronomy, “the heavens and the heavens of heavens belong to the Lord your God, the earth with all that is in it” (Deut 10:14). The land when provided with life-giving water is the source of all of Israel’s divine blessings. “Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, both the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock” (Deut 28:4).

However, these blessings only come to those who obey God’s law. Those who do not obey, will experience curses that also have their source in the land when life-giving water is withheld.

“Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock” (Deut 28:18).

Since the ancient Israelites did not have the equivalent of our powerful synthetic chemicals or the means for modifying natural genetics, we do not find laws concerning, for example, the disposal of heavy metals in landfills or the necessity for clean air and clean water standards. Nevertheless, as Deuteronom proclaims, if the land and water belong to God, we must care for creation as if it is not only our home but also God’s garden, so that we may be truly blessed to continue to live in the good land. Unfortunately, because of the type of ecological disasters we currently face—including climate change and most recently the nuclear crisis in Japan—we all too often understand something about how our own actions bring curses upon ourselves and others when we do not pay attention to living sustainably on the good land.

The Animals
Since livestock were part of their household—sometimes living under the same roof—the ancient Israelites reflected on their everyday relationship with animals in ways that are foreign to most North Americans who live far from the farms producing their food, (far, that is, at least by acquaintance with farming, if not by geographical distance). The law in Deuteronomy demonstrates this reflection, for example, in two laws concerning oxen.

“You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked” (Deut 22:10). “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain” (Deut 25:4). Plowing with two animals of significantly different pulling strength would be detrimental to both of the yoked animals, something that the animals themselves would likely complain about in their own ways.

Likewise, muzzling a hungry ox or other draft animal that is treading out the grain prevents it from eating its fair share of the harvest while it is doing valuable work. Both of these forbidden practices are means of protecting the animals from unethical treatment; and ultimately of sustaining the productivity of these beasts.

The law also addresses how to relate to wildlife that may provide food not just today but for days to come. “If you come on a bird’s nest, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs, with the mother sitting on the fledglings or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young” (Deut 22:6). Although taking the young for food is allowed, the mother must be left to brood again. 

The Plants
In ways similar to the ancient Israelites’ reflection on animals, the law in Deuteronomy includes concerns for how plants are treated. This is most obvious in the passage concerning the conduct of war.

“If you besiege a town for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you must not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them. Although you may take food from them, you must not cut them down. Are trees in the field human beings that they should come under siege from you?” (Deut 20:19). Since trees do not take sides in a war—they provide their fruit to whomever (human or other animals) picks it—they should not be attacked as objects of war. The brutality of war is something that should remain (albeit severely limited even in the perspective of Deuteronomy) between humans, so that the land and the plants do not suffer such devastation. Unfortunately, our modern weapons are far more dangerous to the land and trees than an army wielding axes, swords, and arrows.

Questions for Reflection

Based on the teachings of Moses as presented in Deuteronomy, reflect on the following questions concerning how we should live and what we should teach our children.

(1) How do we envision our households? How does this vision differ from that of the ancient Israelites?

(2) What is our relationship to the land? How does God’s relationship to the land inform our own relationship to the land?

(3) Do you have animals in your own household? A dog? A cat? Another pet? Should we treat other animals the same way we treat our pets? Why or why not?

(4) What is our relationship to plants? Are plants only here for our enjoyment?

(5) Consider this text with an eye to sustainable practices. Note where Deuteronomy’s instructions are not just a matter of being “nice” to plants, animals and other humans, but where they offer instructions that are essential to our own survival.

Dr. Raymond F. Person, Jr. earned his BA and MDiv from Phillips University and his PhD from Duke University. He is the author of six books and numerous articles, most recently The Deuteronomic History and The Book of Chronicles (Society of Biblical Literature, 2010). He currently works on a commentary on Deuteronomy for the Earth Bible Commentary series of the Christian Church in Ohio. with Sheffield Phoenix Press. He is also a founding member of the Anti-Racism Commission

Barefoot in Spirit

Submitted by Edward Parrish III
Retired Disciples Clergy

Lynchburg, VA

Edward Parrish, III

My mother and father took me to a Disciples church “before I was born.”  Since then, I’ve been doing it myself - and have grown increasingly committed to the Disciples “message” for the Church throughout my 62 years.  In my elementary years, I went to church barefoot between Easter and Thanksgiving (got a nail in my foot during revival one year).

Since my early years, I have grown more “barefoot” in Spirit.  I was early-shaped in church camps, work camps, mission trips, Disciples college (Lynchburg College) and seminary (Lexington Theological Seminary); have served as a congregational pastor in Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia and as program director of youth and young adult ministry in Disciples Home Mission.

I recently retired from pastoral ministry after 42 years of service in congregations and am becoming further-shaped in pastoral ministry as a hospital chaplain.

The mystery, wonder, joy and challenge of ministry continues to grow and I delight in my further-increasing capacity to serve as I search, pay attention" and say “yes” to the learning experiences of my life.

In the “dark times” of my life, I have found solace especially in John 1:5, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”  In the “discerning” times I cherish Isaiah 43:1-19, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine..., I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

I am deeply excited about this moment in the history of the world and Disciples’ place in it.  I concur with many souls who believe that the “corrective” that is taking place in individual hearts and in global communities has transcendent implications.  Each of us has a role, a choice - we make the future by how we make our way.

My first General Assembly was in Louisville, 1971.  The “chalice” was introduced and voted upon there.  The first night there were individually colored bands of cloth hanging separately by gravity from the top of the backdrop.  On the second night they were gathered in the middle by a simple strand.  The third night the rainbow base of the chalice was formed.  And the fourth night somehow the whole thing was tipped so as to be pouring out the gospel spirit into the whole world.

We are bodies and body of Christ for the world.  The continuing guiding question for me is, “What is God calling me/us to do?”

Stolen Moment

Submitted by Erin Reed Cooper

Sandy Springs Christian Church

Sandy Springs, Georgia

The Peaceable Adventures Club (P.A.C.) of Sandy Springs Christian Church in Georgia, is creating two "Tell It!" stoles for 2011 General Assembly in Nashville, Tenn., July 9-13.

Children create stoles for GA Worship

PAC is our elementary youth group for students grades one through four. The children meet monthly for service projects, learning events and worshipful events together.

They have lovingly "Sharpie Dyed" the fabric for the stoles, cut out the letters, and joined with their parents in putting them together.

Thank you for this opportunity for even our young children to get to join in the fun and service of preparing for this great event! 

 

To find simple patterns for the 2011 General Assembly stoles, please visit our website. Drag down the "Tell it!" menu on the top left side.

Green to the extreme

Submitted by Annette Hayden

Bridgeport Christian Church

Franklin County, KY

Living in an age of extremes – extreme commercialization and consumerism – presents a challenge for today’s Christians.  The choices and purchases we make are felt around the world, primarily by the poor. 

In Psalm 24:1 we read: “The Earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it.” Therein lies our responsibility as God’s people to cherish and care for all that God has created because it is extremely holy.  

We, at Bridgeport Christian Church, a rural congregation of approximately 200 active members in Franklin County, Kentucky, are committed and actively working to care for God’s creation. As Christians, we believe it is our obligation to build an awareness of environmental injustices (locally and globally) and to work to overcome them.

As a Green Chalice Congregation, we seek to be good stewards of the Earth by daily examining our practices and lifestyles and making changes that sustain God’s creation while positively affecting the poor.
Our commitment began about three years ago when a few members recognized the opportunity to convert to non-disposable dinnerware and flatware for fellowship dinners. This simple action resulted in the formation of our Green Team, which is still going strong.

Over the last few years changes in our practices, outreach and facilities include: 

• Creating a recycling program
• Installing programmable thermostats
• Creating a “Sharing Table” for reusable items
• Creating an environmental education area with the theme: “Think God, Live Green,” where we share information ranging from “how to make and use natural cleansers” to “how our daily choices affect our neighbors on the other side of the planet”
• Supplying reusable grocery bags to the congregation to decrease plastic bag consumption
• Providing education/outreach opportunities: 
• Weekly “green tips” in the bulletin and email
• Monthly Green News article in The Bridge newsletter
• Special classes like the seven-week “Just Eating?” program
• Alternative Christmas Fair for gift-giving  through donations to local, national and international charities and organizations;
• Purchasing “fair trade” coffee
• Participating in Lighten Up Frankfort, a community-wide carbon emissions education program to reduce our carbon footprint
• Contracting with Disciples Church Extension to conduct an energy audit of our building.

As we continue to reflect on the activities we as a congregation are currently doing to sustain God’s gift to us, we keep raising the question, “Now what?” What might God’s extreme love for creation call us to do next?