Stewardship : Michigan Conference Lansing MI

Stewardship

Joel Nephew. A fifth-generation Adventist and Michigander by birth, Elder Joel Nephew began denominational work in 1988 as a Literature Evangelist. He began pastoring in the New York Conference in 1992, where he was later ordained to the gospel ministry. He currently serves the Lord as Director of Planned Giving & Trust Services and Stewardship, and Association Properties Manager. He and his wife Corina have two adult sons, Justin and Alex, and two beautiful daughters-in-law, Rachel and Rebekah, respectively. In his leisure time, Joel enjoys spending time with family, cutting wood, beekeeping, and short-term building projects, but his all-time passion is for enlarging the kingdom of God.

Gene Hall is the associate director for Stewardship and Planned Giving and Trust Services. He was born in Owosso, Michigan and is married to Ciliciana. Together they have three children and eight grand-children. Gene began working full time as a Literature Evangelist in June 1976 and continued in that field for 21 years. In February 1996 he was called to pastoral ministry in Indiana. Then in May 2000, he came back to Michigan and served the Jackson/Bunkerhill churches for nine years and the Holland Church for five years, before joining the Trust Services department at the Michigan Conference.

Kasey McFarland is the administrative assistant for the Stewardship department at the Michigan Conference.

Stewardship is recognizing God as both Creator and Possessor of everything in heaven and on earth. As stewards we are totally dependent upon God for every blessing. He provides everything we need for life—time, talents, and possessions.

Tithe—God defines tithe as 10% of our increase, which is “holy to the Lord.” The storehouse for the tithe is the conference, and the funds are used to support pastors, evangelists, and church school teachers.

Offerings—These are the gifts to God that accompany the tithe. They say “thank you” for His daily care and blessings to us. There are several types of offerings:

Church Budget—Your local church needs you to give of your time and talents for its outreach and nurture ministries, but it also needs your financial support. Church budget covers all church expenses, the Sabbath School budget, outreach ministries, etc.
World Missions—Sabbath Schools around the world support the world mission program of the Church.
World Budget—Ministries supported by World Budget include evangelism, church institutions, and service agencies.
Michigan Advance Partners (MAP)—This offering supports eight aspects of the work of the church on the conference level including evangelism, building programs, Camp Au Sable, camp meeting, and education.

Be assured of this, “God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed” (2 Cor. 9:8, NASB).