Stewardship innovator Tom Melzoni invests in endowed funds that will underwrite salaries of nine missionaries
Stewardship innovator Tom Melzoni helps churches "accomplish their vision through generosity."
Missionary movements need missionaries and missionaries need salaries that underwrite their youth outreach, collegiate evangelism, church planting, leadership development—and many other important tasks—that advance New England Baptist ministry.
To that end, Baptist Foundation of New England (BFNE) leaders established endowed funds to underwrite the salaries of nine essential missionary staff and asked eight “core givers” to become the initial investors; they gave a combined total of $132, 644 (as of December 31).
Accomplishing Ministry Vision Through Generosity
The core donors included Tom Melzoni of Sarasota, Florida. He is a senior executive with Horizons Stewardship, a consulting team that advocates for Christ-focused lifestyle generosity. Following prayer, he gave seed money to each of the nine funds when asked.
A former pastor, Melzoni is now a member of Grace Community Church, Lakewood Ranch, Florida, which gives away thirty-five percent of the money they receive. As senior vice president with Horizons Stewardship, he “helps churches be able to accomplish their vision through generosity. A poor giving culture,” he commented, “trumps a great vision.”
A “faithraiser,” Tom Melzoni believes that "my need to give is greater than my church’s need to receive.”
“Typical Christians today,” he added, “are giving a smaller percentage of their incomes to the Lord than they did during the Great Depression. Our churches are anemic when it comes to really teaching the biblical principles of stewardship and generosity. Much of my work now is just helping churches learn how to teach their people and how to engage their people in a generous lifestyle.”
Melzoni calls himself “a ‘faithraiser’ because giving is an act of faith. Even though I have all the credentials, I’m not a fundraiser in the traditional sense because I believe we [must] challenge people. We give them the vision. We certainly give them a pathway. We let them know what we need—but they need to determine on their own between God and them what they’re going to give.”
Melzoni’s online Horizons profile states that: “One of his life goals is to challenge all to a standard of giving being greater than their standard of living.”
When Dorsett asked Melzoni to “prayerfully consider giving” to each of the endowed staff chair funds, he said, “I didn’t hesitate, didn’t get upset, didn’t get embarrassed, and didn’t get mad because I believe giving is what God wants—for you, not from you.”
“I believe my need to give is greater than my church’s need to receive.”
Getting Nine New Endowment Funds Off the Ground
A donor may invest in a particular “Chair of Ministry” endowment or decide to divide the gift equally between these nine chairs:
CHAIR OF CHURCH MULTIPLICATION
The BCNE’s ministry of church multiplication—which includes both revitalization of existing congregations and planting of new churches—is undertaken to equip and encourage church leaders to engage in missionary activity by facilitating and resourcing them to multiply disciples.
CHAIR OF COLLEGIATE MINISTRIES
New England is the nexus of higher education in the United States. Although Christian faith historically played an important role in universities, today most students still seek truth. For this reason, BCNE supports a network of collegiate ministries that partner with churches.
CHAIR OF YOUTH MINISTRY
BCNE invests in the lives of teens and their leaders. Youth ministry offers churches opportunities that equip Christian teens and their unchurched friends to discover and grow in genuine faith, while also training and encouraging adults who serve in church youth ministry.
CHAIR OF GREATER BOSTON MINISTRY
Boston churches serve on the front lines of one of America’s most influential and least evangelized cities. Those who serve more than a dozen language groups through BCNE’s ministries in Greater Boston confront a shortage of workers and meeting spaces, and a high cost of living.
CHAIRS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, RHODE ISLAND, and VERMONT
Many New Englanders live in towns or villages; they need gospel-preaching churches. That’s why BFNE started endowments to provide for the leaders of ministry networks in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, where life can be difficult and lonely.
CHAIR OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MINISTRY
Pastors and their leaders need inspiring and informative training on an array of topics including but not limited to children’s ministry and VBS, trauma counseling, addiction recovery, ESL teaching, and digital evangelism. The BCNE’s Leadership Development Ministry offers encouragement and assistance as needed.
CHAIR OF EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
By definition BCNE’s Executive Director must be passionate about multiplying Christ-followers. Each morning the leader faces a never-ending set of complex responsibilities that include but are not limited to staff and board development, fundraising and budget management, preaching and teaching the Bible, speaking at numerous regional conferences, and attending to denominational relations.
Eight donors gave a combined total (as of December 31) of $132,644. We invite you to join them by contributing to the ministry chair or chairs of your choice.Your gift will help ensure that New England always has an adequate BCNE missionary staff to get the gospel to every corner of New England.
https://4agc.com/donate/missionarysupport
This article is part of an ongoing series. Click here to read the other BNFE stories.