Money For Mission

God calls us to be wise and generous stewards of the resources with which we have been blessed. The Synod of Victoria and Tasmania provides an opportunity for congregations to more fully live into this calling by transitioning real estate assets into shares in an ethical fund, generating ongoing income streams to fund their mission.

Many congregations have real estate assets such as land and buildings that are surplus to mission, including residential properties once used as a manse for ministers and now rented on the open market.

The rental returns from these assets are generally modest; well below the cashflow that could be achieved through other investment. Congregations are becoming increasingly burdened by the time, responsibility and cost of maintaining these properties.

Congregations are invited to consider a way to ensure ongoing higher returns for the congregation, whilst at the same time resourcing the wider Church’s missional endeavours.

Money for Mission - a source of ongoing and flexible income

The Money for Mission program uses the monies raised from the sale of properties excess to missional needs.

The purpose of the Money for Mission Fund (MFMF) is to generate and distribute proceeds for:

• Income for congregations and other Responsible Bodies
• Synod funding of presbytery staff
• Synod grants to Assembly
• Synod and wider church missional funding
• Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress

How is Money for Mission different?

The Money for Mission program is allowing the Church to move away from the historic Property Sales Proceeds approach of meeting its missional resourcing needs by using up sales proceeds.

Instead, Money for Mission invests and preserves capital sales proceeds so that, over time, we can resource our needs from the investment earnings – i.e. we live off the income we earn, not by needing to continually sell assets/property.

Money for Mission is a totally voluntary, OPT-IN programme offered to all congregations and other Responsible Bodies, through presbyteries.

Additional benefits of Money for Mission

The Money for Mission Program has multiple benefits – for investing bodies and for the wider church:

• An approach that is completely built around long-term preservation of invested capital – thus benefitting future generations – whether congregational or whole of Church
• Investing Responsible Bodies receive a higher return than they might from investment of sales proceeds in other pathways
• Income received can be allocated with flexibility by the Responsible Body
• The burden of managing property is removed from congregations
• The program can accept IOMF rollovers or investment of sales proceeds not yet invested
• Clear and transparent distributions are made to wider church mission resourcing activity
• A structure that allows congregations to retain and transfer their entitlement to income in the future
• The knowledge of having contributed to the future missional capability of the whole of church in a lasting and meaningful manner

How to participate in Money for Mission

To explore opting in:

1. Read the Money for Mission Fund booklet and the U Ethical fact sheet about the Money for Mission Fund.
2. Explore the benefits with your congregation leadership council
3. Look at any current investment or surplus property which you may wish to nominate
4. Decide if opting in to this fund may be right for your congregation
5. Commit to sale proceeds going into the fund and remaining in the fund for at least seven (7) years
6. Speak to your presbytery and Synod Property Services

To help you decide if Money for Mission is right for your congregation, and to help you start your Money for Mission journey, there are additional resources available to download from this page.

Questions?

If you have any further questions about Money for Mission, please contact your Presbytery Secretary or Presbytery Ministers.

Alternatively, contact Peter Thomas (Director, Property Services) or Duncan Macleod (Chairperson, Money for Mission Steering Committee)