Give to the Max Day

Give to the Max Day is coming. This event is sponsored annually by Minnesota philanthropists in behalf of charitable organizations such as Central Seminary. It represents a concerted effort for the non-profits to raise as much funding as they can online in a single day. This year’s Give to the Max Day is Thursday, November 13.

The organization behind Give to the Max Day is GiveMN.org.  This organization services all sorts of charitable endeavors, not just schools or even Christian organizations. But it welcomes Central Seminary and even offers incentives to participate. For example, every hour during Give to the Max Day, GiveMN.org will give a cash prize to a random charity.

Central Seminary donors have even more incentive to participate in Give to the Max Day. This year, the first $25,000 in donations to Central Seminary will be doubled by a generous matching gift. In other words, every dollar that is given will turn into two dollars.

These donations are important for a healthy seminary. The fact is that students cannot and do not pay more than a fraction of the cost of their own education. This is true, not only at Central Seminary, but at every seminary.

Schools that train pastors and missionaries cannot ask them to pay the whole cost of their education. These students are already pressed to their limits. Most of them are married and many have families. Some of them are already working two or three jobs. They are trying to balance the demands of the classroom with the demands of work and family and church. Theirs is not an easy life.

If they were training for medicine or law, they could borrow the money to pay for their education. Doctors and lawyers make enough to pay back sizable loans. But the graduates of Central Seminary are going to be pastors and missionaries. In some cases, they will barely be paid a subsistence wage. They cannot pay back a huge loan on a minister’s salary, and they don’t want to have to work for years to pay off their creditors before they can take a ministry.

The only solution is for seminaries to keep the cost of education low. Virtually every training institution that prepares pastors and missionaries has to underwrite most of the cost of their training. In the case of denominational seminaries, the denomination often picks up a hefty chunk of the tab. Independent seminaries cannot rely upon the largesse of a denomination. They have to appeal to donors to make up the difference.

At schools like Central Seminary, students do pay something for their education. Much of the cost, however, is born by generous Christians who understand the need for an educated ministry. These committed believers know that someday their church will need another pastor, and they would like him to be as biblically informed and doctrinally acute as possible. They have the vision to understand that their support of a good seminary is actually an investment in the pastors and missionaries of tomorrow.

This is where Give to the Max Day comes in. Give to the Max Day multiplies each donor’s gift, stretching it to help more students with the cost of preparing for ministry. Central Seminary has been participating in Give to the Max Day for several years, and each year has been more successful than the one before. Last year was our biggest year, even though the GiveMN.org servers crashed in the middle of the day!

That problem has been corrected this year. The faculty and staff members of Central Seminary will be giving on November 13. They invite you to join them in “giving to the max.” Every dollar from every donor helps.

Central Seminary is very careful with your gifts. We practice strict financial discipline and accountability. We cut expenses to the bone. We balance the budget. We have an outside auditor review our books every year. Our goal is to make sure that every penny is used in the wisest way for the preparation of future Christian leaders.

Participation in Give to the Max Day is easy. Remember that Give to the Max Day is about using your computer to give. If you want to make a donation to Central Seminary, just point your browser to www.centralseminary.edu/give and follow the links (it is also possible to give to WCTS Radio at www.wctsradio.com/give). You can do your giving on November 13, or you can log on now and enter a gift that will be activated on Give to the Max Day. If for some reason you are not able to use a computer to give, you can call the seminary during office hours with your credit card number. The number is 763.417.8250.

Give to the Max Day offers an unusual opportunity. The first $25,000 to be given will automatically double. The day also offers other incentives for participation—incentives that have brought Central Seminary thousands of dollars in the past.

Every dollar raised on Give to the Max Day helps Central Seminary keep tuition low for seminary students. Low tuition payments help seminary students to care well for their families. Furthermore, low tuition delivers them from having to go into debt for their education. Your gift on Give to the Max Day is an investment in sound church leadership for the next generation.

Central Seminary has just finished two phenomenal academic years. As the new year has started, we have already begun to receive many blessings, such as standing with a new accrediting association. We are excited at what God has done and energized to go forward. Would you consider helping Central Seminary on Give to the Max Day?

Prayer for a Minister
Rowland Hill (1744–1833)

With heavenly power, O Lord, defend
Him whom we now to Thee commend:
His person bless, his soul secure,
And make him to the end endure.

Gird him with all-sufficient grace;
Direct his feet in paths of peace;
Thy truth and faithfulness fulfill,
And help him to obey Thy will.

Before him Thy protection send;
Oh love him, save him to the end:
Nor let him as Thy pilgrim rove,
Without the convoy of Thy love.

Enlarge, inflame, and fill his heart;
In him Thy mighty power exert;
That thousands yet unborn may praise
The wonders of redeeming grace.