Key Task: Differentiation

A well attended church with a large fringe and successful uniformed organisations sent out a single mailing to all those on the electoral roll. The financial response was very encouraging but on closer reflection the response rate to the letters was less than 25%. Three quarters of those asked saw no reason to reply to the request.

Differentiation does not guarantee a 100% response - far from it - but it does try to meet people where they are. Differentiation recognises the different starting points of church members. Some are just enquiring while others have a deep and mature faith. Some have capacity to give while others are struggling, quite possibly with debt. Some have no idea about church finance while others give because Scripture teaches that we should. To motivate and excite people to give we must talk to people where they are at, connecting with their aspirations and understanding. Differentiation understands three types of church member:

1. Core members – deeply committed, often very busy in the church, usually regarded as leaders in the church. The irreducible minimum of the Core is the formal leadership of the church, the PCC or DCC or other leadership body.
2. Congregation – regular committed attenders who are members of the planned giving scheme, giving either by weekly envelope or by monthly standing order.
3. Fringe – people who have just started coming to church or who come occasionally, maybe to see their children take part in church parades or to get them into school. The fringe members are those who worship with varying degrees of regularity but are not members of the planned giving scheme.

Each of these types of church member will come from a different perspective on their faith. This will include their giving and it is important to connect with that understanding. It is important to note that people are never distinguished or differentiated by the amount or value of their giving.

We are grateful to Revd D Gavin of Liverpool for sharing his sketch for three voices, which illustrates the principle of differentiation. There is no copyright on this resource and churches are free to edit it. The sketch is not specifically intended for use within a church service; however, it can be used to introduce the idea of differentiation to the PCC in a relaxed and humorous way.