Methodist Church in Fiji President Reverend Dr Semisi Turagavou has called on the Church to move away from its traditional levy system and transition towards “heart and faith giving.”
Speaking at the Church’s Annual Conference today, Rev Dr Turagavou said the change would require time, education and trust from members.
“We should erase the mentality and practice of the levy system, and the Church should operate from the basis of heart and faith giving,” he said.
“In this regard, I call on every division and circuit, and every church to begin the transition toward heart and faith giving.”
Rev Dr Turagavou acknowledged that changing the Church’s approach to giving could not happen immediately.
“This will not happen overnight. It requires teaching. It requires trust, and requires that we, as the Church, provide our people with something worth believing in.”
He also stressed that the Church’s spiritual development and management of its financial and physical assets should go hand-in-hand.
“Our spiritual growth and the development of the resources God has entrusted to us — our wealth, our land, our properties — must never be treated as two separate journeys. They are one journey,” he said.
“A church that is spiritually alive but careless with what God has given it will fall down. A church that manages its resources wisely but has lost its spiritual heart will become an empty institution.”
Rev Dr Turagavou said the Church headquarters had been deliberately investing resources through its business arm as part of efforts to strengthen its financial position.
He pointed to the opening of its first service station and the development of a commercial complex as signs that the investments were beginning to produce returns.
“I am pleased to report this investment. It begins to bear fruit,” he said.
Rev Dr Turagavou said responsible stewardship of Church resources was important to ensuring investments generated funds that could be directed back into the Church and its mission.
