Missouri Synod encourages gifts on ‘Giving Tuesday’

For Immediate Release

Contact: Vicki Biggs, 314-996-1236, 314-556-3829 (cell), @theLCMS, #GivingTuesday

Donations to church’s ‘Give Graciously, Give Globally’ campaign support witness, mercy work around the world

ST. LOUIS, December 2, 2013—One day to go! With the launch of its “Give Graciously, Give Globally” campaign, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is joining the second annual “Giving Tuesday” effort held the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and asking people around the world to make a difference through charitable giving on a single day.

Giving Tuesday, which will be observed this year on Dec. 3, follows on the heels of the retail-focused “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” promotions and aims to shift the focus during the giving season from consumerism to philanthropy.

The LCMS “Give Graciously, Give Globally” effort will benefit the denomination’s Global Mission Fund. Gifts to the fund are immediately directed wherever they are needed most in the world to carry out the church’s Witness, Mercy, Life Together ministry.

“Disasters such as the typhoon in the Philippines and the tornadoes in the Midwest provide examples of how gifts to the Global Mission Fund might be used,” said Mark Hofman, executive director of LCMS Mission Advancement. ”Our long-term response to such disasters may stretch out over years, and the Global Mission Fund helps cover unfunded mercy work. Likewise, as the church sends missionaries around the world to proclaim the Gospel, gifts to the Global Mission fund may be used to help our missionaries accomplish their life-giving mission.”

The LCMS is among more than 8,000 organizations registered online at www.givingtuesday.org as partners in the initiative. Other partners include the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army and United Way.

Visit www.lcms.org/givingtuesday to learn more or get resources and go to www.lcms.org/givenow/givingtuesday to make a gift.

About The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is a biblical, confessional, witness-oriented Christian denomination with 2.3 million members — 600,000 households — in 6,200 congregations. Through acts of witness and mercy, the church carries out its mission worldwide to make known the love of Jesus Christ. Learn more at www.lcms.org.

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