NSD DECIDES TO CHANGE THEIR OFFERING PLAN

The Northern Asia Pacific Division (NSD) is now part of the 10 divisions that distribute their offerings under the Combined Offering Plan. The decision to switch from the Calendar Year Offering Plan to the plan recommended by the world church was taken during NSD’s mid-year meetings held in Sapporo, Japan, on May 23, 2018. The new plan will go into effect January 1, 2019.

Following the policies for that plan, the division voted that all Sabbath offerings will be distributed as follows:

Local Church: 50%-60%
Union/Conference/Mission: 14%-24%
Northern Asia-Pacific Division: 6%
General Conference: 20%

According to German Lust, treasurer/CFO of NSD, the division has been working out the modalities of the Combined Offering Plan since their 2015 Year-End Meetings, making sure all participants could understand “not only the implications of this possible change in the offering plan, but also the principles of Systematic Benevolence,” which is one of the emphases of the new plan. This change by the division will filter down to the unions and other levels of the church organizational structure in NSD.

The division will spend time educating and training its leaders and church members. The Stewardship Ministries department directors of the division, unions, conferences, and missions will play a major role in helping to explain the change in the offering plan and the
reasons behind the change. This will involve ongoing training, before and after the new offering plan is adopted.

To date, 10 of the 13 divisions—which comprise more than 90 percent of the world Adventist population—are operating under the Combined Offering Plan. They are East Central-Africa Division (ECD), Euro-Asia Division (ESD), Inter-American Division (IAD), Euro-Africa Division (EUD—only Spain and Portugal), South American Division (SAD), Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division (SID), Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD), South Pacific Division (SPD—Papua New-Guinea and the islands), Southern-Asia Division (SUD), and West Central-Africa Division (WAD).

The Combined Offering Plan promotes a missionary mind-set using the apostolic missionary model: taking the good news of the gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, which means equally supporting local, regional, and world necessities. It promotes systematic, regular, and selfless giving; discourages institutional selfishness; and is easy for members to understand. Beyond facilitating a balanced support to all levels of the church, it eliminates calls for funds for projects, making it easier for church members to focus on worship while bringing their offerings.

It is important to remember that even under the Combined Offering Plan, the offerings allocated by donors to a specific destination will still be respected, while the loose or undesignated offerings will follow the distribution plan aforementioned.

For more information about the history of the Combined Offering Plan, its rationale, and its process, read Mario Nino’s article “Planning to Put God First” in the July-September issue of the Dynamic Steward here, or download the PowerPoint here.

Article co-written by Johnetta B. Flomo, Associate Editor - God First and German Lust, Treasurer of NSD