Tag Archives: Anecdotes

Thankful For Their Boy Alive The parents of a young man who was killed in the World War gave their church a check for two hundred dollars as a memorial to their loved one. When the presentation was made, another … Continue reading →

Thankful For What Did Not Happen Several years ago some German immigrants to America brought over this story of a woman living on a farm in Germany who brought to her minister an amount in German money equivalent to about … Continue reading →

A Windfall To Church What does a thriving debt-free church do with a windfall of $342,625? A 74-year-old widow left the sum to Bethel Baptist Church of Toronto with the provision that half be spent on the local church and … Continue reading →

Dish-Washing For God In the last year of his life, an elderly man in his seventies worked as a dish washer in the Life Line Mission, on the San Francisco waterfront. When he died, he bequeathed $150,000 to the mission … Continue reading →

A Church’s Two-Brick Start A large church needed a new building. They were all agreed about that, but whenever they began to plan to build, the members got into all sorts of disagreements about how and what to build. The … Continue reading →

The Chaplain and The Boy’s Nickel When Chaplain McCabe, who later on became a bishop, had set out to raise a million dollars for missions he met many disappointments and was often greatly discouraged. One day while going through a … Continue reading →

From 5 Cents to $100 One time a poor little boy saw all the big people putting money into the offering plate. He didn’t have anything to give but five marbles in his pocket. He put them into the plate! … Continue reading →

Hattie’s 57 Pennies Hattie Wiatt, a little girl, came to a small Sunday school and asked to be taken in, but it was explained there was no room for her. In less than two years she fell ill, and slipped … Continue reading →

Useful Joachim One day Martin Luther found himself penniless, but happened to be requested to contribute to an important Christian work. He recollected that he had a beautiful medal of Joachim, Elector of Brandenburg, which he had prized. He went … Continue reading →

General Gordon’s Medal It is related of General Gordon, affectionately known as “Chinese Gordon.” That when the English government sought to reward him for his magnificent service in China, he declined all money and titles, but accepted a gold medal … Continue reading →

17,000 Acres Donated An elderly couple donated in 1959 some 17,280 acres of West Texas farmland to Wayland Baptist College. The land, valued at more than two million dollars, represents one of the largest individual gifts ever made to Christian … Continue reading →

Wesley’s Surpluses From the books alone John Wesley gave away between £30,000 and £40,000. He told Samuel Bradburn, one of his preachers, in 1787, that he never gave away anything less than £1,000 a year, and yet, when he died, … Continue reading →

What Did Booth Leave? A question sent in to The Canadian Magazine read: “Did General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, leave a large estate when he died?” The answer: “Booth died in 1912 in London, England, at the … Continue reading →

Dutchman’s Private Give-Away Campaign Dutch businessman Evert Dekker attracted large crowd as he gave away 10 guilder bills ($3.80) outside a train station in North Holland. Police questioned him and found the bills were genuine and allowed him to continue. … Continue reading →

They Dared Lose Home Dr. Truett of Texas was invited to a church that was raising $6,500 to dedicate a church building. After $3,500 had been promised, the offerings ceased. Then a plainly-dressed woman arose and spoke to her husband … Continue reading →

Criswell Returns 30-Year Salary W. A. Criswell, pastor of the 18,000-member First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, gave back to the church $600,000, his salary accumulated over the past 30 years. Dr. Criswell told his congregation that when he entered … Continue reading →

More Losses Than Giving The average American misplaces more money each year than the per-member contributions to a majority of U. S. church denominations, says President Arthur R. Mckay of McCormick Theological Seminary. Cash lost averages $75 per person annually, … Continue reading →

Higher Income Means Lower Giving The Russell Sage Foundation several years ago published the results of a survey. In the United States, families with a net income of less than $3,000 a year gave more than 60% of all the … Continue reading →