Kingdom Resources and the Perfect Missional Blend

I recently heard some very interesting information about philanthropy that caused me to think about the Buckner mission. Today philanthropic giving can be categorized into three groups: The World War II Generation, the Baby Boomer Generation, and the Gen Xers (20’s and 30’s). Giving to charitable causes remains steady among the builder generation. Baby Boomers are interested in giving but their big question is this: What is the purpose of my life? They tend to be social entrepreneurs who expect lots of accountability and benchmarks to measure their philanthropic investments. The Gen Xers are on a spiritual journey that may or may not involve church or organized religion but they are moving more and more toward an interest in providing social services for others. The serving may be local as well as global.

Giving to denominations that in turn serve others may not have a bright future. In 1998 a whopping 50% of philanthropic giving in the United States was religious in nature. By 2008 that level of giving fell to 30%. Less than 50% of seminaries accredited by the Association of Theological Schools have fewer than 17 donors who gave more than $5,000 in a given year.

What does this mean? It seems like giving to religious causes may be on a downward trend, especially giving to institutional causes. However, ministries that provide opportunities for direct service to others with the potential of providing an opportunity to find a meaningful and purposeful life is on an upward trend. Bible colleges, seminaries, and denominations searching for a productive future must find a way to meet boomers and Gen Xers at the point of the philanthropic interest while enjoying the faithful giving of WWII donors.

I remain convinced that there is not a shortage of Kingdom resources, only a shortage of Kingdom oriented activity and vision. We are living in a time when there is a shift from building an institution to embracing the Kingdom of God all around us in fresh and creative ways. Kingdom building is on the minds of Boomer and Xers versus institutional building that has become a major contribution of the WWII generation. We now have a variety of institutions that have the potential for building the Kingdom. This is the legacy of the WWII generation and we are extremely fortunate for this contribution. So what is next?

Enter Buckner International, a historically Baptist and increasingly interdenominational ministry created to serve children with a global focus on serving the “least of these,” the poor, the prisoner, the blind, the oppressed, child at risk, the orphan, and families. We are creating the perfect blend for Kingdom mission. Take a passion for serving children at risk, orphans, and families; add evangelically minded, gospel focused, and compassionate churches and Christians, and you have a compelling platform for engagement of hands-on generous Christians and churches who want to make a difference in the world and who want to be personally involved in the transformation of children, families, and whole communities across the globe. What do we call this? Tune in on Wednesday for more…