Women who use a Blessing Box tend to see God’s abundance and blessing more than scarcity and hardship.
For 60 years, the women of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) have had a special way to express their gratitude to God for the blessings they have received – the Blessing Box. Thanks is given for a sunny day, a birth, a reconciling experience, a welcome phone call, a child’s smile, a beautiful snowfall, a flower in full bloom, relief from pain, a good book, a safe journey, and many other things. It is a way of saying “Thank you God, for your world and especially for people.”
For those who participate, it is a spiritual discipline even more than a financial one. It helps keep a focus on gratitude to God and on the responsibility to share blessings with others. The amount put in maybe a dime, a quarter or more. The amount is not nearly as important as the discipline of regularly remembering God’s goodness through the acts of dropping in coins and praying prayers of thanksgiving.
Has the Blessing Box spiritual practice made a difference?
Yes! In addition to cultivating life-long habits of thanks-giving, the Blessing Box has generated millions of dollars in mission support. From 2000 to July 2013, Blessing Boxes have contributed a total of $2,947,800 for the mission of the church, with $715,022 of that going to support women’s ministries. Since 2007, 50 percent of the donations go directly to the ministries carried out by the women of our church through the International Disciples Women’s Ministries. Your giving makes a significant difference in the mission of the church at home and abroad.
Kansas Women give their Blessing Box offering at
each year’s Spirit Fest in April
Blessing Box offerings are brought to be dedicated at Spirit Fest each spring. Then the funds are shared 50/50 with the Office of Disciples Women and the larger church. Blessing Box offerings are collected at Spirit Fests, Retreats and at Cabinet and other regional meetings. Kansas women have been very generous through the years, ranking in the top ten of regions across the denomination.