At First Church, we’re not embarrassed to talk about money, because we know that what we do with our money is one of the ways we express our deepest values, the things that are most important to us.

The language we use in the church for giving often refers to “stewardship”, which means to serve as one who manages another's property, finances, or other affairs. Stewardship is a way of life that recognizes that the earth, and everything we have, is God’s, and we are simply managing those resources while they are ours to hold.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, urged those in connection with him to "Earn all you can and save all you can, so that you can give all you can." He modeled modest living and sacrificial giving, both as a grateful response to God’s generous gifts, and as part of our responsibility to share with others. Today, we United Methodists join others to help all of God's children…whenever and wherever we can. We try to live out our congregation’s calling to be the heart, spirit and hands of God's outreaching love.

All members and friends of First Church are invited to “pledge” at the beginning of each calendar year, which means to estimate how much you will give to the church’s work over the course of the year. This is the information from which we build the church’s annual budget. You can give on a weekly, monthly, or annual basis.
The money that the church receives goes both toward our ministries in Midtown Sacramento, and toward the ministries that we undertake in connection with other United Methodist churches in California-Nevada and throughout the world.

We also take a number of special offerings during the year, that go directly to other organizations whose work is also part of God’s work in the world — including:
Sierra Service Project, the Interfaith Service Bureau, Central Downtown Food Basket, Francis House, Habitat for Humanity, Loaves & Fishes, Side-by-Side Ministry to the Homeless, and the United Methodist Church’s One Great Hour of Sharing and World Communion Sunday offerings.