Why we give
We are in the middle of The Spirituality of Giving, a series on what giving means and how it forms us. The first recorded act of worship in the Bible was the giving of offerings to the Lord, and we do not honor God by giving him what is left, but by giving from our first and our best.
Watch The Spirituality of Giving series on our sermons pageGive
What comes in pays for the ministries, the staff, and the building. Every gift is counted and accounted for.
New to giving here?
Online giving takes about a minute. Enter an amount, choose a fund, pick one-time or recurring, and add an email address for the receipt.
Tithes & General Offerings covers the ordinary work of the church. The Grow Campaign builds the new children’s building and preschool. Missions supports our mission partners, and the memo line is where you name the partner you want your gift to go to.
Receipts arrive by email. Year-end statements are mailed each January.
Online giving is handled on our secure ChurchSuite page.
Give onlineCard payments are processed by Stripe. Card numbers are never stored on this site.
Only our financial team can see giving records. Pastors, including the senior pastor, cannot. How that works
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7
Give monthly
Steady giving is what lets us plan
Most of what the church commits to runs longer than a month. A recurring gift is what makes those commitments possible, and it takes the same minute as a one-time gift.
The button below opens the giving page with a monthly gift already selected, and you can change the date or the frequency before you give.
Give monthlyOther ways to give
Not everyone gives the same way
Not everyone gives the same way, but some ways help your gift go further.
Regular giving
Bank bill pay
Most banks let account holders schedule a recurring payment to an organization. The bank mails a check to the church on the schedule you set, and nothing is deducted in processing fees, so the church receives the full amount. Gifts are recorded on the date the check arrives. The schedule stays under the giver's control and can be changed or stopped in online banking at any time.
Payee: Sea Change Church
Address: 627 Genter Street, La Jolla, CA 92037
Memo: Optional
Check or cash on Sunday
Offering is received during the service. Checks are made out to Sea Change Church, with a fund in the memo line if the gift is for something specific.
Check by mail
Mail to 627 Genter Street, La Jolla, CA 92037. Gifts are recorded on the date received.
Online by card
Card is the quickest way to give and the simplest to set up as a recurring gift. Gifts are recorded automatically and accurately, which saves the office the work of entering them by hand. A processing fee comes out before the gift reaches the church, and the giving page offers to add it to your gift if you would like to cover it.
Give onlineLarger gifts
Leave a Legacy
An endowment or legacy gift is a meaningful way to extend your generosity beyond today and help make Jesus known for generations to come. Legacy gifts can be made through your estate, will, trust, retirement account, appreciated assets, or other planned gifts, while endowment gifts can provide long-term support for the future ministry of Sea Change Church.
Gifts may be designated toward general ministry, the Children’s Building construction, youth camp scholarships, missions and outreach, future ministry leaders, or other areas close to your heart.
Contact Steve Yoo to learn more about legacy and endowment giving: [email protected]
Stock, mutual funds, and donor advised funds
Ask firstA gift of appreciated stock or a grant from a donor advised fund can carry a tax advantage that a card gift does not, and it costs the church almost nothing to receive. These take a short conversation and a transfer form.
IRA qualified charitable distributions
Ask firstAnyone over the age at which required minimum distributions begin can give directly from an IRA to the church. The distribution goes straight to the church without passing through taxable income.
This is general information, not tax advice. A tax professional can confirm what applies.
Employer matching
Some employers match charitable gifts, which doubles what arrives without anyone giving more. Matching programs usually need the church's legal name and tax ID.
EIN: 95-3254432
Where it goes
Where it goes
General operating covers monthly salaries, ministry costs, and bills.
Designated gifts go specifically to the ministry or project you choose.
How the books are kept
What is given here belongs to the work of the church, and we keep records that anyone in the congregation can ask to see.
The budget is recommended by the staff and Finance Committee, approved by the Board of Elders, and then voted on by the congregation.
La Jolla Christian Fellowship Incorporated is a registered 501(c)(3). Gifts are tax deductible to the extent the law allows.
We're happy to share our financial picture. Just ask.
Questions
Questions
Do the pastors have access to giving records?
No. Only our financial team and check counters can see your giving. That is three paid admin staff and two volunteer counters. No pastor or any other staff member has access to your giving information, including the senior pastor.
How secure is online giving?
Card payments run through Stripe, the same processor used by a large share of churches and nonprofits. Card numbers are handled by Stripe directly and are never stored on this website or in the church database.
How do receipts and year-end statements work?
A confirmation email goes out after every completed gift. Recurring gifts send one each time they process. Year-end statements for tax purposes are mailed each January to the address on file. We only send those by email as a last resort.
How does someone change or stop a recurring gift?
Every recurring gift confirmation email carries a Manage Giving link. That link opens the schedule and allows it to be changed or canceled without going through the office. Anyone who cannot find the email can write to [email protected].
What does it cost the church when a gift comes in by card?
Card processing takes a percentage of each gift plus a small flat fee, deducted before the money reaches the church. Bank bill pay and checks carry no processing cost. The giving page shows you the fee and offers to add it to your gift, so you can cover it if you want to.
Fees are not the whole picture. Card gifts arrive already recorded and accurate, while cash and checks have to be counted and keyed in by hand, which costs staff time. Every route has a cost, one in fees and one in hours.
Give whichever way suits you. All of them get the gift where it needs to go.
Is an account required to give?
No. An email address is all that is needed. Anyone who has given before with the same email is sent a short code to confirm it is them, which saves re-entering contact details.
Can a gift be designated for something specific?
Yes, using the fund menu on the giving form or the memo line on a check.
Is my gift tax deductible?
Yes. Sea Change Church is the operating name of La Jolla Christian Fellowship Incorporated, a registered 501(c)(3), so gifts are deductible to the extent the law allows.
Starting with the 2026 tax year, people who take the standard deduction instead of itemizing can also deduct cash gifts to churches, up to $1,000 on a single return and $2,000 on a joint return. Most households do not itemize, so this may apply to you even if giving has not affected your taxes before.
This is general information, not tax advice. A tax professional can confirm what applies to you.
Questions about giving
Joy Murillo handles giving records and can answer anything about a statement, a recurring gift, or a designated fund. Write to [email protected] or call 858.454.9636.