Toolbox For Faith

Many church leaders approach finances as if all months are created equal. One finance committee at a church with a budget of $600,000 decided to divide by 12 and told the board and the congregation that they needed $50,000 a month to meet their budget. They ignored the fact that in December, they always received at least $95,000 to $105,000. As a result, starting in January, they immediately started falling behind and by November, they were at least $45,000 behind. Because they were behind, they would cut back expenditures starting in the summer when their offerings dropped significantly. All the talk was about how bad the church was doing. To quote scrooge who could have been a member of the finance committee, “Bah! Humbug!” By the end of the year, they always made their spending plan but by the time everyone realized it, a new year was starting and they were already behind because they assumed all months were created equal.

Offerings do not come in the same each month so the board needs to index the congregational income by determining the percentage of income they can expect each month. Start by looking back over the past three to five years and look at the percentage of the year’s income comes in each month. You will discover that most congregations have a specific pattern of giving. Realize that a fifth Sunday will change the shape of offerings and that either March or April will be boosted by Easter attendance. You will see a trend over the years as most months will be consistent in what percentage of the annual spending plan that is given. Instead of dividing by 12, take the annual budget and use the percentage for each month to see how much should be received. By doing this, you have a much better projection of what should be received each month.

The board can do the same thing with expenditures. Items like insurance come at the same time each year. Like offerings, expenditures can be projected based on the patterns from past years.

I received an email last week from a friend about potential factors involved in dealing with reduced giving in a congregation. As I thought about the situation, these five points came to mind.

1. Attendance - if attendance is trending down, that may explain part of the problem. People who don’t attend, typically don’t give - unless you have an automated giving system in place.

2. Increased Giving offset by Missing Families - Individuals may already have increased their giving, but that increase may be offset by families who have left or reduced giving. If you don’t see an increase in giving in response to a direct appeal, it doesn’t mean that people don’t want to respond, it may simply reflect the fact that the people who are present are already giving at their highest level, but it isn’t enough to offset what is lost. A detailed analysis of giving patterns could help bring clarity to this question.

3. The “If you want to see a change in the congregation, feel free to make two changes in yourself first.” Principle - Often people are more willing to make a change if they see change already happening around them. A clear announcement of an increase in giving by leadership combined with a small spending cut or a new source of funding, could encourage other people to act as well. Simply announcing we need to make a change probably won’t be enough.

4. Increased ministry = increased giving. Increased shepherding = increased giving. Often the best way to increase giving is not to send a letter, but to celebrate the ministry being done and to increase the amount of shepherding (caring/visits/conversations) taking place in the congregation. If I found myself in a congregation with a declining giving pattern, I would celebrate a “ministry success” loudly and then start making my way around to visit folks (in person or by phone) and simple ask how they were doing. I wouldn’t ask about money, just life. This is a long-term solution, not a quick fix.

5. How often are you saying “Thank You”? If you aren’t doing so already, I’d start sending (at least) quarterly giving statements with a thank you note in each one. Again, don’t ask for money, simply report what has been given, say “Thank You” and connect that gift to a ministry taking place within the congregation. This too is a long-term solution, not a quick fix.

Over the last few days, I was participating in a continuing education event and someone asked about their “budget/spending plan”. Dr. Callahan suggested that instead of using either phrase that we instead talk about our ministry investments. It’s not a budget. It’s not spending on ministry. It is a financial investment in the ministry God is calling us to do. This way of describing our finances appealed to me and so for 2011, I am going to suggest that we propose to the congregation our “Investments in Ministry” instead of a “Spending Plan for Ministry.” Given the structure of our finances, the investment document will probably contain these categories.

Investments in Ministry

• Investments in Core Ministries
• Investment in Facilities Expansion
• Investments in Preventative Maintenance and On-going Restoration
• Investments in Ministry Partnerships

I need to determine the specifics of how all our our ministries will fit under these categories, but I hope this will be an effective way to discuss our stewardship of God’s gifts to us.

One of my great learnings over my years in ministry is that God always gives us the power to do what he calls us to do! That is one of the great lessons of Pentecost which we celebrate this coming Sunday.

I was reminded of that lesson last week as I was going over some old family photographs and found a picture of the construction of Reformation Lutheran Church in Greeneville, Tennessee in 1934, the middle of the great depression. That building is an amazing response of faith, hope and courage in the midst of financial disaster. They knew that God was giving them the power to do what he had called them to do.

The same day I found the picture, I talked to a member of the governing body of a nearby congregation who was sharing with me that they were cutting back because of the financially difficult times. Ironically, they have a “rainy day fund” built up over the past few good years but want to save it for when “they really needed it.” Their actions teach me that they have not looked at what God is calling them to do in mission and ministry. He never said that they had prayed, reflected and prayed again and after great discernment concluded that God was calling them to cut back.

In today’s financial climate, it is more important than ever to ask what God is calling a congregation to do in mission and ministry instead of simply cutting back. We might not be able to do everything we want but we have the power to do everything that God calls us to do. Once we hear the voice of God, we respond with the knowledge that God will give us the power to do what he calls us to do. That power even includes finances. Today’s environment calls for faith, hope and courage like displayed in the actions of the people in 1934 who built their church when everything financially told them not to act. God gives us the power to do what he calls us to do!

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Several years ago, St. Michael added the ability to receive online donations to our website. At the time, we were one of the few congregations I could find with an integrated donation section on our site. Over time, we have developed a small, but significant percentage of the congregation which makes use of this online giving option. In addition, we have several people who make donations through their online banking services. During an average week, we receive between 10% and 20% of our weekly offerings through online giving.

For years, congregations have tried to make it easier for people to give - offering plates, coin boxes, offering envelopes, and mailed offering envelopes. Since many people are paid electronically and pay all of their bills electronically, I seems reasonable to assume that the percentage of people giving electronically will continue to increase. If congregations want to continue to make it easy for people to support their ministry, then before long, an online giving option will probably be a necessity for most congregations.

Every congregation sends out annual giving statements at this time of year. At St. Michael, we put a thank you note in each statement which tries to connect the individual’s gift to the ministry which is taking place. The format of the “Thank You” note always stays the same, but the ministry picture changes. This year we created a half-page thank you note. On one side is a photo collage showing ministry throughout the year, while on the other side is thank you with a description of the 2010 Ministry Funds. I have posted each side of the insert below for you to see.

Thank You Note with Photos - Jan 2010
Thank You with Fund Summary - Jan 2010

Like most churches, St. Michael has several different ministry funds. For years, gifts to support our Spending Plan for Ministry have gone to a fund which is called the “Current Fund” by some people and the the “General Fund” by other people. This year we decided to change the name of this fund to the “Core Ministry Fund.” In today’s world where people are often more interested in giving to specific, designated funds, we thought it was important to make it clear that donations to the Core Ministry Fund are not just general donations, but in fact support the core ministries of St. Michael - worship, shepherding, education, youth ministry and senior adult ministry. Hopefully, this will help people make the connection between their generous response to God’s love and the ministry that their generosity makes happen in the world.

I woke up yesterday morning worrying about finances. Like many ministries, we were counting on a strong December to fully support our 2009 spending plan, but harsh weather required us to cancel one service and dramatically reduced attendance at three others. Unlike Rick Warren, I did not, and cannot, put out a plea to raise $2.5 million dollars in a few days, so we finished 2009 with a deficit in our Core Ministry Fund. We have reserves to cover the shortfall, so we aren’t in trouble, we simply aren’t where we want to be. We have done excellent ministry in the past year - completed a facilities expansion, expanded a community feeding program, served more people in ministry than ever before. When you include designated giving, our overall giving was as strong as ever, but still I worried about dipping into the reserves.


Now I have often heard it said that God acts in many and various ways, but Sunday morning was the first time in my life that God ever acted through the words of a song from an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. As I was doing a little work between services, I started thinking of a song from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat where Joseph is telling the Pharaoh that his dream means that seven good years will be followed by seven years of drought. Joseph instructs Pharaoh to save food during the good years and then use the stored food during the lean years (Gen 41:25-36). Now I certainly hope that St. Michael’s ministry doesn’t experience 5 financial lean years following five strong financial years, because we didn’t save as much as Pharaoh did, but Joseph’s wisdom helped ease my mind about tapping into our reserves. God’s people gave generously and allowed us to build up an appropriate reserve over the last five years and now when we experienced a lean year, we were blessed with the ability to continue our ministry uninterrupted because of that generosity and stewardship. As Joseph counseled Pharaoh centuries ago, being a good steward when you are abundantly blessed can prepare you for those times of scarcity.


Now let me be clear - I am not advocating hoarding cash. As the Israelites discovered when they started hoarding manna in the wilderness - hoarding stinks. In fact, once we reached a level of reserves that we were comfortable with at St. Michael, we used any extra giving at the end of the year for extra benevolence gifts. I am suggesting, however, that it is wise for congregations to maintain financial reserves and, here’s the important part, to be at peace about using them when needed.