Podcast Episode #134
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Discussion about financial barriers and budgets in the local church. As we mention in the podcast, if you want us to examine an item in your church budget, email jonathan.howe@lifeway.com.
Some highlights from today’s episode include:
- Both browbeating people about giving and completely ignoring it are not healthy for a pastor.
- The church should lead by example in good stewardship.
- Zero-based budgeting is often the best budgeting method for churches.
- Offering envelopes are antiquated—but they work to increase giving.
- Millennials want to know the money they give is being spent well.
- Millennials have little patience for waste when it comes to church budgets.
The six keys to breaking financial barriers in your church are:
- Preach on stewardship
- Live within your means as a church
- Use powerful stories around the offertory time
- Provide various means of giving
- Use testimonies during the time of giving in the church
- Understand the mindset of Millennials
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The statistics showing that giving goes up when we pass a plate or have a designated time during the service make me a little uncomfortable– how much of that is a response to the behavioral “nudge” and not true heart-felt, faith-driven giving? How do we separate emotional manipulation (ie: “use powerful stories around offertory time”) and the true desire to be a cheerful giver?
You must remember that some people plan their giving annually and give online. Thus, the offering plate goes right past them.
As to the young wanting to know where the money goes. Yes, we do want to know. We are not as concerned with the fine details but the overall spending plan and the return on the congregation’s investments. There are reports online of big-time art museums who once got donations from the older generations (now elderly if not deceased) and now they are having to work on the younger generation with dinners and events to get them interested in supporting them. It is a different world when your potential donors don’t understand what you do or why it qualifies as charity. (If 90% of the church budget goes to the facility, then you may get questions about how that expense could be cut or the facility repurposed.) Lots will need to be rethought in the next decade.
I would add that prayer is most important. When the people have toward the tabernacle in Exodus 35, God stirred their hearts to give. “Then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments…36:3 They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.”
This kind of giving comes from what God places on our hearts. Let us pray for this kind of giving; the kind where we literally have to ask people to stop giving.
My question on this: would we actually ask people to stop giving?
To me, the critical factor in stimulation of giving is the existence of a compelling vision, with a clear purpose, usually linked to the health of the church’s current or recent past success in making an impact in the community. A second critical factor is to emphasis tithes, offerings and gifts so that even visitors can be encouraged to participate even with a small gift. Of course, teaching and preaching on stewardship are important, but forceful teaching and preaching can breed resistance when vision is lacking and purpose is vague.
This illustrates to me the real reason why church is becoming irrelevant in our society. The Church has the wrong focus. Preaching on stewardship is great but teaching and living by faith is way better. Budgeting is not something that a church should be doing. Christianity is not about constraints or living within ones means. God has no boundaries, no need to live within means. The church should not budget but live by faith month by month week by week. If the people of the church would get together monthly to pray and agree on what they should do, going way above what they could dream or imagine, just think of what could happen. Pick a problem, homelessness, poverty, addictions. Take it on play way above your means, but not God’s, believing that it can be done. Wouldn’t you then have a vision, wouldn’t people then see and be involved in what was happening. Wouldn’t need envelopes or compelling stories. Faith would drive people to act and to give. Sadly what you write is where the church is and certainly should not be. Live by faith, not budgets.