Podcast Episode #560
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Debt can drag down a church’s finances and keep it from being able to minister as it would like to. So when a church retires its debt, it’s typically a cause for celebration.
Some highlights from today’s episode include:
- Debt retirement celebrations should be more of a celebration of God’s provision than debt retirement.
- When debt is eliminated in a church, funds available for ministry increase dramatically.
- Having more money for ministry in a church means having more money to reach people for Christ.
- Too many times in churches that need revitalization we talk about problems instead of promises.
The six failures we discuss are:
- It is a reminder of God’s provisions.
- It is an announcement of new funding for ministry.
- It is a celebration. Churches need to celebrate more often.
- It is a thank you to the members.
- It is great information for newer members who may not know.
Resources mentioned in today’s podcast
Episode Sponsors
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Feedback
If you have a question you would like answered on the show, fill out the form on the podcast page here at ThomRainer.com. If we use your question, you’ll receive a free copy of Scrappy Church.
Besides the mandatory taxes from the salaries, debt servicing is the top line of the expenses list. If it has been on there for years, it has taken money from other line items. It can be a relief to not have that much money going out monthly.
The church I currently serve has about $460,000 left to pay on its mortgage. When I arrived almost 11 years ago it was $1.2 million. The church has had those who have been faithful givers and have given more sacrificially. The problem is that there are those who now gripe about how our giving to missions went down significantly. That has been the case since I arrived. The frustrating part about the whole situation is that those who were influential in pushing the church to build no longer are a part of the church. If I could write a book on all the things that need to be considered before building a new facility, I would. Things are not going to be the same after you build.
This is very true. I went to a church 20 years ago that was in quite a bit of debt. Not the 1.2 million you were dealing with, but large for the size of the congregation, area, and income levels of the members. Many of those that pushed to build the new education area were not even attending any longer. The pastor that wanted this done left shortly after completion and many others left when he did. We did, slowly, get it paid off, but not after many years of wondering how we were going to pay for salaries, utilities, cooperative program and associational missions and local missions we were involved in. When I left 13 years later the church was out of debt and more stable financially. Before going into debt, make sure that everyone is on board and if they say they will help pay-off the debt, then even if they leave, they are responsible in upholding their promise to help retire the debt. That is just my opinion!
Thanks so much. Very timely. We are just weeks away from retiring a 10 year old debt that was here when I arrived almost 4 years ago. We are looking forward to celebrating our Lord’s provisions and people are already talking about how to invest funds into the ministry.
I, too, am grateful for the timing of this post. We are paying off a 15-year mortgage in 45 days that demands $5,000 each month from our revenue. I have pastored this church for 30 years so I was one of the encouragers to champion the work and financial support of our building project. In the past 15 years, we have lost most of those who helped in planning and promoting this cause, but our church continued to raise the level of importance to utilize the structure in ways that gave evidence of a wise investment and to promote the Kingdom of God in our community. I really believe that my commitment to the church was the greatest factor in our getting to this celebrated time in our history. People will always come and then move on, but leadership is most effective when we stand the testing of seasons of plenty and of need. We certainly had those testing times, and still do. But the Lord has been the guiding influence in our persistence to move forward with faith believing and prayerful hearts for the future.
Thanks, Thom.