Our church budget
29/01/16 05:11
Over the years, I have spent quite a bit of time wresting with and worrying about budgets. I’ve probably worried too much, truth be told. On Sunday our congregation will vote on the budget for another year. It will be the congregation’s 137th budget and the 21st one since I have been pastor. This year’s budget is a very good document. We have an especially good Department of Stewardship and Budget, a long-standing, caring and accurate treasurer and enough combined experience to be accurate in our predictions of income and expense.
Like all good church budgets, the document is a statement of our faith. There are no guarantees. There are plenty of variables that we can’t control. We don’t know the exact weather to predict how many times the parking lot will have to be plowed or how much energy we will use to keep the building warm. We don’t know which of our new members will pledge or how much they will be inspired to give. We don’t know who in our congregation will come to the end of their life’s journey or have a major change in their life such as the loss of a job, an especially profitable business deal, a major health incident, or a child with extraordinary needs.
We believe that God will supply the things we truly need to be a faithful church. We pay attention to the things we believe that God is calling us to do and we try very hard not to be frivolous or wasteful with the resources we are given.
Over the years I have been witness to some incredible displays of generosity. I remember a day a quarter of a century ago when I was leading worship in our church in a different place when a young woman with two children took a seat at the back of the room. After worship she asked to talk to me and explained that they had just spent the night in a woman’s shelter, that they had a bus ticket to take them to the town where her sister lived and that they needed a ride to the bus station. I offered them a ride. As we drove the significant distance across town, I discovered that the bus ride was going to take more than 12 hours and that she had no money for food for her children or herself on the ride. As we stopped at the bus station I pulled out my wallet. I had $20 so I gave it to her for food on her journey. She asked me if I could wait, so I did. Less than 10 minutes later, she appeared, carrying one child with the other walking beside her. I rolled down the window of my car and she leaned in and handed me 2 $1 bills, saying, “Here’s my tithe. Thanks.”
I’ve been handed checks for more than $10,000 and pledges for more than $20,000, but I’ve never been handed a more generous gift than I received that day. My hands were shaking as I put the gift into an envelope and added it to the morning’s collection at the church. I am still amazed at her generosity all these years later. With that kind of generosity, I know our church will always have what is needed.
There are many other stories.
Yesterday I stopped to visit a family who has faced some really significant challenges. The household is home to a woman and her husband, a daughter and her boyfriend, and a granddaughter who announced to me yesterday, perhaps somewhat earlier than planned, that she is going to become a big sister. The husband has held a steady job since I’ve known the family, but the wife cannot work as a result of several health crises. She is on dialysis as she waits on the list for a kidney transplant. I knew from a conversation with her that the week had been stressful. Her mother is in the hospital and facing significant surgery today. I brought a bottle of laundry detergent and a package of toilet paper with me on my visit to help them stretch their resources through the weekend until payday on Monday. I sat at the kitchen table which was bare except for a bowl of carrots and celery sticks that had been set out as a snack for the granddaughter. After a few minutes of visiting, the granddaughter got up from her place, grabbed the bowl and came over to stand next to me. She offered me her treat. I was honored to accept on carrot stick and one piece of celery.
I could afford to supplement that family’s groceries every week without putting much of a dent in my personal financial resources, but they understand that teaching a four year old girl gracious generosity is important even when there are no extra resources.
As witness to such abundant generosity, I know I won’t be losing sleep over the church’s budget this year. There will be problems to solve, for sure. There will be things we’d like to have that we’ll learn to do without just like any other church. We may have to make a special request or two for funding. But I know the we can afford $600 per month to support the feeding program at our sister church in Costa Rica. I know we can afford a little extra to support Placerville Camp and United Campus Ministries. I know we’ll be able to keep the lights on and the building warm. I know that the people who work at the church will be provided with what they need to support their families.
I know that God will send incredibly generous people to our church and that we will benefit from their graciousness.
Every church budget is a statement of faith that is as dependent upon prayer as it is upon pledge cards. Some years our budgets are more accurate than others. God doesn’t demand absolute accuracy from us, only faith, hope and love.
And God supplies the faith, hope and love that we need.
Like all good church budgets, the document is a statement of our faith. There are no guarantees. There are plenty of variables that we can’t control. We don’t know the exact weather to predict how many times the parking lot will have to be plowed or how much energy we will use to keep the building warm. We don’t know which of our new members will pledge or how much they will be inspired to give. We don’t know who in our congregation will come to the end of their life’s journey or have a major change in their life such as the loss of a job, an especially profitable business deal, a major health incident, or a child with extraordinary needs.
We believe that God will supply the things we truly need to be a faithful church. We pay attention to the things we believe that God is calling us to do and we try very hard not to be frivolous or wasteful with the resources we are given.
Over the years I have been witness to some incredible displays of generosity. I remember a day a quarter of a century ago when I was leading worship in our church in a different place when a young woman with two children took a seat at the back of the room. After worship she asked to talk to me and explained that they had just spent the night in a woman’s shelter, that they had a bus ticket to take them to the town where her sister lived and that they needed a ride to the bus station. I offered them a ride. As we drove the significant distance across town, I discovered that the bus ride was going to take more than 12 hours and that she had no money for food for her children or herself on the ride. As we stopped at the bus station I pulled out my wallet. I had $20 so I gave it to her for food on her journey. She asked me if I could wait, so I did. Less than 10 minutes later, she appeared, carrying one child with the other walking beside her. I rolled down the window of my car and she leaned in and handed me 2 $1 bills, saying, “Here’s my tithe. Thanks.”
I’ve been handed checks for more than $10,000 and pledges for more than $20,000, but I’ve never been handed a more generous gift than I received that day. My hands were shaking as I put the gift into an envelope and added it to the morning’s collection at the church. I am still amazed at her generosity all these years later. With that kind of generosity, I know our church will always have what is needed.
There are many other stories.
Yesterday I stopped to visit a family who has faced some really significant challenges. The household is home to a woman and her husband, a daughter and her boyfriend, and a granddaughter who announced to me yesterday, perhaps somewhat earlier than planned, that she is going to become a big sister. The husband has held a steady job since I’ve known the family, but the wife cannot work as a result of several health crises. She is on dialysis as she waits on the list for a kidney transplant. I knew from a conversation with her that the week had been stressful. Her mother is in the hospital and facing significant surgery today. I brought a bottle of laundry detergent and a package of toilet paper with me on my visit to help them stretch their resources through the weekend until payday on Monday. I sat at the kitchen table which was bare except for a bowl of carrots and celery sticks that had been set out as a snack for the granddaughter. After a few minutes of visiting, the granddaughter got up from her place, grabbed the bowl and came over to stand next to me. She offered me her treat. I was honored to accept on carrot stick and one piece of celery.
I could afford to supplement that family’s groceries every week without putting much of a dent in my personal financial resources, but they understand that teaching a four year old girl gracious generosity is important even when there are no extra resources.
As witness to such abundant generosity, I know I won’t be losing sleep over the church’s budget this year. There will be problems to solve, for sure. There will be things we’d like to have that we’ll learn to do without just like any other church. We may have to make a special request or two for funding. But I know the we can afford $600 per month to support the feeding program at our sister church in Costa Rica. I know we can afford a little extra to support Placerville Camp and United Campus Ministries. I know we’ll be able to keep the lights on and the building warm. I know that the people who work at the church will be provided with what they need to support their families.
I know that God will send incredibly generous people to our church and that we will benefit from their graciousness.
Every church budget is a statement of faith that is as dependent upon prayer as it is upon pledge cards. Some years our budgets are more accurate than others. God doesn’t demand absolute accuracy from us, only faith, hope and love.
And God supplies the faith, hope and love that we need.