Budget Work
13/01/12 04:32
This week is the time of the most intense work that I do on the annual church budget. In our congregation, the budget is developed by the Department of Stewardship and Budget. Then it goes to the Church Board and from the Board to the Congregation for approval at the annual meeting. The Department has a special meeting scheduled for Saturday to iron out the details. My job in preparation for that meeting is to research numbers from previous annual reports, estimate expenses and make sure that individuals have the information they need.
There is a more important role that I need to assume at the meeting on Saturday, however. I am pastor to the congregation. As so, I have multiple responsibilities. A minor role is that I serve as the operations officer of the congregation. I say minor, because technically, the Moderator of the congregation is the CEO. My role as an operations officer is to carry out the will of the congregation as expressed through its various elected officials. I do not determine policy, establish the budget, or try to influence the work of the Department, Board or Congregation. However, as an operations officer, it is my responsibility to encourage members to think seriously about money. Often people want to say, “money and religion don’t mix,” or “I don’t want to belong to a church where all they talk about is money.” But the truth is that it takes money to run the institution. Churches often avoid talking about the essence of their budgets when they use euphemisms such as “gifts,” “tithes,” “offerings,” and other terms to avoid talking about money. I have a responsibility to work with others to make sure that accounting is complete and accurate and that the budget is followed. I do have to talk about money. That is the easy side of my job.
The difficult side of my job is that I need to be pastor to the whole congregation. With regards to money, that means that I need to enable official groups to remember that every penny that we have is an article of faith. No one has to contribute to our church. What we have is the result of a free choice and an expression of generosity. As such it is a sacred trust. The Holy Spirit has inspired generosity in our people. The money we have is an expression of faith and the result of God’s work in our midst. Even though paying utility bills, buying janitorial supplies and running an office seem earthly and not theological, I need to keep interpreting our decisions from a theological perspective. Beyond that I have a responsibility to care for all of the people involved in the process from the smallest donor to the biggest power broker. It is not acceptable for the will of a few to override the intentions of many. When disagreements arise my role is to listen carefully and seek the unity that is at the heart of our life in Christ. Jesus’ prayer, “That they all may be one,” is my prayer for my congregation in this time.
Budgets are serious matters. People really care. Tempers flare. And I am a member of the congregation. I filled out my pledge card. I make my regular donations. After more than three decades of serving as a pastor, I have learned how important it is for me to be minister to all people, especially those with whom I disagree. The four most important words for pastors in situations like this are: “Don’t take it personally.” That is easier said than done. I am personally involved. Feelings rise in me just like they do in others. And, to switch to my operations officer mode for a moment, the decisions affect my salary and the salaries of the people with whom I work most closely. The programs that are funded by the church budget are programs on which we have together worked, for which we have together prayed, and with which we will be working in the year to come.
There is much good news in all of this. Our congregation is wondrously generous. We ended 2011 with a healthy surplus. Donations outpaced projections in all categories. In addition to our regular budget, there was strong and consistent support for three major special projects – needed building improvements in our Costa Rica sister church, a new shade structure for our church patio, and the Mission: 1 campaign to reduce hunger. Our grass roots mission projects such as the Woodchucks, Card Group, Quilters, Prayer Shawls, Rummage Sales and other events were all supported by hours of volunteer labor and much love. All of the statistical indicators are up in our congregation – increased worship attendance, increased church school attendance, increased visitors, new members, and expanding ministries. We added a new ordained minister to our staff in 2010, fully supported that position in 2011 and are prepared to continue our growth and expansion in the year to come. We are debt free and carry generous reserves. Ours is a cash operation. What we have, we invest in mission and ministry. What we don’t have we live without.
I have opportunities to look at the budgets of other congregations. I have read the studies and the statistics. I know how fortunate we are. I have often said and I really mean it: “I wouldn’t trade our congregation’s budget for the budget of any other congregation in town.” That doesn’t mean that we can’t get complacent. It doesn’t mean that it is easy for us to find agreement about our spending priorities. It doesn’t even mean that we can agree on income projections. On the spectrum from fear to unreasonable optimism, we have members who find themselves in many different positions.
What it does mean is that our struggles are a gift of God. Discipleship is never easy. Discerning God’s call has to be done over an over again.
There was a time when I thought that perhaps the most difficult discernment of my life would be determining that I was called to ordained ministry. I did struggle with that decision and it did not come easily. But being ordained did not ease the requirement that I seriously consider what it means to follow Jesus every day. The struggles of forming a budget are part of the struggles of living in community.
So today I begin with a prayer of thanksgiving for the challenges of the next few weeks. I do not ask for a simple road to the annual meeting. I do not ask for a budget that is easy to meet. I do not ask for nights that are free of worry or days that are stripped from hard work. I do not pray that I will get my own way or that my ideas will prevail. I pray that we will together build a budget and a year of growing in our relationship with God and each other. I do pray that our budget will be faithful to God’s call. And may we never forget to be grateful for all that God has given us – even the diversity of our ideas and opinions.
May my gratitude for God’s goodness override any petty feeling that comes to my mind along the way. May God bless our budget and may our budget be a blessing to others.
There is a more important role that I need to assume at the meeting on Saturday, however. I am pastor to the congregation. As so, I have multiple responsibilities. A minor role is that I serve as the operations officer of the congregation. I say minor, because technically, the Moderator of the congregation is the CEO. My role as an operations officer is to carry out the will of the congregation as expressed through its various elected officials. I do not determine policy, establish the budget, or try to influence the work of the Department, Board or Congregation. However, as an operations officer, it is my responsibility to encourage members to think seriously about money. Often people want to say, “money and religion don’t mix,” or “I don’t want to belong to a church where all they talk about is money.” But the truth is that it takes money to run the institution. Churches often avoid talking about the essence of their budgets when they use euphemisms such as “gifts,” “tithes,” “offerings,” and other terms to avoid talking about money. I have a responsibility to work with others to make sure that accounting is complete and accurate and that the budget is followed. I do have to talk about money. That is the easy side of my job.
The difficult side of my job is that I need to be pastor to the whole congregation. With regards to money, that means that I need to enable official groups to remember that every penny that we have is an article of faith. No one has to contribute to our church. What we have is the result of a free choice and an expression of generosity. As such it is a sacred trust. The Holy Spirit has inspired generosity in our people. The money we have is an expression of faith and the result of God’s work in our midst. Even though paying utility bills, buying janitorial supplies and running an office seem earthly and not theological, I need to keep interpreting our decisions from a theological perspective. Beyond that I have a responsibility to care for all of the people involved in the process from the smallest donor to the biggest power broker. It is not acceptable for the will of a few to override the intentions of many. When disagreements arise my role is to listen carefully and seek the unity that is at the heart of our life in Christ. Jesus’ prayer, “That they all may be one,” is my prayer for my congregation in this time.
Budgets are serious matters. People really care. Tempers flare. And I am a member of the congregation. I filled out my pledge card. I make my regular donations. After more than three decades of serving as a pastor, I have learned how important it is for me to be minister to all people, especially those with whom I disagree. The four most important words for pastors in situations like this are: “Don’t take it personally.” That is easier said than done. I am personally involved. Feelings rise in me just like they do in others. And, to switch to my operations officer mode for a moment, the decisions affect my salary and the salaries of the people with whom I work most closely. The programs that are funded by the church budget are programs on which we have together worked, for which we have together prayed, and with which we will be working in the year to come.
There is much good news in all of this. Our congregation is wondrously generous. We ended 2011 with a healthy surplus. Donations outpaced projections in all categories. In addition to our regular budget, there was strong and consistent support for three major special projects – needed building improvements in our Costa Rica sister church, a new shade structure for our church patio, and the Mission: 1 campaign to reduce hunger. Our grass roots mission projects such as the Woodchucks, Card Group, Quilters, Prayer Shawls, Rummage Sales and other events were all supported by hours of volunteer labor and much love. All of the statistical indicators are up in our congregation – increased worship attendance, increased church school attendance, increased visitors, new members, and expanding ministries. We added a new ordained minister to our staff in 2010, fully supported that position in 2011 and are prepared to continue our growth and expansion in the year to come. We are debt free and carry generous reserves. Ours is a cash operation. What we have, we invest in mission and ministry. What we don’t have we live without.
I have opportunities to look at the budgets of other congregations. I have read the studies and the statistics. I know how fortunate we are. I have often said and I really mean it: “I wouldn’t trade our congregation’s budget for the budget of any other congregation in town.” That doesn’t mean that we can’t get complacent. It doesn’t mean that it is easy for us to find agreement about our spending priorities. It doesn’t even mean that we can agree on income projections. On the spectrum from fear to unreasonable optimism, we have members who find themselves in many different positions.
What it does mean is that our struggles are a gift of God. Discipleship is never easy. Discerning God’s call has to be done over an over again.
There was a time when I thought that perhaps the most difficult discernment of my life would be determining that I was called to ordained ministry. I did struggle with that decision and it did not come easily. But being ordained did not ease the requirement that I seriously consider what it means to follow Jesus every day. The struggles of forming a budget are part of the struggles of living in community.
So today I begin with a prayer of thanksgiving for the challenges of the next few weeks. I do not ask for a simple road to the annual meeting. I do not ask for a budget that is easy to meet. I do not ask for nights that are free of worry or days that are stripped from hard work. I do not pray that I will get my own way or that my ideas will prevail. I pray that we will together build a budget and a year of growing in our relationship with God and each other. I do pray that our budget will be faithful to God’s call. And may we never forget to be grateful for all that God has given us – even the diversity of our ideas and opinions.
May my gratitude for God’s goodness override any petty feeling that comes to my mind along the way. May God bless our budget and may our budget be a blessing to others.