Managing Church Finances When Money Gets Tight
by Chris Eller | Associate Executive Direction, Baptist Convention of Iowa
Dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way America lives for the immediate future. While many of us are adjusting to a new, much slower pace and a lot of time at home, businesses large and small are dealing with the immediate economic impact. Churches are not exempt from the economic realities we are going to face because of this global crisis.
Here are some thoughts on how churches can plan as we move through the remaining months of 2020:
- Churches may see a delayed impact in comparison to many small businesses. With online giving so readily available today, families will likely continue to support their church financially in the early stages of the crisis. The real impact could hit churches as the economy tightens, and people begin to lose jobs or see a reduction in income.
- Monitor your cashflow carefully. It is important that church leaders are working with the most recent data when it comes to making financial decisions. Many churches generate financial reports monthly, but it could be prudent during a time of crisis to provide weekly financial reports to church leaders.
- Review your budget and identify fixed and non-fixed expenditures. The reality is, for many churches, a large percentage of their budget falls into the fixed category. Moreover, within a church’s fixed expenses, personnel is usually the largest expense category. Consequently, if money gets short, churches will quickly be forced to make painful decisions that will impact the families of your employees. Know how much it will cost your church to fund the absolute minimums to keep your church functioning and solvent.
- Contact your vendors to see what flexibility is available in paying fixed expenses during this crisis? Start with large organizations that will likely get government help to assist people—banks, utilities, etc. Can you forego paying your mortgage, utilities, etc. during the crisis?
- Identify cash reserves. It is not uncommon for a church to have anywhere from a month to up to six months of cash reserve on hand. This means that if your monthly budget is $10,000, the church has at least $10,000 in cash to operate one month without any income. It is unlikely a church will see a complete stoppage of all offerings, so this helps you buffer the changes and gives you time to react.
- Prioritize how you will use your cash reserves. Review your fixed expenses and compare those to your cash reserves. How will you spend your cash reserves, and what expenses will get paid, and which ones will not? As a leadership team, are you willing to deplete your cash reserves to survive this crisis, or will you maintain a minimum account balance regardless of how bad things get?
- Prioritize your employee roster. This is where it gets really difficult as a church leadership team. There are two approaches to prioritizing who gets paid and who will not get paid if things get tight. The first is to look at what you consider essential positions. Keep in mind that as a church, your ministries and services will be significantly diminished, so what was an essential ministry a month ago may not be an essential ministry today. Second, how can you best provide for your employees while dealing with the realities of diminishing finances? This means having an honest conversation with your employees and determine what they need to survive during this crisis? Like the church, each family will have fixed and optional expenses. What will they need to provide Dave Ramsey’s essential four walls during the crisis—food, shelter, utilities, and transportation. With this information, the church can adjust each employee's salary to a bare minimum. NOTE: Employment Laws and regulations are changing rapidly during the COVID-19 crisis. Here are some good resources for churches and nonprofits concerning the CARES Act from CPA Mike Batts.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate. It is essential for church leadership to keep everyone informed of what is happening from a financial perspective. During a national crisis like this, many worthy organizations see a spike in their charitable contributions because they let the need be known, and folks want to help. The church needs to follow this model. As your finances begin to tighten, don’t wait until you are approaching the crisis point to bring your church and employees into the loop of communication. Start by letting your church know you have a financial plan, and you are monitoring the financial health of the church carefully. Update your congregation on the financial condition of your church regularly and frequently. Again, as things tighten, weekly is not too often. If staff layoffs or a reduction in pay seem inevitable, give your employees as much time and flexibility to adjust. No one likes surprises, and learning too late your church is in financial stress will cause your congregation to question your leadership.
- Lead by example. This should go without saying, but it will not be helpful if the families in your congregation are struggling greatly due to financial pressures, and the pastor or staff members are sailing along without any sign of financial stress. Even if your church has a large cash reserve, I would be cautious of deciding to fund your employee payroll at pre-crisis levels while your church members struggle to stay afloat.
Times like this are a true test of leadership. Pastors face the difficult position of leading their churches well during a time of crisis while also recognizing that as a husband and father, they must provide for and care for their family. Don’t isolate yourself or take on a savior complex. If there is one thing all of us need to know and understand is that we are better together.
Sermon Handouts and Listening Notes: Pros and Cons
To do or not to do, that seems to be the question when it comes to sermon handouts and listening notes.Every pastor has their own opinion on this topic. Some avoid sermon notes because they feel it restricts their freedom during sermon delivery. If they provide an outline of their sermon and then opt to skip over some points, everyone in the room knows. Gotcha.Others like the benefit of printed sermon notes for the exact opposite reason: it gives them the opportunity to provide additional content that they won't have time to cover in their sermon, but can provide in the notes.Regardless, as we saw in the post on Learning Styles, when it comes to preaching and teaching, it's not about you. Your question should not focus on what you want or prefer, but on what will make you a better preacher and what will help your congregation learn more from your sermon.Here are some quick pros and cons (from my perspective) concerning sermon notes:
Pros of Sermon Notes:
It is an easy way to engage more learners because you are using a different medium (the written word) to communicate.
It gives your congregation an opportunity to engage through notetaking. Research shows that hearing and writing helps learners stay focused for longer periods of time.
It gives your congregation something to take home and to archive to help them as a disciple and growing student of the Word of God.
It allows you to put text on the handout and use PowerPoint for graphics, visuals, and videos.
It allows you to show cross-references in the Bible which you can point to during your sermon without causing everyone to turn to the verse in the Bible.
Cons of Sermon Notes:
It is tempting to provide too much, thus causing people to read your handout during your sermon rather than listen and engage.
If you use fill-in-the-blanks, you can cause people stress if they miss a blank and have an empty space in their notes. Some overly perfectionistic people have been known to drop dead at moments like these. (Not really.)
It can cause pastors stress if they don't get everything covered in a sermon and everyone in the congregation knows it because they have your notes in front of them.
Creating worth-while sermon notes is an extra step in the sermon preparation process that can get side-stepped too often. The result will be lame excuses for sermon notes that have the title at the top, the date, the text, and three lines of text that say Point 1, Point 2, Point 3 with a lot of space.
What's my advice on providing sermon notes?
I am in favor of the practice. Again, thinking as a teacher, I know that this extra step provides a significant learning opportunity for a wider variety of people. I will almost always provide a handout of some sort or a link to an online handout. This gives me the opportunity to provide a much more in-depth learning experience where I can connect people to many of the resources and research I used in developing the lesson. I also like that it provides an "as-needed" resource for those who want to dig deeper, but it provides the basics for those who are there just for the potluck but hope to pick up something from the teaching. So, in short, I'm a fan.
How Can You Make Your Sermon Notes Better?
Here are some tips that will help you create better sermon notes that will engage your congregation:
Don't use a lot of fill-in-the-blanks. This works better for older congregations, but for anyone 35 and younger, this will seem tedious. Plus, it often causes people to micro-listen for the word to go in the blank and miss the bigger narrative of your teaching. TIP: If you do prefer a lot of fill-in-the-blanks on your handout, be sure to provide a link at the bottom where they can go online and see an answer key with all the blanks filled in.
Stick to one page. There really isn't any need to provide more than a one-page set of notes. That's plenty of room. If you want to provide more content, then put a link at the bottom of the page that will take them to an online version of the notes, where you can link to other resources. (Make sure to make the link simply. Many will access this on their phone or tablet, so typing in a 200 character URL will only frustrate. If you have the skill, provide a QR code with the link.)
Provide space for notetaking. Rather than provide a point-by-point outline of your sermon, give the broad points with room for notetaking. Keep in mind, however, that you want to provide more than just Point 1, Point 2, and Point 3 with whitespace. That's not helpful.
Be sure to include the exact wording of key points or take home truths you will reference during your sermon. If you have a summary statement in your sermon or a list of key points you want people to focus on when they leave, be sure to provide these on the sermon handout word-for-word. It will frustrate people if your summary is five key sentences and they can't write fast enough to keep up with you, but you are telling them this is important... remember these points. Give it to them. Don't make them hunt for it or come up to you have the service and ask you to repeat them or force them to frantically try to snap a picture of your PowerPoint slide.
Provide a short quiz at the end of your sermon handout. Believe it or not, a quiz is an excellent teaching method to help people process and learn information. Even though we hated quizzes when we were in school, for adult learners in a church setting, a quiz can be fun. It's almost like a game or puzzle at the end that will challenge them to see if they learned the key points of your sermon. As with the fill-in-the-blanks option, be sure to provide an answer key someplace so they can check their answers.
What about digital sermon notes?
More and more you see people using their phones instead of a bible during the sermon. Personally, I've come to think this is not a good idea. Again, there is a significant amount of research that is showing the value of analog tools (books, notebooks, paper, pen) when learning.
As you get familiar with your Bible, your brain will actually begin to associate the page location and text with lessons you've learned while reading a portion of Scripture. Moreover, based on personal observation during sermons, I believe a phone is much more of a distraction during a sermon than we realize.
People will open a Bible app at the start of the sermon, but all it takes is one notification of a new Facebook or text message and their mind is off to the races. Even if they are disciplined enough to not follow the notification, the short interruption will take them off course as far as learning is concerned.In addition, I do not believe digital notes are very practical, especially on a phone.
Unlike a computer, that truly can multitask and you can have several apps open at a time, mobile devices tend to fake multitasking when in truth they are not. If you are reading your Bible on a tablet and then switch to a notetaking application to make some notes, you can see your Bible reload when you return to it. Likewise, with your notetaking application. Unless you are a true geek and both comfortable and familiar with notetaking on a digital device, it can be confusing, especially for older folks.I am a fan of providing a digital copy of your note sheet. I believe this is an excellent way to connect people with additional resources and it is another step in your quest to develop a long tail.
Change is Easy; It's the Transition That Will Kill You!
I am attending the Equipping Institute at Group Publishing this week in Loveland, CO. Change was the topic of one of the sessons today. Needless to say, most churches can be labeled “change resistent,” and many church leaders struggle to successfully lead their congregations through meaningful change.
The cause of resistance to change within a church can be one or more of several things:
Tradition
Culture
Bottom Line (out of touch with true mission, e.g. bingo vs. discipleship)
Layperson Influence (many voices speaking into the decision-making process)
Comfort
Mastering Transitions
One of the Aha moments for me today was this statement by William Bridges: “It isn’t the changes that do you in, it’s the transitions. Transitions get messy. The perception or reality is that people must give up something to move on to the next new thing.”
In his book, Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, Bridges highlights three stages of transitions. Understanding these stages will help you successfully navigate change within your organization.
Letting Go — the beginning of the realization that there will be a loss. This is when change is communicated early and people begin to think and talk about how an upcoming change will impact them.
Some tips to help people let go:
Communicate. Talk openly, early, and frequently about the change.
Acknowledge feelings. These could range from anger, joy, sadness to even a sense of loss or grief.
Honor and value the past. The new does not need to be at the expense of the past. You may have people in your church who invested a lot of time and money in something that you are now proposing be done away with. A quote from Andy Stanley is very appropriate: “Remember, whatever you are trying to change was at one point someone’s good idea.”
The Neutral Zone—the “nowhere between two somewheres.” In the midst of transition, there are many challenges, some expected, some unexpected. It is common at this stage for people to long for the past when everything was safe, known, and worked. This can also be a time of high creativity and productivity.
Some tips to help people navigate The Neutral Zone:
Communicate. Explain and help people understand where you are heading.
Don’t rush the process. People navigate change at different speeds and comfort levels.
Celebrate and share God sightings.
New Beginnings—the new normal. This stage has nothing to do with a start date, and you really can’t place an end date on it. It is at this stage in the transition when people accept and embrace the change. For example, you can live in a house for several months before it feels like home.
Tips to help manage the new normal:
Communicate.
Be consistent.
Celebrate and share God sightings.
Symbolize the new beginning. (This is essentially creating memorial markers. We do this by intentionally leading our congregation in activities that will help them to begin creating new memories now that change has happened. For example, when I was with Grace Church, we brought our church family into our new worship center while it was under construction. We gave everyone a Sharpie market and had them write a Bible verse on the concrete floor of the worship center. While this was happening, we took pictures. Today, 12-years later, if you tore up the carpet, you would find several hundred Bible verses scribbled on the floor and the names of people who were with us in 2001.)
How do you help people master the transitions of change?
Communicating Difficult News to Your Church, Part 2
In Part 1 of this series, we looked at how Miles McPherson responded to some difficult news involving the Christian school associated with The Rock Church in San Diego, CA.
In Part 2, we are going to examine how ABWE, a mission agency in Pennsylvania responded to a growing crisis involving their response to accusations of child abuse by on of their missionaries.
In a nutshell, allegations of abuse first surfaced against missionary Donn Ketcham in July 1989. (Ketcham is a medical doctor who served in Bangladesh as an ABWE missionary from 1963-1989.) A 14-year old girl revealed to her pastor that she had been abused by Ketcham. After some initial investigation, the abuser (Ketcham) confessed to the crime and was sent home from the field by ABWE. In communicating about the incident to Ketcham's supporting church, no mention was made of the sexual abuse, simply that he has left the field after confessing a sin to his sending church's pastor. Moreover, the 14-year old girl was coerced into signing a confession of her own guilt in the adulterous affair!
Fast forward 12 years, and the young girls abused on the field by Ketcham are now young women, and they again approach ABWE leadership about the crimes Ketcham committed while on the field. Of even greater concern is that by keeping the matter silent in order to avoid bad publicity, ABWE in essence allowed Ketcham to return to the States and begin practicing medicine again.
Upon hearing the news of Ketcham's crimes, ABWE president, Michael Loftis, agreed to investigate. That was in 2002. Nothing happened until November 2009-10, when the victims mounted a coordinated effort to force ABWE into acknowledging the crimes Ketcham confessed to in 1989 and to deal with the problem.
Finally, realizing that ABWE was not going to publicly acknowledge the crimes of Donn Ketcham or their own roles in bungling the investigation, the victims put up a website detailing their accusations of abuse, their evidence, their communications with ABWE, and the lack of response from ABWE.
Michael Loftis and ABWE Respond
In April 2011, one month after the website went live, Michael Loftis responded with an email to ABWE supporting churches.
Dear Pastor, church member and friend,
I write to you today with a heavy heart. Our mission is estranged from some of our own family members, former Missionary Kids (MKs), and we long to be reconciled to them. I am writing to ask you to pray. Please pray that these MKs will experience healing in areas where currently there is only hurt and disappointment; that God will open the pathways of honest communication; that He will lead us to reconciliation; and that we will have wisdom and humility as we seek this reconciliation.
This estrangement has its roots in the sinful actions of Dr. Donn Ketcham, a former ABWE missionary who molested some of these women when they were children living with their missionary parents in Bangladesh. These women have also been hurt by ABWE’s response to that molestation back in 1989 and in subsequent years. We have discovered much about their pain and anger regarding these circumstances through a blog they recently created.
At the center of the grievances identified on the blog is a claim that ABWE has intentionally and knowingly perpetrated a cover-up of Dr. Ketcham’s crimes. I do not believe that charge is true. However, I do feel that the facts must be established by an independent investigation.
I have asked the ABWE Board to identify an organization, independent of both ABWE and the MKs, which has expertise in investigating child abuse. It is my hope that an investigative organization will be appointed and announced next week by our Board. I hope and pray that this investigation will find the truth; and based on that solid foundation, we will be able to seek reconciliation with these beloved MKs.
Thank you for being a faithful supporter of ABWE missionaries. In addition to your prayers, I also request your patience. I ask for prudence in judging our actions or motives—as I believe an investigation will bring clarity to this situation. We await the final report, so we can respond to the findings with appropriate actions. I ask for your grace as we also attempt to respond lovingly today, tomorrow, and until we have reconciled with our family. Please believe it is our heart’s cry when we say that our greatest concern is to help these MKs.
Under the guidance and in the spirit of Hebrews 10:19-24 we are trusting God to lead us through this time of trouble in a way that brings glory to His name and help to His people. Thank you for your prayers and support of our entire ABWE family.
Hebrews 10:19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds.
Grateful for your partnership in the gospel,
Michael G. Loftis
President
ABWE International, Inc.
PS: Please visit the ABWE website www.abwe.org for updates on this situation. If you have a specific question, please contact Dr. Tony Beckett, our Vice-President for Church Relations.
What do we learn about communicating difficult situations from this email:
The email begins by acknowledging the victims (good), but then proceeds to place blame on the victims who are "estranged" and do not seek reconciliation.
Loftis leads readers to believe that ABWE was unaware of any pain on the part of the victims until their blog appeared in March 2011, less than a month prior to this email.
No where does ABWE acknowledge any wrong-doing in their almost 25-year involvement with both Ketcham and the victims following the 1989 accusation and confession.
The email is flowing with flowering requests for prayer and petitions for healing, yet no where does the email speak with of ABWE's efforts to provide help or counseling to the victims and their families.
ABWE Board Chairman Communicates Dismissal of Loftis
Two months after sending this email, Michael Loftis was asked to resign as president of ABWE. Here is how this news was communicated to supporters:
Dear ABWE Family,
We are writing to you today to let you know that Dr. Michael Loftis has concluded his role as president of ABWE as of June 7, 2011.
The Board of ABWE Ministries, Inc. wishes to express our appreciation to Dr. Loftis and his wife, Jo Beth, for their 13 years as missionaries in Eastern Europe and 10 years in leading our mission, for their unquestioned moral and financial integrity, giftedness, and great passion for the cause of Christ worldwide.
In view of the present needs of the mission and after lengthy prayer and deliberation by the board and interviews with ABWE leadership, the board unanimously decided it would be best to seek a new president. We want to assure you that these decisions were not spontaneous or rushed. They were made after much prayer, deep discussion, careful analysis and a unanimous conclusion that was affirmed by Dr. Loftis, with full support and confidence in the board. These decisions have been some of the most difficult we have faced as a board. The response of Dr. Loftis has been Christ-like, humble, and affirming. We are all confident that God has led us in this decision.
Dr. Al Cockrell has stepped down from the ABWE board and has been appointed the Interim Executive Administrator of ABWE. The board is presently assembling a Strategic Transition Team to assess the needs of the administration, formulate a presidential profile, and initiate a search process for a new president. We anticipate that the process to find our next president could take 18 months, or longer.
We would request your continued, fervent prayers for Michael and Jo Beth, the extended Loftis family, the worldwide ABWE family, the board and the administration as we seek God’s leading and guidance in the days ahead. With deepest gratitude for you and your continual investment in the life and work of Christ through ABWE.
Your servant in Christ,
Ron Berrus
Chair, ABWE Ministries, Inc.
(717) 614-5118
From the ABWE board chairman, this email covers all the legal basis, yet really doesn't acknowledge anything beyond the fact that the board has asked Loftis to step down.
Here are the important conclusions I draw from the ABWE experience:
Communicating difficult news is never easy, but trying to avoid communications invites disaster. No matter how bad the news is, an organization needs to recognize its responsibility to communicate to their constituency and the public in a timely and forthright manner.
While cooperating with law enforcement may take the ball out of a church's court, it is the right thing to do. ABWE could have weathered the storm in 1989 if they had reported Ketcham to law enforcement and let law enforcement do their job.
Communicating difficult news that involves many moving stories and people requires careful coordination. The organization needs to appoint one voice during the crisis and let that person handle all communication on behalf of the organization.
Recognize the power of the Internet and social media. While ABWE may have kept a lid on this 10 or 15 years ago, it is almost impossible in this day of easy access to information technology. It wasn't the concern for the victims that forced ABWE to go public, it was the blog with its documented history of the event.
Don't -- repeat do not -- minimize the pain and agony of the victims in order to cover your own tail What has happened to these families is of no fault of their own. They are not to blame. It is not their responsibility to seek reconciliation and forgiveness. If they do, great, but don't spiritualize the situation by making it sound like they are resisting God by failing to "work through proper channels."
Sadly, if you perform a Google search on the letters ABWE, the search results are not about all of the wonderful missionaries and ministries ABWE has supported over the past decades, but instead it is filled with sites describing the scandal and the abuse by ABWE Missionary, etc. What could have been avoided in 1989 has now become the legacy of this organization for a generation or more.
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Communicating Difficult News to Your Church, Part 1
Communicating difficult news to a church family is never an easy task. If the news involves a staff member, the task often falls to the senior pastor. If the news involves the senior pastor, the task often falls to a board member.
Recently, I had the opportunity to compare two events and the communications sent informing constituents of some troubling news. Both offer some insight into communicating difficult news.
The first is from Miles McPherson, pastor of The Rock Church in San Diego, CA. Here is his email:
Rock Family,
In recent days, you may have heard of an unfortunate and deeply troubling classroom situation that occurred at the Rock Academy some time ago involving a former teacher. It’s a sensitive story because it impacts children, parents, teachers and others who have devoted themselves to family and Christian principles.
Because of the on-going investigation and the request for privacy by those involved, we have been unable to discuss this publicly, but with the media coverage we felt it necessary to communicate at this time.
In February 2010, there was a report of a breach of Academy protocols by one of the school's teachers. Our Church team confirmed the report and the teacher was fired that day. Our Church team also followed our legal requirements to immediately forward the information that resulted in the termination to the San Diego Police Department so they could investigate. That police investigation was ultimately closed in April 2010 because there were no findings of criminal misconduct. As a result, nothing more could be said other than the communication that went out indicating he was no longer with the Academy.
Two years after the teacher’s firing, when new allegations were received of inappropriate physical contact at the time the teacher was employed at the Academy, the Church immediately forwarded that information to police to further their investigation. The status of the police investigation is unknown, but the Church will continue to cooperate fully as we have since the beginning of this unfortunate situation.
I should note that it is the police department's role and responsibility to investigate these claims. The law expressly directs organizations like the Academy and the Church not to interfere with these investigations, and we have not.
For the families who have been directly impacted by this teacher's actions, we have attempted to provide them with professional care and support and will continue to do so.
I do want to assure you that the Rock Academy and the Church are taking all actions necessary to provide a safe environment for the children who attend the school, and we are undertaking a thorough review of our hiring practices and classroom safety protocols to make sure they continue to be the strongest possible. Unfortunately, the best possible practices cannot always prevent unforeseeable individual behavior.
As with any challenge facing our Church, and in this case, the Academy, we trust in the God of all comfort to get us through it (II Corinthians 1:3C4).
Again, because of the ongoing investigation, out of respect for the privacy of those involved, and our deep desire for healing, we cannot comment further and we ask everyone to simply pray for the families and our Church and ask for God’s help during this difficult time.
If you have any comments, questions, concerns or information you would like to communicate, please contact Treena Meyers at 619.226.7625 or [email protected].
Miles McPherson
Here are some lessons we can learn from this email:
The email acknowledges the obvious--the congregation has heard some "unfortunate and deeply troubling" news about the school associated with the church. Right up front, McPherson acknowledges this as fact.
The email explains why the church has remained silent for so long about the issue. They are not hiding anything, but there has been an on-going criminal investigation.
The email provides a brief description of what happened and offers evidence of how the church responded to the incident (firing the teacher) and how they cooperated with law enforcement.
The email acknowledges that new allegations have arisen, which brings the issue to the surface again. I believe this is important simply because in many cases involving inappropriate contact with a minor, there are often additional victims that remain silent.
The email acknowledges the victims and offers evidence that they have received professional help. Too often in a situation like this, the victim is projected as a part of the problem, especially in church-run ministries.
The email concludes with a restatement of the church's continuing efforts to provide a safe environment for children in their care, and that they, again, are providing help for the victims and are cooperating with law enforcement.
I believe this email serves as a good example of how a church should respond in communicating difficult news to its congregation.
In Part 2 of these two-part series, we will examine the communication failures of ABWE in dealing with an explosive situation involving one of their career missionaries.