1 of 3
Tight Money Strategies
Six ways to balance when the budget goes red.
1 of 3
Our financial secretary called. "Pastor, we have more bills this month than money to pay them. What do I do?" I was young and ambitious. I had pressed the board of our small church for an aggressive ministry budget. I hadn't expected an economic downturn to thwart my one-year plan to single-handedly fulfill the Great Commission. Then I remembered the advice a board member gave me on the night I proposed our budget. "You know, Pastor," he said, "my father always taught me that if your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall." It's been almost 20 years, but my hands still shake when I remember picking up the phone, calling the board, and telling them that we were running in the red. Seldom do pastors have to worry about what to do with extra resources lying around the church. The problem is more month at the end of the money than money at the end of the month. After pastoring several years and then becoming a church's chief financial officer, I've found six ways to overcome an unexpected shortfall. Three of them involve increasing your income, and three of them involve decreasing your expenses. The fastest, most painless way to resolve a budgetary crisis is to get more money. Every minister dreams of a day when the local millionaire shows up with a check. But in lieu of such serendipitous patronage, here are three ways to raise money quickly.
1. Share the need from the pulpit.
In the middle of a building program with a hard-line completion date and a public commitment not to borrow "one red cent," we were facing a cost overrun pushing well into five figures. The money wasn't in the general fund. It wasn't in the construction account. It wasn't anywhere. Our pastor prayed and agonized and made a courageous choice: He took it to the people—on a Sunday morning! He humbled himself and told the whole congregation what had happened, why it had happened, and that we needed their help to complete this important ministry project. The money came in within the week. And several visiting families joined the church afterward because, they said, "We had never seen a pastor exercise such humility and financial integrity before." When a congregation loves and trusts its pastor, it can take a dose of financial honesty now and then.
2. Use assets creatively.
|             |
share this page
