FINANCES IN POST PANDEMIC CHURCH #1

          I know this isn’t a surprise to you, but there has been (and continues to be) a pandemic. And while the pandemic has affected most, if not all, areas of our lives, it has affected churches as well.  Many church buildings had to close down, many services couldn’t be held in person, although we got really good at services outside and virtual ones. Finances of the church were affected as well. For some churches, there wasn’t an immediate effect, because of PPP loans and/or the generosity of many. For others, the financial effect was immediate and harsh.  A speaker at a workshop that I took during the pandemic said “some churches have suffered because of the pandemic and some have not---yet.”

          Because of this effect, whether it’s immediate or future, whether it’s short-term or long-term, there are some financial lessons that we should remember. I subscribe to a blog called “Leading Ideas” offered through churchleadership.com, and one of their recent blogs had eight financial lessons we should learn. I think some of them are common-sense and are important, pandemic or not. I am citing that blog, but am paraphrasing much of what I learned. This week’s blog will include four of those “lessons”.

1.   Know your folks. Not everyone was affected the same way. Some people lost jobs, some people were declared essential, some actually had reduced expenses. You can’t assume everyone suffered financially during the pandemic in the same way.

 

2.   Keep asking people to give. Some churches have stopped asking because it was a challenging time. If you stop asking, some people stop giving, and the financial issues of the church become worse. Think of it this way: no matter when, there are always going to be people in the church who are “on hard times”. There are illnesses, job losses and other challenges. If people stop giving because they are unable to give, they are still valued. This is why knowing your folks helps in determining what is going on in their lives. Not because finances are their lives, but finances are usually a symptom of a change. A reason why knowing what folks give is an important pastoral concern.

3.   Adjust generosity efforts beyond the “norm”. Our traditions of asking for and receiving money have stopped working. And it has nothing to do with the pandemic. They had stopped working before, but we could ignore the issue until the pandemic forced us to face it head on. Fewer people attend regularly, so if you consider the church a pond, there are fewer fish to fish for. The good thing about the pandemic is that electronic giving became necessary. But simply spending a minute during a virtual service inviting people to click their phone on the QR code on the screen or send a check isn’t going to do it. Be creative about soliciting those electronic gifts!

4.   Develop other streams of income. It is becoming obvious that it’s not possible to support the ministry of the church solely through the offering plates (or electronic giving). If your only stream of income are those offerings, you will only see scarcity, not abundance. God has provided an abundance. We simply have to open our eyes. Look at our assets. Those assets include: money, physical buildings, land, space, partners, people, and others. I encourage you to consider looking at what your assets are—all of them. A book that I found fascinating and very informative on this very topic is The Coming Revolution in Church Economics: Why Tithes and Offerings Are No Longer Enough, and What You Can Do About It by Mark Deymaz with Harry Li (Baker Books, 2019). The author says the purpose of the book was “to share the why, how, and what of funding local churches beyond tithes and offerings. Ultimately, our purpose is to help your church improve its bottom line in consideration of resources, mission advance, and long-term gospel impact.”[1]

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[1] Deymaz, Mark and Harry Li, The Coming Revolution in Church Economics: Why Tithes and Offerings Are No Longer Enough, and What You Can Do About It (Baker Books, 2019).

 

             STEPS IMPORTANT TO YOUR COMMITMENT CAMPAIGN #4

          I’m continuing the blog series I started three weeks ago based on the “Ten Commandments for Commitment Campaigns” found on the United Methodist Stewardship Foundation of Michigan website. We’ve talked about not waiting until Labor Day to start; being clear about what the outcome of the campaign should be; recruiting people to assist with the campaign; making the campaign about commitment rather than budget, being as personal as possible; focusing on the campaign only; establishing God’s abundance as focus of campaign and encouraging proportional giving.

          There are two “commandments” left.

          The ninth recommendation is to follow up assertively. The word used by the Michigan foundation is to follow up aggressively. I don’t know, but that seems like a negative work. I get the point, following up is vital. If you don’t follow up, you lose the change to thank the givers and follow up with others that haven’t yet given. But aggressively sounds a little like banging on a door and yelling for admission. Assertively is still strong, but not as negative (to me). See, the thing is, no matter how good your campaign, no matter how many ways you make contact, some people will be missed. Some people will need a little encouragement. Follow up quickly.

          The tenth recommendation is praying for guidance, before, throughout and even after the campaign. It’s not about us, it’s about what God is calling us to be and to do. Stop what you’re doing and pray for God’s guidance in what you’re doing. While it’s important to plan and have good leadership in a commitment campaign, it’s even more important to realize that God needs to direct your efforts and how your folks will respond.

          If your campaign is to fund the ministries that God is calling your church to do in the upcoming year, involving God in that campaign only makes sense!

          That is ten commandments. But I want to make an eleventh:

          Thank people. Thank them for their attention, their prayers, their gifts, their leadership. No matter how well-run our campaigns are, this is the step most of us don’t do well. We’ve planned, we’ve asked, we’ve reaped the benefits. Now we’re able to do budgeting work and “get to work”, but we don’t thank the people whose gifts are making it possible for the ministries of God to be done through your church.

          Be thankful! Thank people! In person, in writing, every way you can.

 

                 STEPS IMPORTANT TO YOUR COMMITMENT CAMPAIGN #3

          I’m continuing the blog series I started a couple weeks ago based on the “Ten  Commandments for Commitment Campaigns” found on the United Methodist Stewardship Foundation of Michigan website. We’ve talked about not waiting until Labor Day to start; being clear about what the outcome of the campaign should be; and recruiting people to assist with the campaign; making the campaign about commitment rather than budget, being as personal as possible; and focusing on the campaign only.

          The seventh recommendation is to establish God’s abundance as the focus of the campaign.  Too often we focus on scarcity rather than abundance. We have conversations about how the number of the people in the pews has decreased, how income isn’t enough to cover the bills, etc., etc. We are blessed abundantly by the God of abundance. We need to focus on that, inviting people to be faithful stewards with the gifts that God has given to them. Stewardship depends on that; it doesn’t depend on unemployment rates or low giving patterns.

          The eighth recommendation is to encourage proportional giving. Tithing is a Biblical concept that says the minimum amount of giving is ten percent. For many people, ten percent, or tithing is a scary or seemingly insurmountable goal. Focus on proportional giving. If someone is currently giving what amounts to about one percent of income, encourage them to increase it to two percent and so on. Having that concrete goal helps establish giving for them.

All of this Biblical. Don’t be ashamed!

 

 

 

           MORE STEPS IMPORTANT TO YOUR COMMITMENT CAMPAIGN

          I’m continuing the blog series I started last week based on the “Ten   Commandments for Commitment Campaigns” found on the United Methodist Stewardship Foundation of Michigan website.

          Last week, we talked about three recommendations, which included not waiting until Labor Day to start; be clear about what the outcome of the campaign should be; and the third is recruiting people to assist with the campaign.

          The fourth recommendation is to make the campaign about commitment rather than budgets.  Too often, and I’ve been guilty of this, is starting on the budget work first, before even really considering the campaign itself. The budget comes after the campaign, when people have provided their commitments. The budget isn’t the goal. The goal is the commitment.

          The fifth recommendation is to be personal as much as possible. When you’ve received a request for a donation, how much further do you read than “Dear Friend” or something of that nature? Probably not far. If the asker couldn’t even take the time to personalize the letter, why should I personalize my gift—by making one? Mass mailings aren’t always terribly effective. Talking to people personally, or even writing a personal note on a form letter goes a long way.

          The sixth recommendation is to focus on the campaign only.  When you are planning the campaign, pick your dates early and get them on the calendar. There are always conflicts on the church calendar, but there shouldn’t be any other fundraisers at the same time. Move the concert or the fundraiser or the bazaar, or change the dates of your campaign. If you’re asking your folks to focus on the needs of giving and why it is important; don’t pull their focus elsewhere.

          So there are three more steps that will help you focus on the campaign, and to have the focus of others be the campaign. Keep these steps in mind as your campaign work continues!  

 

             IMPORTANT STEPS TO YOUR COMMITMENT CAMPAIGN #1

          It is mid-summer; new pastors are in place in a new appointment year; and meetings generally aren’t occurring like they will in the fall. Nothing we have to worry about relative to those fall campaigns, is there? 

          Sorry, yes, there is. I found “Ten Commandments for Commitment Campaigns” on the United Methodist Stewardship Foundation of Michigan website, and it makes some very good points about things that are vital to a successful commitment campaign, or pledge drive, or pledge campaign, or stewardship campaign, or fall campaign, or whatever we call them.

          I’m going to take the next couple of weeks to go over these steps. I encourage you to take these “commandments” or “recommendations” to heart as you ready yourselves for financial work in the fall.

          The first recommendation is to not wait until Labor Day to plan the campaign. I know, I know; I’ve been there. Summer goes by really quickly and suddenly it’s Labor Day, and it’s time to start planning the fall campaign that is going to start very soon. Don’t wait. Start the planning now, so that the planning can be done and done well before the actual campaign work starts. If you start now, you can do the planning properly and get the materials that you need.

          The second recommendation is to be clear about what the outcome of the campaign needs to be. What is your goal? Getting enough money to pay the budget isn’t it. Are you trying to increase the dollar amounts pledged? OR are you trying to increase the number of pledges? Those two goals are very different, and may lead to different outcomes.

          The third recommendation is to recruit/invite people to assist with the campaign. But be careful; simply having a willing body isn’t the way to go. Just finding people to say yes shouldn’t be your goal. If we wait to the fall to start planning, that’s what we’re sometimes stuck doing. But, instead, recruit, and recruit now, those persons who are capable and have the knowledge, understanding and belief in stewardship to do a good job.

          These are the three steps that come “before” the campaign work itself starts. Complete these steps as soon as possible and start your brain-storming now!

 

                                   MEET YOUR GENEROUS FOLKS

          Last week, I talked about sharing the stories of a church’s generosity in the past and currently, learning about the history of ministry—particularly as it relates to a new pastor joining a congregation as of the new appointment year, and for current pastors to learn (or re-learn) some of the history.

          Sharing stories and talking about the past can often be encouraging and fun to remember. But it’s not the end of the work that should be started (or continued) around generosity. This is an important step for a new pastor starting with a congregation, but is something that could be helpful for a current pastor who has been with a congregation for some time.

          Learn who the top ten most generous people are in the congregation. That is not necessarily the highest monetary donors.

The Widow’s Offering

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

 

          Ask around. Who do others think are the most generous. They may be big money givers, but they may people who are true servants in the church. Learn who they are and meet with them. Learn their WHY?

• ·        Why do they love the church?
• ·        What does the church do that they generously support?
• ·        What are the stories that resound with them?
• ·        Why do they support their church?
• ·        Why are they generous?

          This information from your most-generous, getting to know your most-generous, and hearing the stories will help you help others to be generous, and help you direct the congregation in their WHY as a church, in doing the work that God has called them to do, and in being the church God has called them to be.

 

                           SETTING UP GENEROSITY

          For some churches, it’s that time when they are welcoming a new pastor; for others, their pastor has continued. At the beginning of the appointment year in the United Methodist Church, there are a couple of months before the busy fall starts, before Sunday School restarts, many church meetings start and before the proverbial fall stewardship campaigns.

          It seems like a good time to share with a new pastor or current pastor the history of the church’s generosity. It will help a new pastor learn how the church was founded and their history in ministry and in people. In fact, it may even be more helpful to current folks to share the stories that they know but may have “forgotten.”

          That history story can and must lead to conversation around the current generosity and ministry of the church. So much of the history of our churches happened because someone was generous.

• ·        There are windows and pews and chairs, pulpits, Sunday School rooms, kitchens…
• ·        There are children and older adults, youth and families…
• ·        There are classes for children, you and adults…
• ·        There are people who have gone into ordained ministry and there are missionaries…
• ·        There are laity who are the backbone of the church…
• ·        There are ministries that are hundreds of years old, some that are decades old, some that are years old, some that are much, much newer…

          All of these things and people and activities happen because people past and present have been generous. They continue to happen because of the generosity happening right now!

          Share the stories—with those for whom they are new and with those who may have forgotten.

          How has generosity been reflected in YOUR church!