MANAGING A YOUNG CHURCH’S FINANCES
The year was 1988. Denise and I, having moved to France from Australia in 1986, had now relocated to the Paris region from the south of France to start our first church in France. A small group gathered, the story of which I have told elsewhere. There were 6 of us, meeting for a Bible study every Tuesday evening over the summer period. By September, our group had grown to 10. As the holiday season had ended, we decided to hold our first public meeting in a hotel room in the satellite city of Evry. We thought we would be doing very well if 15 people turned up. To our astonishment, not 15 but 50 arrived for our first Sunday service!
During that service, I took up an offering and, when it was all over, we packed up and went back to our 13th-floor unit, rejoicing in what God had done. The offering buckets were waiting to be emptied. Once things were put away, we emptied the buckets on the dining table and looked in amazement at all that had been given in the service. We had not anticipated that much giving!
Keeping Clear Accounts of Church Finances
The very first lesson we learned was the importance of clearly separating our personal finances from any donations given to and for the church.
As we had no legal structure and therefore no separate bank account for our new church plant, we had to immediately open a new personal account with the church’s name.
Having had the experience of our Ipswich church plant back in Australia, we knew that church finances had to be managed rigorously, ensuring that there were receipts or invoices for all outgoings and that all purchases for the church were substantiated. We were very careful not to pay for our personal spending with church money.
Later, when the church was legally constituted with its own bank account and a board or church council to oversee the management, any major decisions regarding finances could only be made by that body and not by one individual. What I’m expressing might seem obvious, but you would be surprised by the number of smaller or younger churches that have a very loose way of handling their finances.
Financial Support for the Pastor and his Family
While pastoring in Australia, I had a reasonable salary since I had initially been supported by our “mother” church in planting the Ipswich church. However, it wasn’t long before our new church became financially autonomous and was able to cover my salary.
In going to France, we were partially supported by churches in Australia and our base church in the south of France, but once we had moved to the Paris area, the support dropped, so we knew that we would have to provide for ourselves. Both Denise and I found teaching positions in a well-known language school which specialised in teaching English to business men and women.
The very important lesson at this point is that you cannot expect a young church to provide a salary for the pastor.
Self-financing from Outside the Church
The pastoral couple needs to finance their ministry from outside the church plant. As establishing new churches entails facing many demanding challenges, one front that you shouldn’t have to fight on is the financial one. The principle is: find good sources of income that bring in more finances than what goes out.
God’s provision and open doors come into play at this level and require the pioneer to trust God but also to be prepared to carry a heavier load during that initial period.
What do I mean by “heavier load”? Many of the churches we helped plant around France were led by pastors who had full-time secular employment. As they were most often men and women with families, they had their family, their job and the church to attend to. Pastoring and preparation were done on weeknights and weekends. Being very stretched, they all had to know that God had truly called them to plant a church.
Financial Management in Church Life
Another area where the finances of a young church need to be carefully managed is finding the right balance between reimbursing personal expenses, paying staff, buying needed materials and keeping money in the bank to cover the possibility of a drop in giving for whatever reason.
I have seen churches get into trouble in each of these areas:
How important are wisdom and good leadership in getting the right balance!
Principles of Giving in Today’s Church
Let me move to the subject of how people are asked to give financially to God’s work.
Firstly, let me say that I am of the firm conviction that the giving of a tithe of our income is a valid New Testament principle. The difference with the Old Testament tithe is that, under the Law of Moses, tithing was an obligation imposed on all the people. In the New Testament, it is no longer an obligation imposed on God’s people, but it remains a spiritual principle, embraced by faith, that brings with it the promise of God’s blessing. For a Biblical understanding, I would refer you to my teaching on that question.
I used to enjoy our time in the service when we would take up tithes and offerings. In Reunion Island, everyone would come to the front of the church and place their offering in the buckets or bags being held by someone at the front. It was always a happy, meaningful time with singing and greeting one another on the way back to their seat. These days, with cheques gone and cash much less used, many people favour online giving. We are told that the one advantage of online giving is that you can “set and forget”. However, I’m not sure that the forgetting part really honours God. We can so easily lose the sense of bringing our offering to the Lord. I have seen in churches that still take up collections during the services, with empty buckets being handed across rows of people and returned empty. It gives the impression that no one is giving to God’s work.
This is what we do in our church in Brisbane, where we have our services in a hired hall on Sundays. We have a letterbox at the back of the hall where people can place their cash offerings, and our church bank account details are written on the side of the letterbox. Those who want to give online take a photo of the bank details and then arrange a transfer from their bank account. It works very well. I have been told by quite a few people that they are glad not to get a pep talk each Sunday about giving, but just being reminded of how we can give.
I would like to finish by asking you this question:
My friend, do you honour God in your finances as the Scriptures exhort us to do? Perhaps as you reflect on what you’ve read above, the Holy Spirit may speak to you about your giving. If so, I hope you will respond to His promptings.
Great content! Keep up the good work!