When I read the two responses to the question I thought, "Really? Do we really need to ask for government money to keep our churches in a financially stable place?" If so, then that's not a sign of a healthy church in the first place. Sure the government might be making money available to charitable organizations but that doesn't mean we need to approach that with a spirit of entitlement. Instead of offering to help churches in this process of applying for government funding let's look for ways to encourage our churches to take a step in faith and trust in God to provide for the well-being of the church and its ministries.
For our church leadership that hasn't even come up for discussion to ask for government support. We have worked diligently to teach out people to tithe and to practice first fruits giving. We are not a rich church but people are convicted to give generously as God has blessed them and every year we have a surplus in our church budget (yes, even when we went through a building project a few years ago). And yes some of our people have been laid off as the result of COVID-19 and some of our business people are being affected but there are others who are still able to run their businesses or able to work from home (and seniors are still getting their pension and government checks) so we feel quite confident that God will continue to provide for the needs of our church through the generosity of his people. Will that mean some people will need to dig a little deeper to make up the shortfall of those who are financially affected by the virus? Of course. But the reason why many of our churches are struggling to meet their budgets is not because of a lack of money. People still have money for their nice homes, vehicles and vacations. It's more a case of people not being taught or convicted to practice first fruits giving.
So should we ask for government help in midst of this COVID-19 crisis? For me that should be the last resort. As the questioner said, it's better to leave that government funding to other charities that need it more. We serve a God who promises to provide all our needs when we seek first his kingdom. God will provide for the needs of his church when we're willing to be as generous in our giving as God has so generously given to us in rich gift of salvation in his Son Jesus.
Sean, you mention the "big three." While I would agree those three are important, I learned through experience when visiting with a church that I got the best reading on where a church was at by asking for a meeting with all the ministry leaders within the church. Then I would go around the room and ask each ministry leader what was going well in their ministry and what were some of their biggest challenges/struggles in their area of ministry. I found that Council members would tend to put more of a positive spin on what's happening within the church but then I would get a more realistic picture of the health and well-being of the church (or the lack of health and well-being) from these ministry leaders.
Posted in: Should Churches Accept Government Funds During COVID19?
When I read the two responses to the question I thought, "Really? Do we really need to ask for government money to keep our churches in a financially stable place?" If so, then that's not a sign of a healthy church in the first place. Sure the government might be making money available to charitable organizations but that doesn't mean we need to approach that with a spirit of entitlement. Instead of offering to help churches in this process of applying for government funding let's look for ways to encourage our churches to take a step in faith and trust in God to provide for the well-being of the church and its ministries.
For our church leadership that hasn't even come up for discussion to ask for government support. We have worked diligently to teach out people to tithe and to practice first fruits giving. We are not a rich church but people are convicted to give generously as God has blessed them and every year we have a surplus in our church budget (yes, even when we went through a building project a few years ago). And yes some of our people have been laid off as the result of COVID-19 and some of our business people are being affected but there are others who are still able to run their businesses or able to work from home (and seniors are still getting their pension and government checks) so we feel quite confident that God will continue to provide for the needs of our church through the generosity of his people. Will that mean some people will need to dig a little deeper to make up the shortfall of those who are financially affected by the virus? Of course. But the reason why many of our churches are struggling to meet their budgets is not because of a lack of money. People still have money for their nice homes, vehicles and vacations. It's more a case of people not being taught or convicted to practice first fruits giving.
So should we ask for government help in midst of this COVID-19 crisis? For me that should be the last resort. As the questioner said, it's better to leave that government funding to other charities that need it more. We serve a God who promises to provide all our needs when we seek first his kingdom. God will provide for the needs of his church when we're willing to be as generous in our giving as God has so generously given to us in rich gift of salvation in his Son Jesus.
Posted in: Pastors, How to Interview Your Next Church
Sean, you mention the "big three." While I would agree those three are important, I learned through experience when visiting with a church that I got the best reading on where a church was at by asking for a meeting with all the ministry leaders within the church. Then I would go around the room and ask each ministry leader what was going well in their ministry and what were some of their biggest challenges/struggles in their area of ministry. I found that Council members would tend to put more of a positive spin on what's happening within the church but then I would get a more realistic picture of the health and well-being of the church (or the lack of health and well-being) from these ministry leaders.