Officially they are not members of your church. I would send a letter to the new church with the information that you have: dates of birth, baptism and profession of faith dates, and their history of involvement. I would also state that their membership was lapsed in 2009 and the reasons behind it. The other CRC can then do as they see fit.
The problem with this question is that it leads us in the wrong direction. It is easy to look at a church budget and find that 50, 60, or 75% or more of the budget is used to support staff and the remaining balance is "ministry". We need to see that a church's commitment to staff is often its commitment to ministry. Instead of looking, for example, at a full-time youth pastor and classifying him or her as "staff", designate that salary under "youth ministry" in the budget. It says that we care so much about our youth and the youth of the community that we've designated $x to it. In our church we have a full-time commissioned pastor whose roles involve in engaging the community, working with community youth, and being a chaplain to three local police agencies. It would be a disservice to her and her work simple to call the cost of having her as "staff expense". I consider 100% of her effort as missional, evangelism or outreach (you chose the right word). My role in the church is divided in a similar way. I can spent, for example, 30% of my time preparing for worship. That is not a staff cost; it is our commitment to worship. My time meeting with members in the hospital is our commitment to congregational care. And on you can go. Our budget simply tells us where our priorities are. We need to stop looking at the cost of the person and begin to see what he or she is doing.
Posted in: Transfer Lapsed Members?
Officially they are not members of your church. I would send a letter to the new church with the information that you have: dates of birth, baptism and profession of faith dates, and their history of involvement. I would also state that their membership was lapsed in 2009 and the reasons behind it. The other CRC can then do as they see fit.
Posted in: What Percentage of a Church's Operating Budget Should Be Allocated to Staffing?
The problem with this question is that it leads us in the wrong direction. It is easy to look at a church budget and find that 50, 60, or 75% or more of the budget is used to support staff and the remaining balance is "ministry". We need to see that a church's commitment to staff is often its commitment to ministry. Instead of looking, for example, at a full-time youth pastor and classifying him or her as "staff", designate that salary under "youth ministry" in the budget. It says that we care so much about our youth and the youth of the community that we've designated $x to it. In our church we have a full-time commissioned pastor whose roles involve in engaging the community, working with community youth, and being a chaplain to three local police agencies. It would be a disservice to her and her work simple to call the cost of having her as "staff expense". I consider 100% of her effort as missional, evangelism or outreach (you chose the right word). My role in the church is divided in a similar way. I can spent, for example, 30% of my time preparing for worship. That is not a staff cost; it is our commitment to worship. My time meeting with members in the hospital is our commitment to congregational care. And on you can go. Our budget simply tells us where our priorities are. We need to stop looking at the cost of the person and begin to see what he or she is doing.
Posted in: Do You Have Very Old Copies of The Banner?
Jeffrey, contact me at [email protected]. I can connect you with some issues going back to 1913.
Larry Fryling