Removing the Mysteries about Church Finance. Jerry L. Johnson

      Since there was little internal pressure for this church to make any real changes, the focus was on external events. When a business cannot pay its bills, that is considered technical insolvency. When they continue doing business after affirming their insolvency it could make the Deacons or Ministers responsible for the subsequent debts. A church entering Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, may be viewed a moral failure, considering what bankruptcy does: wipes away debt owed their creditors. Instead, holding up the specter of civil court action that would embarrass the church in the eyes of the community and other churches, including leadership, and their own members, was a powerful incentive.

      To achieve a major impact on church behavior, be prepared for it to take a while, with constantly applied reinforcement. The church will be changed as the leaders learn what is expected of them regarding church finances. Whether they act on that new knowledge is up to the church. The age of the church, along with the general age of the congregation will provide some insight. The more entrenched the congregation, the less welcome any suggestion for change will be. Consider this a basic assumption, with the congregation never stopping to question or confront leadership.

      When an organization, a church, a trucking company, gets in serious financial trouble, changes within the organization must take place. Make the pain go away but let me keep doing what I was doing. That would be nice, but nowhere in the scheme of things is that an option, no matter how hard they work.

      Success is the art of preparation. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit. (Aristotle) When you are ready to learn, someone will come along to teach you. For the congregation to become more effective stewards of God’s resources, they needed to become more knowledgeable of their role. This was necessary for two reasons:

      a. To better understand their individual responsibilities, and,

      b. To enable them to hold their leadership accountable.

       The Appointment

      I shared this with the deacons. I believe that God sees our future and knows what crisis is out there waiting for us. He has the remedy for the crisis providing we prepare as we should and are ready to step into the crisis. I think that’s called an appointment with God – preparation meeting a need. I was led to be prepared for this for reasons unknown to me and was only revealed to me when I was in position for action.

       Attendance

      Sunday morning attendance was averaging less than 200 with lows at 130 and Easter Sunday of 350 (but that offering was well below average). Offering was averaging $6400 a week; ten years previously it averaged $35,000; $6400 was not enough to hit the breakeven mark, but that was all there was.

      The church could seat 1000 with 50,000 square feet of space. Other buildings on the campus brought the total square feet to over 75,000. The church had a school, with grades K through 12th in buildings on the same campus. They were in a similar situation; however, this book will focus only on the church. The church is the core.

      Picture the church as an interdependent three-legged stool with one leg representing the spiritual foundation, one representing the financial strength, and one representing the physical condition. In this case the financial strength had deteriorated, and the physical condition of the church was affected. The deterioration in one area spilled into the other two areas, causing a spiraling effect. These three areas are inseparable and reflect the unhealthy condition of this church.

       The Plan to Save this Church

      Before I told them my plan, I made sure they all understood the magnitude of what we were facing. This was the third year in a row where the financial condition was weaker than the year previous. I reviewed the situation again. If this committee felt the situation was anything but dire, then they might not be motivated enough to act. However, I did not need to embellish it in any, the plain truth was enough.

      Face trouble. If you are caught up in a storm, head straight into it, if you think you can’t outrun it then don’t try. Coming up from behind your ship, the storm will lift the steering out of the water; it will flounder, likely sink. It takes a steady hand and a strong heart to turn into the waves. One never ever wants the rudder out of the water. That’s what I told them we should do – don’t try to outrun the storm but turn into it. We don’t solve problems from behind. “We have to find out, whether this ship was made with this particular storm in mind.” I paraphrased Rev Dr. Tony Evans from his radio broadcast. (Dr. Evans is founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, TX.)

       Action Steps

      1. Schedule a business meeting within the week following the next Sunday service.

      2. A moratorium was set on all spending and new commitments.

      3.No one would be reimbursed for purchases they made on behalf of the church.

      4. Anything recently purchased could be returned for a refund.

      5. Private purchases would not be reimbursed but they might just get a donation receipt.

      6. I explained to each person as they came in what our predicament was, and they were very understanding. It was not confrontational but rather informational. There is great power in the sharing of information.

       Separating Bills

      I separated all the bills into four categories and reviewed each bill. When the church was built, they opted for a septic system (five tanks) rather than hooking up to city waste. One tank required pumping on a weekly basis, at $200 per pump.

      Vendor services were all behind and needing payment, so I started calling them. “We know that we are behind, but we have a plan and we will get caught up. Please don’t shut us off right now.” The MeaCulpa was that the church accepted responsibility seemed to appease their distrust. They agreed, refreshed that I was calling and giving them a plan, instead of them calling us, or offering up a plate of excuses. I had to make sure that whatever was agreed to, we did it. I came to know each of the vendors.

       Setting Up an Audit Trail

      Along with making the phone calls, we began entering all the invoices into the accounting program. Unless invoices were entered, you couldn’t get an aging report, couldn’t manage cash flow or many other things that I will cover later. There was no useable audit trail for either the purchase or the payment.

      Significant time each day was used speaking with individuals who came in with a question or just seeking reassurance. Each left the office satisfied with the information, even though good news was still a long way off.

       Old Equipment

      The computers we were working with were ten years old with limited capability and would lock-up constantly. The accounting program was several versions out of date. This was brought up to a few of the members and they responded handsomely. Two of the members bought a computer each and donated it, along with updated versions of the accounting programs. Good start. Now there were tools with which to manage the data.

       Brains and Faith

      Intelligent people like to use their brains; they like to believe their brains have the solution for everything. That can pose a great limitation. God opens opportunities that are vastly superior to the most advanced brain. Education and brainpower alone, does not provide every solution; the best is based on faith. We just need to use our brains to implement God’s solution and our faith to know what it is, as Mark 11:24 makes clear: "Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive and ye shall have them."

      God also imbued his children with the powerful tool of discernment, as revealed by Paul in Romans 12:2: "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and perfect, will of God."

      Cash Infusion – I explained to the deacons that we needed an infusion of cash over the next month. We agreed that it would be workable if we went to the congregation and asked for