By Rev. Dr. Perry J. Hopper, MBA After two years of doing ministry and worshipping with the uncertainty of the pandemic, most churches have returned to in-person worship. Church attendance at mainline churches had been experiencing a steady decline before the pandemic, and that has been exacerbated because churches were forced to worship online for […]
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Church Executive: Are churches typically easy targets for fraud? Sarah Barham: Yes, because typically one person is responsible for completing all financial responsibilities from beginning to end. This means one person opens the mail to review invoices, sets up vendors in the accounting software, writes the checks, reconciles the bank accounts, and produces financial reports. […]
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Infinite growth, invariable expansion At the nation’s premier multisite church, two financing needs take precedence above all: flexibility and simplicity By RaeAnn Slaybaugh North Coast Church in Vista, Calif., is one of the 20 largest churches in the United States. It also consistently ranks among the country’s fastest-growing, most influential churches. But it all started […]
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For the past 14 years, we’ve been experiencing near-historic low rates, and it appears those days might soon be gone as rates have risen over the past several months. The wonderful news? Many churches were able to take advantage of the low rates either by refinancing, purchasing a new property, or renovating or building a […]
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By David Thoroughman One of the challenges churches face is how to accelerate their vision through project-based funding initiatives. It requires a church to craft a clear vision and purpose and articulate it through a case for support. Additionally, a church will need to outline how the goal can be achieved and invite its people […]
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Here’s how to avoid some common payroll mistakes Church Executive: Why is it important for a church to understand the differences between an employee and a contractor — and what are those differences? Sarah Barham: It’s important to understand the differences because of the employer’s tax responsibility and reporting requirements. The church will […]
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The term “smart investing” can strike fear in the hearts of clergy — but if this rings true for you, you’re in good company. Many professionals grapple with how to invest intelligently, so the results can fall short of what’s possible. In this Remote Roundtable Discussion, church executives discuss smart investing strategies with the pros, […]
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By Sarah Barham Managing church finances can be a daunting task even under the most favorable circumstances. Factor in complex tax reports, bank reconciliations, and ever-changing IRS and state guidelines, and you can guarantee church staff is overspending valuable time on workarounds for processes that could be intuitively streamlined. With outsourced ministry accounting services, […]
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By Jerry Vaughan “Debt” isn’t a popular word in churches. As church lenders and people of faith ourselves, we understand: it’s difficult to preach about being debt-free and then turn around and borrow money for a building project. So when cautioned against committing too heavily to raising funds ahead of construction — compared to financing […]
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Every day, I talk to church leaders who are looking for additional financial support. They’ve grown frustrated with their current loan (or lack thereof). All too often, the conversation becomes an explanation of why a bank isn’t likely to be interested in a project or loan and then a few basic changes to consider for […]
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