For ministry leaders, ‘estate planning’ isn’t a priority; plus, a lot of misconceptions surround the process. To ensure your wishes are carried out and to protect your loved ones, it’s crucial to have a deeper understanding of what estate planning involves — and to get started now, while you can make the best possible […]
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By Rev. Dr. Perry J. Hopper For any church to effectively carry out its ministry to faithfully serve God, it needs many lay leaders and volunteers with diverse gifts. All believers are called to be servant leaders, including the pastor and ministerial staff. While the pastor is often the most visible servant in most […]
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National Child Abuse Prevention Month is upon us. Commemorate it by brushing up on some basics — and taking impactful action in your own church to protect children. Church Executive: As insurers, what kind of an increase in child sexual abuse claims have you seen among churches in recent years? Andrew Shockey: It was […]
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By RaeAnn Slaybaugh Central Peninsula Church in Foster City, Calif., is blessed in many ways — not the least of which is in having land in the highly sought-after Bay Area on which to expand as necessary. “Divine timing” is another factor when it comes to locking in a favorable interest rate for its […]
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What to expect from child protection agencies By Gregory Love & Kimberlee Norris Child sexual abuse continues to present a compelling concern to the Church. An understanding of mandatory reporting requirements is critical for ministry leaders. If every allegation of child sexual abuse is simply reported by church leaders to appropriate authorities, the […]
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By Louis P. Barbarin, CPA Remember a few years ago when a gallon of gas was about $2? Or when the average round-trip airline ticket cost about $300? Those days seem long gone as Americans must now pay over 25 percent more for gas and 20 percent to 40 percent more on airline tickets. Prices […]
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By Rev. James R. Cook, CFP®, RICP® According to Macrotrends.net, the current life expectancy in the U.S. in 2022 was 79.05 years, a 0.08% increase from 2021. People are living longer, which means more and more, younger baby boomers — who might not be prepared for the wide-ranging considerations of eldercare — are faced with […]
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By Mike Schueler Out of space and out of time, Sunnylane Church needed a loan to grow. But the promise of an ultra-low interest rate turned into a financing nightmare for this Oklahoma City congregation. Drew Sanford was frustrated. He’d already wasted too much time working to secure a loan for Sunnylane Church, the Southern […]
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Making the most of do-it-yourself workflows really works for CityBridge Community Church. By RaeAnn Slaybaugh For Dan McHugh, becoming operations director at CityBridge was a natural fit, both for himself and for the church. When Watermark Community Church in Dallas decided to open a campus in Plano, Texas in 2015 — called CityBridge — McHugh […]
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A lending veteran’s perspective WatersEdge began lending to churches in 1953 and has since partnered with more than 1,600 congregations looking to grow or refinance. During that nearly 70-year span, we’ve seen it all: boom years, recessions, and everything in between. So, as churches ride the waves of yet another tumultuous period in our nation’s […]
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