Nestled in South Florida’s sun-drenched Fort Lauderdale area, Church by the Glades had two problems as it headed into the year 2008. One of the challenges was the kind of issue most pastors would love to face. The other problem was much less desirable.
Read More >When Crossroads Christian Church in Corona, CA, accumulated $500,000 in debt — in addition to falling behind on their mortgage payments — financial ruin and foreclosure seemed imminent.
Read More >In this modern era, many churches are offering more and more services to its congregants to attract new members, retain established members and create revenue to operate the church or fund its programs. Common examples may include a bookstore or coffee bar. As a general rule, a church is not taxed on its income or revenues from an activity that is substantially related to the religious or charitable purposes of the organization.
Read More >Howard Beale in Network might just as well have been yelling about the fraud and embezzlement that is epidemic in the church, but who’s listening?
Read More >Remember when it was easy to manage church finances? Income approximated expenses. New programs were launched to meet people’s needs. Lives were changed; more people came, and expansion became necessary; capital campaigns followed, which met or exceeded expectations. Then the bottom fell out as the economy plunged into a recession unparalleled in our experience.
Read More >In recent years the issue of corporate financial accountability has become increasingly important, even for churches. As a result, more and more churches are providing annual financial reports to their congregations. Unfortunately, many of these reports are simply based on business financial reporting models and therefore may not convey the church’s finances as clearly as they could.
Read More >The pastor of “Hometown” Community Church noted in a casual way one Sunday that the pledges for the new worship center and classroom buildings were coming in only at a 50 percent rate.
Read More >When Blackshear Place Baptist Church offered a family finance program, 1,200 people signed up, and trimmed thousands in personal debt.
Read More >No doubt as investors or participants in an employer’s 401(k)or IRA retirement fund, many congregants are used to perusing financial statements that affect them. They may or may not understand the fine details, but many a financial advisor has remarked at how good people can be at getting to the bottom line.
Read More >Taking on a building project of any kind just now, in this recession, be it new construction, expansion or refurbishment of an existing space, brings added scrutiny from all parties involved — pastors and staff, volunteer leadership and congregations at large.
Read More >