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 >How important to a church is having an Accountable Reimbursement Plan (ARP)? With an ARP, expense reimbursements and advances are not reported as wages and are exempt from withholding and employment taxes. Without an ARP, reimbursed expenses, even when legitimate, must be reported as wages and are subject to withholding and employment taxes.
Read More >Saddleback Church, like most congregations, uses audio/visual equipment to enhance services as well as capture teachings and send video to other campuses. Increasingly technology is finding its way from the pulpit to youth ministry too. With youth demographics experiencing nearly every facet of life in Web 2.0 — from the classroom to the playground — why not integrate similar technology into youth worship experiences?
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 >They are the young family from South Africa that just got transferred to Florida to head up a new division of a Global 1000 company. They are the American military family who has lived in Germany for more than a decade. They are the young family who was transferred to India, adopted two children while living there, one from India and the other from China. They now have five children from three different countries, and each family member has lived in at least two countries.
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 >Churches are as engaged in the issue of immigration in this country as are other groups, many doing quiet, steady work and providing dialog and attempting resolution that goes well beyond the public clamor that adds little to a real solution.
Read More >Engaging and inspiring today’s congregations is increasingly difficult in a world saturated with corporate and secular images. The solution for many churches is to make each service more creative and interactive — specifically, to use large-screen projection to support the message each week. Bright and colorful images large enough to be seen from every seat serve to capture and hold the congregation’s attention, allowing the essential messages to be easily delivered and understood.
Read More >In a recent ministry blog, a pastor wrote, “One thing that really bothers me is having to pay musicians to play in worship. My worship leader insists that since they are professional musicians we have to pay them.
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