Opportunities for Church Plants As Well As Established Churches
The war in the Middle East is already having an impact on cost of living increases with interest rate increases, likely property rate increases, the likelihood of food prices rising, impacts on supply chains and of course rising petrol prices.
This will cause increased financial stresses on people throughout our Nation. Add to this is that many economists are saying that we are heading for a recession. That is not good news! An implication is that there will be people who will lose their jobs; people in our churches and neighbourhoods.
A question we must grapple with is “how can churches prepare for such a time?”
There are two aspects that we need to consider. One is how the church can care for and pastor the people within the church as well as in the broader community. The second issue relates to the impact on church budgets.
Pastoring and Discipling to Help People
As church leaders we have the opportunity to be equipped and ready to help people in congregations get their finances in order. Organisations like Hope Economy (formerly CAP Australia) help equip churches by providing training and resources to help with money mentoring and financial discipleship. Services such as these will be a great way that churches can help not only their congregations but also those in the broader community seeking wisdom to deal with financial pressures and uncertainty.
Churches can also provide teaching about money issues in other ways, including in teaching in weekend services. Some shy away from teaching on such a topic in weekend services, but it is an important part of discipleship. In fact Jesus spoke about money, wealth, and possessions frequently, with roughly 15% of his recorded teachings in the Gospels focusing on these topics. Money or possessions are mentioned in 11 of his 39 parables. It’s a topic that we need to start addressing now if we aren’t already doing so.
The Impact on The Church’s Budget
Cost of living increases combined with the potential for raising unemployment will impact the budgets of churches as a result of the impact on the income they receive from tithes and offerings. Many Australian churches see 60% to 70% of their tithes and offerings used to cover employment expenses. An obvious implication is that if the level of income a church receives falls, some hard employment related decisions may need to be made.
In fact, in an environment of cost of living increases and potentially rising unemployment where tithes and offerings decrease, churches must be prepared to reconfigure their financial models.
As an example, I know of one healthy church of around 250 people where only about 35% of their tithes and offerings are spent on employment expenses with all their team being bi-vocational.
This provides benefits such as the leaders being actively engaged in the broader community and providing their families with a reasonable income whilst reducing the financial pressure on the church.
Another consideration is in how churches use their buildings. Those with debt or renting will likely be impacted by rising interest rates and the probability of rising council rates and other property costs in the near future. So the question should be asked about whether or how this significant building asset is being used to generate an income apart from church on the weekend.
One option to be considered is charging the public for programs that you run. As an example, the church I am part of runs Baby Sensory and Toddler Sense classes for the broader community. On average there are 100 to 120 families that pay around $20 per week each over a 10-week program, with the program being run 4 terms a year. That’s a way of funding a Kids Ministry worker, whilst making good use of the building mid-week, getting connected with families from the community and running a program that helps families in multiple ways.
Many people from the broader community expect to pay for quality programs and will be suspicious of the quality and value from activities that are free. And too often churches that offer something for free will let the standards drop “because it’s free”.
Some denominations and networks have come to the conclusion that having buildings for church plants that are either owned or rented are a luxury that they cannot afford. Dave Ferguson has just released a thought-provoking article entitled “How to Reach 1,000 More People Without More Staff, Space or Spending”. What Dave says mightn’t be for everyone, but even if not, it’s good to read to stimulate thinking.
Implications for New Church Plants
New church plants starting without income security will need to consider issues such as building costs, community programs and bi-vocational ministry combinations in terms of their financial model. They will need to move away from thinking that is based on what church has done in the past and instead look at designing church around what needs to be done to connect with and reach people to see them become disciples of Jesus. The ways of the past may not be effective in the present. In fact, financially they may not even be possible.
We can be sure that cost of living increases will have an impact that we must be prepared for.
