Imagine you are a 28 year old who just accepted his first pastorate and the wonderful folks at that little church do two things. First, they hand you the church keys & checkbook and second, they say, "Okay, just let us know if you need anything."
Feeling overwhelmed would be an understatement but many pastors can empathize with a similar situation of their own. When starting at a new church or just starting in ministry, four crucial tasks that every pastor needs to address in his first year are how to set goals, how to develop ministry plans, how to manage your calendar, and how to develop a church budget. While none of these may "zing" you with excitement, the longer you wait to address these tasks, the more difficult and frustrating life and ministry will become.
So what does a generic church budget look like? Here is a suggested breakdown:
- Missions - 10%
- Ministry - 10%
- Personnel - 45%
- Operations - 30%
- Debt/Savings - 5%
- If a church has a large amount of debt, then 5% may not be enough to cover the monthly note.
- If a church has a large overhead (electric, gas, insurance, etc.), then 30% may be too low.
- If a church is struggling financially, then Missions giving may currently be at 0%.
These percentages are meant to serve as goals. Your goal is to develop a healthy, repeatable, and God-honoring process for your budget. Your first step in being a good steward is to grab your bills and plug in your current numbers. Using these five categories, what are your current percentages? Find out where you are and prayerfully begin to plan out where your church needs to go.
If you are willing to prayerfully do this task, God will honor your effort and your church will appreciate your leadership.
