4 Ways to Talk About Money in Your Church

4 Ways to Talk About Money in Your Church

by | Sep 5, 2023

How do you talk about money in your church? Talking about money is not always easy. This sensitive topic often gets brushed under the rug in the church. The truth is that we need to have conversations about money if we want to keep our churches running. It’s important to be willing to talk about finances openly and honestly. But how do you do it? How do you break the silence? In this blog post, I will give you four practical ways to talk about money in your church.

 

Align the Giving with the Mission

People want their gifts to have an impact. That’s why being able to connect giving to your church’s mission is essential. Talk about how money will be used and how it will help fulfill your church’s vision. Share stories of the people who will benefit from generosity and show how gifts are making a difference in the lives of others. By aligning your congregation’s giving with the church’s mission, you can engage people deeper and create an environment where giving fulfills God’s purpose. This strongly resonates with individuals who prefer bold and impactful actions, as it emphasizes the significant impact of their giving.

 

Invite People to Be Generous

Generosity is essential to being a Christian, but it’s not always easy to talk about. One way to break the ice is to invite people into a conversation about generosity. Talk about what it looks like in their life and how they can cultivate a spirit of giving. Don’t be afraid to preach about it from the pulpit and discuss how God calls us to be generous with our resources. Promote giving as a form of worship, emphasizing the boundless grace bestowed upon us by God. Showing gratitude for all donations or gifts can encourage people to be generous. Saying thank you and expressing appreciation for monetary contributions helps create a culture of giving. Make it a daily practice to express gratitude by sending thank you notes for all donations and gifts received.

 

Be Transparent About Your Church’s Finances

A lack of transparency is one of the most significant barriers to discussing money. Many churches are hesitant to share financial details with their congregations, which can lead to mistrust and uncertainty. One way to break through this barrier is to be transparent about your church’s finances. Share your budget, financial reports, and any financial struggles. Being open and honest can build trust and encourage people to get involved. Transparency is particularly helpful when communicating with more analytical and detail-oriented members. It helps foster a sense of ease and openness when discussing financial matters. It’s one thing to be transparent about your church’s finances but another to ensure financial information is easily accessible and understandable. Think about how you can present financial reports in a way that people can understand and appreciate. Create clear visuals such as graphs or charts to make it easier for people to digest the information.

 

Stability Matters 

It’s essential to make sure that your church is financially stable. This may involve making tough decisions, such as cutting expenses or implementing a fundraising campaign. It’s essential to talk about these changes openly and honestly so people understand the importance of financial stability. Apart from cutting back, many within your church may want to support the church community’s stability, legacy, and work. This could be done by setting up endowment funds that allow future generations to have financial stability. Surprisingly, this may not even be just your members, but community members who cannot imagine their society without your church. The use of planned giving programs is also a powerful way to help secure the long-term financial health of your church. These programs allow individuals to make more significant gifts, such as bequests, that can impact your church’s financial stability. Educate your congregation about these options and how they can get involved in making an even more significant difference. 

Your next step about money can be difficult, but this doesn’t have to be. You can start talking about money in a meaningful way that helps engage and empower your church community. So don’t be afraid to break the silence!

 

While we all understand the complexities and challenges of addressing finances within the local church, it’s essential to recognize that you play a part in reducing these barriers and facilitating smoother financial operations. In my three-year award-winning leadership coaching program, Creating a Culture of Renewal®, participants are equipped with practical strategies to overcome financial hurdles and foster a culture of open dialogue and shared responsibility. Your participation has the potential to inspire impactful change within your church community. Not only that, giving goes up 2-10 times the cost of participation in Creating a Culture of Renewal®. Reach out to learn more.

Discussing financial matters is never a simple task, but I am confident that these strategies yield fruitful results.

 

Copyright © 2023 rebekahsimonpeter.com.  All Rights Reserved.

Money is NOT the Root of All Evil

by | Nov 3, 2015

Money gets a bad rap in some churches.  The thinking goes something like this:  Even though we ask for money every time we collect an offering, the truth is, we shouldn’t need it; we shouldn’t want it; we should be able to get by without it, just like Jesus did.  After all, money is the root of all evil.  We talk about money too much as it is, especially given that Jesus threw the money changers out of the Temple.  That meant he was calling for a separation of church and plate.  And his preference for the widowed woman who put 2 coins into the Temple Treasury over the rich folks who gave a lot more means it’s better to get by on less. Right?

Wrong.

To start with, this kind of thinking isn’t very helpful.  First off, it puts us at odds with Jesus’ own life.  Secondly, it doesn’t square with what the Bible actually says.  Third, it doesn’t reflect good Biblical scholarship.  And fourth, it misses the point!

Read on to see the upside of money and churches.  And what your church can do to develop a better relationship with it.

Let’s start by looking at Jesus’ own life.  First off, Jesus was a tradesman.  He was a working man who made an income and used money.  His saying, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” suggests he tithed and paid taxes like other Jews of his day.  When he began to travel widely and teach, with a bevvy of disciples in tow, he began to rely on his network of supporters, many of them women.  That means his supporters used their monies to support him.   In this case, money was the root of tremendous good.

Secondly, nowhere in scripture does it say money is the root of all evil.  Here’s how the NIV translates 1 Timothy 6:10:  “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”  It goes on to say “Some people, eager for money, have

wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”   The truth is people wander from the faith for lots of reasons.   Love of money is one of them.   But any obsession can be a stand in for God—whether we’re talking shoes, sex, a perfectly shaped body, power, or even too many cats or dogs!  This passage is hardly a wholesale condemnation of money.  The truth is, we need money to live.  And the church needs money to survive and thrive, and to do good in the world.

On to the next passage.  Recent New Testament scholarship shines additional light on the money changers passage which appears in all four Gospels.  It’s not that money or money changers were forbidden in the Temple.  Offering sacrifices was an important part of Second Temple Worship.  Rather than haul sacrificial animals with them long distances, though, pilgrims brought their local monies with them, changed it into the coinage used in the Temple, purchased animals for sacrifice, and made their sacrifices to God.  It’s thought that what enraged Jesus was not the existence of the tables, but their placement; they were located in the wrong part of the Temple—the Court of the Gentiles.  This may have prevented their ability to worship God fully. If money is getting in the way of the church’s relationship with God, that’s a problem.  If it supports and nurtures the church’s ability to cultivate godly relationships, that’s not a problem.  That’s a blessing.

Finally, we know Jesus didn’t call for a separation of church and plate because of how he approved of the widowed woman putting her meager coins into the Temple Treasury.  Rather than this being a sign that we should get by on less, he commended that she gave all she had.   Proportionally, she gave much more than the well to do.  This is not a condemnation of wealth, but of lack of sacrificial giving.   Wesley called us to this when he counseled, “Earn all you can, save all you can and give all you can.”

In visiting with churches, I encounter many faithful people who suffer greatly over the perceived disconnect between needing money and the challenge of asking for it while at the same time being afraid of it, lest they violate the Bible’s teachings.  My perception is this:  money is a neutral tool that expresses our values.  In the hands of a visionary, compassionate and faithful church, money can be the source of tremendous good.