Yesterday, we talked about the costs involved in ministry, and – as is appropriate in a church – we started with people. Today, we’ll talk about money and fairness.
Believe it or not, I’ve actually heard statements like this in a church environment: “It’s not fair that ‘Ministry A’ is getting more money than ‘Ministry B.’” Fairness, in that sense, is childish at an elementary-school level. Effective budgeting is an area where churches can learn from businesses and non-profits: unless your church has endless funding (lol), it will face the limitations that every other organization faces, so the best strategy will be to put the dollars where they are needed to achieve the overall goals of the church.
To do this, take into account the realistic costs of effectively running your various ministries. Production, for example, is going to cost more than other ministries, simply because the gear required is expensive – the same goes for facility costs, heating/cooling, cleaning, etc…
Lastly, here’s a hard truth: you just can’t do everything. Churches are notorious for being spread too thin – we don’t like to say “no.” But the likely end result of over-committing to ministries and events is that none of them will have the support they need to be truly effective. Sometimes doing less things – but doing those things really well – is the way to go.
Hmmm - well, let's see...
I'm a Christian, a husband, a dad, a son, a pastor, a consultant, a musician, a writer, and bits and pieces of a bunch of other things. My work life has followed three main phases - business to teaching to church. I was the Weekend Services Pastor for nine years at Northview Church, an awesome church in the Indianapolis suburbs. I used to work for Willow Creek, another awesome church in the Chicago area. Plus I've written for various magazines and websites, and other freelancy sorts of things... My life mission is to help the church be as excellent as it can be.
Oh yeah - the name's Greg. Greg Wallace. But not the race car driver or the major league pitcher or the British celebrity chef. Just the creative worship guy. Hi.
It's my hope that these ideas, musings, rants, raves, etc... will inspire you. They're just my opinions - but again, I hope that they'll help to inspire you. Because the church really, really needs inspired creative types. If you're a creative type (and most people are, deep-down), ask God for help. Then take any ideas that are useful to you - borrow them, nab them, use them, adapt them - and make them into something greater...
You can head over to my Instagram site for an abundance of shorter posts: creativeworshipideas. If you're looking for consulting - especially on weekend services, team leadership or multi-site strategies - I'd love to help. Just message me here, and I'll be in touch - Greg
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