Faith's Budget Process

Faith's Budget Process
Dave McGhee

I have been having a short conversation with some South African friends concerned about some budgetary issues in their small but growing congregation. They asked how we raise funds over here. I thought my response would be a good thing to place here on our blog site. These things always seem to be taken for granted, or talking about them frowned on, but I feel its important to openly present them in a faithful response to stewardship in God's Kingdom. So here is my response:

Friends,

As for budgeting, Faith Church and most PC(USA) churches have a Stewardship drive in the November time frame. This is the time where Church members make their yearly pledges to the Church's budget. Some tithe, most don't make the full 10%, a few go well over. A sizable portion don't pledge but do contribute regularly. The Session of Elders then puts together an operating budget for the next year based on those pledges. We just finished up that process and presented the budget to the congregation last week.

We also are blessed to have a strong tradition of giving directly to particular mission or outreach efforts outside of the yearly pledge. That may be a uniquely Presbyterian thing? But I believe it is also more true of the younger generations that desire more control over where their money goes. Stewardship is an interesting mix of personal control and trust in God, and everyone is at a different place on that journey!

We have been blessed to have members who honor their pledges. I believe this is a result of their strong faith in God as well as an honest, faith driven, no pressure, and confidential approach to the pledging process. The faithful use of those funds for the Church's work by the Session is an important component to that mutual trust.

Special circumstances sometimes call for monetary pleas. We've been fortunate in our history that these have mostly been for special mission efforts. We have also had Building fund drives where we have asked for a separate pledge from members to support expansions of our facilities.

Last year was a tough year. Membership dropped significantly, quite honestly due to some internal conflict. That resulted in income being lower than planned but expenses were not. We made some tough choices and tightened our belts and managed to make it through. Praise God! Keeping God front and center in all those decisions not only got us through but also resulted in a strong pledge response for this coming year. Trusting in God may not make short term sense but always comes out ahead in the long term!

Blessings in your efforts to spread the Good News!
Dave McGhee - Faith Church