Week 1

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
1. Church Budget.

Copy of Central Christian Church’s Budget
List of where the money goes from largest proportion to smallest:
§ 71% Ministers & Staff (including benefits)
§ 24% Facilities (including debt payments)
§ 2 % Programs (education, evangelism, etc.)
§ 3 % Denomination Support & Missions

Personal Observations:
1. Inconsistency.
Smaller churches do not have a set way of budgeting (well at least not in this circumstance). When I met with our treasurer, Joan, she explained that the budget changes year by year. Budget is based on the income of the church. When she sees that the funds are running tight, she will report it to the congregation on Sunday morning. Income solely comes from the congregation and giving (fundraisers). If the church is not tithing as they should, Joan will be sure to confront the situation!

2. Disproportional.
Just by looking at the percentages, one can see how disproportionate the budget is. Even though I am employed with Central Christian, I am not permitted to set the budget or even know much about it. As the youth and children’s pastor, I am greatly troubled by how little support is going into the programming. A great deal of money is put into the upkeep up the facilities and staffing rather than the spiritual formation of the congregation. Whether this a small church or not, I do not think the funding for programs should be that low. We have a congregation of sixty. The youth has an average of thirty students every Sunday evening and the children average about 4 every Sunday morning. Think about the growth that could happen when more care, passion, planning, and budgeting is put forth into the programs!

3. Proposed Budget vs. Actual Budget
I noticed that what was proposed for the Functional Departments such as Christian Education, Resources, Membership, World Outreach, Worship, and Evangelism was not actually spent! The budget allowed for $100 for each department. However, the only department that took advantage of this was Resources, which spent a whopping $21. I wonder if the money would have been spent on these areas if the staff or the volunteers involved in these departments actually knew the funds available. Being on staff, I know now that these departments have funds that need to be put to use!
I know that I am new to being on staff at a church. I am new to budgeting. I am new to this all! However, I know that in order for a ministry to be active and producing, it needs to be tended to--Ministry needs funds put into it—Ministry needs people to be a part of it—Ministry needs to have planning and budgeting from more than one person!

-Kelly Jones