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1. Non-ministerial reasons churches fail.

2. How values are embedded and revealed in church culture.

3. Comparison of managerial actions for churches and for-profit enterprises.

4. Why a church is a business enterprise.

5. Why the Great "Commission" is important.

Among reasons churches discontinue operations may include the following, although more than one reason may be applicable. They are not presented in any order and are not necessarily directly dependent on money. Lack of financial skills however is more prevalent than the lack of money.

1. Conflicting goals supporting a vague mission. (Either one of these items can derail your church.)

2. Inefficient use of resources to support poorly researched decisions. (Abundance is often squandered; poor decisions spend money faster than it can be obtained.)

3. Surrounding neighborhood or community in decline; shrinking in size. (Expand your vision.)

4. Limited understanding of the numbers that describe the finances of the church. (Numbers are the language of business; can be critical for churches as well.)

5. Poor or non-existent cash flow control. (You must first understand what cash flow is.)

6. Growth projects that are not adequately supported by the membership. (Keeping membership commitment is a hallmark of leadership.)

7. Start-ups or spinoff churches that are under-capitalized with staff inadequately trained. (This work the same way for business.)

8. Dissention among church leaders, i.e. pastor, deacons, others. (Learn the basis for dissention; Is it personal? Is it scriptural?)

9. Conflict as to who is accountable for what, and what are the consequences. (More later about task definition.)

10. Lack of interest within this church. (What happened to enthusiasm?)

11. Membership turnover or ministerial turnover. (A key indicator of trouble; why are they leaving?)

12. For branch churches, lack of support from parent church. (What did parent church promise? What does branch church expect?)

13. Too many churches without distinction, competing for members (they all look and sound the same).

What This Book Is About

This book is filled with practical steps and easy to follow methods to manage the financial activities of a church using correct business practices and the biblical reason for doing so.

This book will show you fundamental steps to biblically handling the finances entrusted to a church, or ministry. It will show you how to increase the value received by the church and work within that amount. This book in no way suggests that business planning and business models can or should replace God’s guidance. Quite the contrary: God’s guidance should be infused with every step you take, no matter the endeavor.

Well-run organizations, whether it’s your local church or a major corporation, have a definable rhythm that comes from balance. Finances require a balance, as we will see. Sound business principles are applicable here, acquired from years of business experience, business school training, and biblical wisdom.

Organizational Culture

Social culture is the norms, habits, and traditions found in organizations, or communities and reveals how the people in that body work together, communicate within and without, and establish patterns that define what is acceptable to them and what is not.

The “culture” of a church will affect behaviors and outcomes. We often do not associate a “culture” with a church, other than talking about how friendly everyone is, or some other topical observation. The culture of a church is its own, developed over time, and maintained in both subtle and overt ways. Even in church, where people sit suggests there are patterns to be maintained, and how people react when someone else occupies that spot.

The esteemed professor, writer, and organizational behavior expert, 1Dr. Edgar Schein, has written of three levels of “values” in an organization. This is relevant in all organizations, including churches, and may be reflective of the church’s religious beliefs. The three levels have technical descriptions: Artifacts, Espoused Values, and Basic Assumptions.

Artifacts

The Oxford Dictionary defines "artifacts" as an object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest.

According to Schein, the easiest level of values to identify, that is apparent to any observer, is artifacts. For a church, this level could include hundreds of physical items, like steeples, hymn books, pews, crucifix icons or pictures, choirs, and even the church building itself. What they are and the way they are displayed may indicate their importance to the members of that church. Photographs of past or current pastors prominently displayed can tell a story. Section 14 has a more detailed discussion of church artifacts viewed from multiple perspectives. Certain artifacts may be missing which you normally expect to see. Many churches no longer display steeples atop the main building, while others are set up in strip-malls where there is no place for a steeple.

If certain artifacts are commonly used by a certain denomination, does their absence detract from the validity of that church’s status? An example might be the cross atop the church building.

Espoused Values

The next level of “values” is espoused values, church espousing their friendliness, their support of the “homeless” through food banks, meals, or youth programs. This “value” is important to the church, is talked about publicly and privately; they are proud of this. Espoused values contribute to the development of normal standards of the organization for how it conducts business now and in the future. Their espoused values are what they are known for, or want to be known for, what they want others to talk about, what they talk about among themselves. Perhaps it is their generosity, or their community outreach. One church has a “singing Christmas Tree” each year, another has a ham or turkey delivery each Thanksgiving and Christmas. These are espoused values the people talk about, and proudly point to. One church has a butterfly garden that attracts hundreds, maybe thousands, of butterfly’s each year; it also attracts many admirers. Another caters to senior citizens with trips, game night, and luncheons.

While some churches offer a food pantry for those in need, others prepare meals, both in their own facilities or coordinated with volunteers to provide meals at a public location. The importance of this may be greater for the providers than for the recipients; it's something for them to talk about, to bring the church's focus to a common function.

2Basic Assumptions

Bion (1961) used the term basic assumption to designate that which, fundamentally, the individual must assume in order to be part of a group. Basic assumptions come into play at unconscious, apathetic, and affective levels.

The hardest to distinguish, and hardest to change, are “basic assumptions”. This takes digging and pushing deep to get to the last “why is that”, with many denials along the way. These are not even recognized, they have become blended into the fabric of the church, indistinguishable of themselves. Even when challenged about this action, the response is always “this is the way it has always been done.” These assumptions compel behavior without their existence being acknowledged or even recognized. These are values that are taken for granted, and when challenged, always produce a big pushback. People establish norms without being aware that is what they are doing.

These values are reflective of the behaviors of the membership, of how they communicate with each other and visitors. They are entrenched habits that are conducted usually without conscious plan. Is there a fellowship of reaching out warmly to visitors, or do they allow visitors to find their own way? People do not create Basic Assumptions through an intellectual exercise but rather by what they are used to, what is comfortable, what is familiar. Basic Assumptions do not encourage change.

The reader is challenged to review these levels of values throughout this book and in their own church, and identify their own artifacts, espoused values, or basic assumptions. Understanding the “values” of the church will help in understanding where the church stands on a matter. A critical component of success (not a “bad” word) is understanding why you are doing what you are doing (or want to do). Decisions are predicated on values and compel action.

Cells (or groups) over time within a church become insular. Whether the cell is in an organized group like a Sunday School class or a social group like a coffee clutch, they tend to develop over time a hostage attitude, us over them through their Espoused Values. Small size churches of 100 members or fewer, have many features that large churches may not have, where strong cells are unlikely to form. Instead, the cell becomes the entire membership. This is evident when visitors enter their midst and they are expected to welcome the visitor. Whether it is acknowledged, everyone wants to be a part of an exclusive group; if that is unlikely, then they create their own. This behavior can become a Basic Assumption that is invisible but nourishes a sense of superiority.

What sets a church apart from the Rotary Club? Is it how they care for each other?

One medium size church had elder members, many widows or widowers who lived alone. No one from the church performed welfare checks on some, if not all, the elderly members.

Another, larger church, had a long-time member whose profession required intermittent travel. When he was admitted to the hospital, the church was notified several times of his terminal condition, yet no one visited this man or his family before he died. By your actions you are indicted.

Offerings in the small churches average just above breakeven, generally, paying the bills which are maintained at a modest level, but not much more. Offerings are influenced by attitudes in the church, that are revealed in many ways.

Management Tools

Every endeavor has specialized tools used by those skilled in their use to enhance the effectiveness of the worker. Management and finance are no exception. The tools are available but may have to be better understood before they can even be recognized as a tool. Businesses need to have the use of certain tools, and if necessary, they hire persons with those specialized skills to use the tools. Some of the skills are endemic to all businesses, while others are specific to certain type business.

Barbers have technical skills for trimming hair, shaving faces, and other hair related skills. But the successful barber shop proprietor must also deploy a plethora of management skills, marketing skills, and personal skills, which is the same for much larger enterprises. Four examples (Table 1-1) highlight need for business skills with leaders of organizations, whether private, public, for-profit or non-profit.

Actual Examples

Businesses owned by a Certified Public Accountant, an attorney, and a banker still ran into trouble. It did so because their special technical skill was narrowly focused and did not pertain directly to managing a business, but to the technical features for which the business produced. The myriad of decisions required of a business leader are dependent on the leader’s knowledge, ability to sift through enormous amounts of data and competing ideas, receive inputs from key constituents, and have their decisions benefit their business.

The three professionals mentioned above (accountant, banker, and attorney) were very successful in their technical field. The attorneys (with eight offices in multiple cities) had many clients and won most of their legal cases. But they were unable to manage their own business and were faced with default, unpaid staff, behind on rent. Very similar to the church described in Section 1. They had superb legal skills but not the needed business management skills.

The banker and partner (electrical engineer), and the accountant owned businesses outside their professional skill, which skills were inadequate to manage their businesses. To bring each company back to solvency required application of management tools. The accountant owned a roofing company, the banker owned a company that made electronic control systems for metropolitan waterworks.

The point of the three examples: if a business is managed by the same technical skills as the business or is totally different, it is still important that management skills be employed.

3A 2003 study conducted at Cornell University states that “People tend to be blissfully unaware of their incompetence. Where they lack skills or knowledge, they greatly over-estimate their expertise and talent, thinking they are doing just fine when, in fact, they are doing quite poorly.”

Now, what does this mean for the average church? Just this: Churches need to be trained in good financial behavior, management skills, and better communication as well. It should not be taken for granted that church leaders know how to handle finances correctly or employ sound management techniques. There is plenty of scripture requiring finances to be managed properly. I have found none authorizing or encouraging solvency with money. Recognizing the two basic ways of learning a subject, by revelation (you were instructed), or discovery (trial and error, more costly but perhaps more entertaining for a while). Decisions about church finance should not be made by trial and error, "this seems like a good idea, let's try it." You will find in this book rules for empirically based plans that are supported by scripture.