LEADERSHIP FORUM
The questions of good stewarship and responsible financial policies face pastor and layman alike. Five laymen talk about whay money and ministry go hand in hand.
April 1, 1981
The questions of good stewardship and responsible financial policies face pastor and layman alike. Five laymen talk about why money and ministry go hand in hand.
Pastors know that lay leaders have definite ideas on the financial problems facing their churches. In many churches these leaders wield considerable power in making monetary decisions.
LEADERSHIP asked several of these leaders to share their thoughts on the money questions facing the local church: Can maintenance costs and salaries be met? Will ministry programs have to be cut? How can good stewardship be taught to church members?
Executive Editor Paul Robbins led the discussion with five Christian laymen from Illinois who hold offices with financial responsibility in their churches: Richard L. Brubaker Robert M. Hall John W. Rice Richard E. Sackett and Mark Sweeney. Each had his own view of how finances should be handled and stewardship cultivated.
Harold Fickett, a contributing editor to LEADERSHIP, edited the proceedings.
Paul Robbins: To set the stage, I'd like each of you to give the size of your church and describe the financial shape it is in.
Dick Brubaker: The First Baptist Church of Geneva is a relatively small congregation. We're currently working with a budget of about $140,000. We're gearing up for a building program that calls
for us raising one million, four hundred thousand, and increasing our mortgage payment from $9,600 a year to $103,000. That's a big jump, but it looks good right now.
Dick Sackett: We're a somewhat smaller church, with about 200 members at Bethel Presbyterian. Our aggregate budget for all activities is about $120,000. We're not having any trouble raising the money we actually need.
John Rice: I have the low card. Our church, Free Methodist ...
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