Church budgeting

Holy Trinity is small church in an urban priority area, so we have a small church budget. Financial priorities and regular monitoring are crucial. I wrote the following briefing paper for our PCC and thought it might be of help to others. The principles apply to all churches, regardless of size.

A guide to budgeting

What is the aim of budgeting? We can put the aim positively or negatively:
1. We want the money we spend this year to equal the money we receive.
2. We don’t want to spend money we don’t have.

Or, in other words: We aim to have no deficit at the end of the year.

How can we achieve that aim? We need to ask three simple questions:
1. How much money do we expect to receive this year?
2. What are our priorities for stewarding that money? (giving as well as spending)
3. What will we agree to use this money for in this coming year?
4. Are there new initiatives we seek to start and are they affordable?

The questions are simple but the process is more involved and may involve making difficult decisions. There will be items of expenditure which are worthwhile but which we simply cannot afford. To find out what these items are, we need to ask the following questions:
1. What did we spend our money on last year?
2. What have been the trends for the past 3 or 4 years.
3. How much will these things cost this year?
4. Is there any money we don’t need to spend?

It is possible that, even after cutting costs as far as possible, the expected spending will exceed expected income. If that is the case, then we need to ask some more questions related to raising extra funds.

1.Can we ask the congregation to increase their giving at this time?
2.Are there external sources to which we could appeal?

Once we have set the budget we need to try and stick to it. To do this, we need to do two things:

1. We need regular updates showing actual income and expenditure compared to the budget.
2. We need to base our decisions for fund-raising and spending on what we agreed at the start of the year.
3. If unforeseen items of expenditure arise, we must review the budget to find if savings can be made elsewhere before committing to spending the new money.

With priorities and budget amounts established at the start of the year, PCC are simplified “yes it’s in the budget” and “no we didn’t budget for that”. If some extra funding is required we can say “it’s not in the budget but it is important”. We can then do one of three things to raise the extra money required:
1. spend our savings
2. appeal specifically to the congregation
3. apply for external funds

By budgeting in this way, we will keep on top of our finances. Budgeting also assures people that the church is stewarding their resources well and so encourages generous giving.

Why Christ’s love is better than wine #2

I was a binge drinker between the ages of 17 and 23, regularly getting wasted for the buzz. I was drawn to Christ at the end of that time and simply stopped drinking. Old friends asked “why don’t you get drunk any more?” I’d say, “because I now know the love of Christ and it’s much better than beer.” Here’s a second excerpt from CH Spurgeon’s sermon on Song of Solomon 1:2, “your love is better than wine“:

II. CHRIST’S LOVE IS BETTER THAN WINE BECAUSE OF WHAT IT IS–

Let me remind you of some of the uses of wine in the East. Often, it was employed as a medicine, for it had certain healing properties. The good Samaritan, when he found the wounded man, poured into his wounds “oil and wine.” But the love of Christ is better than wine; it may not heal the wounds of the flesh, but it does heal the wounds of the spirit.

Wine, again, was often associated by men with the giving of strength. Now, whatever strength wine may give or may not give, certainly the love of Jesus gives strength, and strength mightier than the mightiest earthly force, for when the love of Jesus Christ is shed abroad in a man’s heart, he can bear a heavy burden of sorrow. …The love of Christ enables a man to do great exploits, and makes him strong for suffering, strong for self-sacrifice, and strong for service.

Wine was also frequently used as the symbol of joy; and certainly, in this respect, Christ’s love is better than wine. Whatever joy there may be in the world… the love of Christ is far superior to it. Human joy derived from earthly sources is a muddy, dirty pool, at which men would not drink did they know there was a stream sweeter, cooler, and far more refreshing.

It is better than wine, once more, for the sacred exhilaration which it gives. I have already spoken of this; the love of Christ is the grandest stimulant of the renewed nature that can be known. It enables the fainting man to revive from his swooning; it causes the feeble man to leap up from his bed of languishing; and it makes the weary man strong again. Are you weary, brother, and sick of life? You only need more of Christ’s love shed abroad in your heart. Are you, dear brother, ready to faint through unbelief? You only need more of Christ’s love, and all shall be well with you.

Human rights or responsibilities?

The disastrous effect of human rights on the gospel.

It’s been 61 years since the United Nations drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 11 years since the British Government passed the Humans Rights Act 1998. The legal debate which followed has focused on the rights of one individual or group over and against another – when two rights clash, we ask “whose rights take precedence?” High profile cases include: Asylum seekers or local communities? The dress code of religious people or company policy? The unborn child or the mother? The terminally ill or society at large? The gay, lesbian and bisexual community or those who want to promote heterosexual ethics to their children?

I believe there is sufficient evidence from 11 years of argument, bungled legislation, compromise and public dismay to say, “this is not working, what shall we do?” The entire project of granting individuals or groups of people rights over and against each other does not work. It only generates self-interest, division, discord and anger.

What are we to do? The answer must be to stop talking about human rights. But what would rights be replaced with? Another way to phrase human rights is in terms of human responsibilities. Instead of granting rights to the powerless, give responsibility to the powerful. Instead of the right to life, the responsibility not to murder. Instead of the right of liberty, the responsibility not to enslave. Instead of the right to security, the responsibility not to endanger. Instead of the right to justice, the responsibility to be just. Instead of the right to possess, the responsibility to share. Responsibility forms the basis of the 10 commandments. God’s wisdom is to make us each take responsibility for our actions.

I am a minister of the gospel of Christ. In the gospel, God is King. As King he commands that we each take responsibility for our actions before him and that one day we’ll be judged by him. We soon realise, however, that we can’t keep those commandments and so we need a Saviour, who is Jesus Christ.

For the generation which has grown up with the all invasive human rights legislation, the gospel makes no sense. After all, why would I need a Saviour if I have a right to life, even, perhaps, eternal life. To the members of the “it’s my right” culture, the idea that God would expect anything of us is entirely alien. A human rights mindset puts me at the centre of the universe and it turns God into a another agent of my rights not an awesome creator God who demands we each take responsibility before him.

So what are we to do? I’d say we refuse the dilemma of whose right takes precedent over whose. We should argue instead for a responsibilities based legal system, for the sake of the gospel.

Carson Pue on Mentoring leaders #4

Lots of churches have vision statements. I would like to know what process churches adopt to develop vision. If you have led the development of vision for a local church your comments would be really appreciated.

At Holy Trinity we have a PCC away day in November to develop a vision for the church. The day is called:

Enjoy a day away in a beautiful Staffordshire village; engage with God’s word; envision the church. The process started 18 months ago, during my time at St Luke’s, when my vicar asked several key church members to write a vision statement each. As we each laid our visions on the table, or wrote them on the board, it became apparent that the church leader should shape the vision and let the vision group refine it.

This process is advocated by Carson Pue who writes:

Vision intended for a group of people or an organisation or ministry almost always begins with one person. It becomes personal to the extent that we refer to it in possessive terms as “my vision” or “my calling”, yet the intent is usually to minister to or impact many others. Sometimes our first attempt at expressing vision creates a blurry image that is not clearly seen – nor understood – by others, including the leader. But wise leaders learn to gather around them trusted mentors who, under God’s guidance, help to sharpen the vision.

I believe the vision statements of many churches reflect the personality and theology of the church leader. Whatever emerges in mid November will be the culmination of a process which began in me 18 months ago, reflecting biblically on the question “what is God’s purpose for the church?” But it will not only be my work as trusted mentors will shape and refine the statement until it belongs to the church.

Has anyone any advice on the process? Am I heading along the right lines?

Here’s the links to Mentoring Leaders Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

Why Christ’s love is better than wine #1

I’ve started reading CH Spurgeon’s sermons on Song of Solomon and really loved his first meditation on why Christ’s love is better than wine. These are the first Spurgeon sermons I remember reading. His work is not expository but what comes through is a palpable love of Christ as his Saviour. I have abridged the first 5 points from the full script of the sermon:

‘Thy love is better than wine’ (Song of Solomon 1:2)

Christ’s love is better than wine for what it is not.

It is so, first, because it may be taken without question. There may be, and there always will be in the world, questions about wine. There will be some who will say, and wisely say, “Let it alone.” There will be others who will exclaim, “Drink of it abundantly;” while a third company will say, “Use it moderately.” But there will be no question amongst upright men about partaking to the full of the love of Christ. There will be none of the godly who will say, “Abstain from it;” and none who will say, “Use it moderately;” but all true Christians will echo the words of the Heavenly Bridegroom himself, “Drink, yes, drink abundantly, O beloved.”…

Christ’s love is also better than wine, because it is to be had without money. Many a man has beggared himself, and squandered his estate, through his love of worldly pleasure, and especially through his fondness for wine; but the love of Christ is to be had without money. What says the Scripture? “Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” The love of Christ is ‘unpurchased’; and I may add that it is ‘unpurchasable’.

Again, Christ’s love is better than wine because it is to be enjoyed without cloying. The sweetest matter on earth, which is for a while pleasant to the taste, sooner or later cloys upon the palate. If you find honey, you can soon eat so much of it that you wilt no longer relish its sweetness; but the love of Jesus never yet cloyed upon the palate of a new-born soul. He who has had most of Christ’s love has cried, “More! More! More!”

Further, Christ’s love is better than wine, because it is without lees. All wine has something in it which renders it imperfect, and liable to corruption; there is something that will have to settle, something that must be skimmed off the top, something that needs refining down. So is it with all the joys of earth, there is sure to be something in them that mars their perfection. Men have sought out many inventions of mirth and pleasure, amusement and delight; but they have always found some hitch or flaw somewhere…

But he who delights himself in the love of Christ will tell you that he finds no vanity and vexation of spirit there; but everything to charm and rejoice and satisfy the heart. There is nothing in the Lord Jesus Christ that we could wish to have taken away from him; there is nothing in his love that is impure, nothing that is unsatisfactory. Our precious Lord is comparable to the most fine gold; there is no alloy in him; no, there is nothing that can be compared with him, for “He is altogether lovely,” all perfections melted into one perfection, and all beauties combined into one inconceivable beauty. Such is the Lord Jesus, and such is his love to his people without anything of imperfection needing to be removed.

The love of Christ, too, blessed be his name! is better than wine, because it will never, as wine will, turn sour. …Oh, how often, beloved, have we grieved him! We have been cold and chill towards him when we ought to have been like coals of fire. We have loved the things of this world, we have been unfaithful to our Best-beloved, we have allowed our hearts to wander to other lovers; yet never has he been soured toward us, and never will he be. Many waters cannot quench his love, neither can the floods drown it. He is the same loving Savior now as ever he was, and such he always will be, and he will bring us to the rest which remains for the people of God.

Once more, Christ’s love is better than wine, because it produces no ill effects. Many are the mighty men who have fallen down slain by wine. Solomon says, “Who has woe? who has sorrow? who has contentions? who has babbling? who has wounds without cause? who has redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.” But who was ever slain by the love of Christ? Who was ever made wretched by this love? We have been inebriated with it, for the love of Christ sometimes produces a holy exhilaration that makes men say, “Whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell.”

O teach me what it meaneth

If there are any modern hymn writers who read this blog, could you write a new tune for this?

O teach me what it meaneth,
That cross uplifted high,
With One, the Man of Sorrows,
Condemned to bleed and die!
O teach me what it cost Thee
To make a sinner whole;
And teach me, Saviour, teach me
The value of a soul!

O teach me what it meaneth,
That sacred crimson tide,
The blood and water flowing
From Thine own wounded side.
Teach me that if none other
Had sinned, but I alone,
Yet still Thy blood, Lord Jesus,
Thine only, must atone.

O teach me what it meaneth,
Thy love beyond compare,
The love that reacheth deeper
Than depths of self-despair!
Yes, teach me, till there gloweth
In this cold heart of mine
Some feeble, pale reflection
Of that pure love of Thine.

O teach me what it meaneth,
For I am full of sin,
And grace alone can reach me,
And love alone can win.
O teach me, for I need Thee,
I have no hope beside—
The chief of all the sinners
For whom the Saviour died!

O teach me what it meaneth
The rest which Thou dost give
To all the heavy-laden
Who look to Thee and live.
Because I am a rebel
Thy pardon I receive
Because Thou dost command me,
I can, I do believe.

O infinite Redeemer!
I bring no other plea;
Because Thou dost invite me
I cast myself on Thee.
Because Thou dost accept me
I love and I adore;
Because Thy love constraineth,
I’ll praise Thee evermore!

Words: Lucy A. Bennett (1850-1927).

Carson Pue on Mentoring Leaders #3

Here’s a helpful list of danger zones in Christian leadership. Pue suggests that any one of these is sufficient to bring down leadership. I found it helpful to consider how each one has its own counterweight in the character, purposes or teaching of God or the person of Christ and our status as children of God through faith in Christ crucified for sin.

• reliance on own gifts
• fear of humankind (people pleasing)
• perfectionism
• lack of conflict resolution skills or avoidance of conflict
• lack of accountability
• ignoring evil or lack of understanding how evil works
• unawareness of how to guard against sexual misconduct
• empire building
• need for recognition
• need to control
• lack of trust / intimacy with God (solitude, etc.)
• inability to set boundaries (to say no)
• inability to delegate
• lack of discernment

Here’s the links for Mentoring Leaders part 1 and part 2

If the Lord is for you…

Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who can be against us?

Ebenezer Erskine unpacks what it means for God to be for us from the covenant-grant “I am the Lord your God.”

The greatest word ever God spake since the fall of Adam! For here he not only speaks forth his own glory and transcendent being, but he speaks over himself unto us as our God…God’s covenant of promise is not a things past, or a things to come only, but a thing present, “I am the Lord thy God.”…

[the] title whereby be describes himself is relative; “thy God.” This is it that sweetens the name of Jehovah unto us; he is Jehovah our God. The terror of his amazing and infinite greatness were enough to affright and astonish all mankind; but when he says, “I am thy God even thy own God;” not an avenging God, to execute the penalty of the broken law upon thee, but a “God with thee, a God on thy side,” to pity, pardon , and defend thee, a “God gracious and merciful, abundant in goodness and in truth;” this O this! renders his name Jehovah amiable and desirable.

In Erskine’s theology, it is when terrified, astonished sinners discover that the penalty of the broken law has been executed, not on them, not now or ever, but on Christ their propitiation, that God becomes our friend and ally. In the death of Christ God most loudly says “I am the Lord your God.”

From the vicarage August 2009

In the busy summer season I missed posting this:

From the vicarage

The Next Generation

What makes grown men and women dress up as clowns in the streets of a north Devon town, act out plays as jugglers, trapeze artists, grumpy old men and sanitary inspectors? What makes them dash around all day until they are run ragged playing football, frisbee, basketball, flying jellyfish, trampolining, death sliding, assault coursing, grass sledging, tennis, surfing, swimming and water sliding? Why at the end of the day do they collapse into a tiny bed, with rubber covered matress in a boarding school house where the teenagers take longer to settle than than a cat on a hot tin roof? The answer is this: grown men and women become like teenagers so that some teenagers might hear the gospel and be saved. The last week in July, I’ll be on a Christian Venture Camp for around sixty 11-14 year olds. Camp is great fun and exhausting and we have great fun teaching and learning about God and about Jesus as we follow the Apostle Paul’s example:

“I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” ( 1 Corinthians 9:22-23)

For the past four years I have been a leader on a Pathfinder venture at Bideford in Devon. The camp is lead by a young pastor friend from Tipton called Tim Ambrose. On camp we have around 60 teenagers and 30 adult leaders. The camp is spread over seven days where each day have a mixture of bible teaching based on Luke’s gospel and activities based on the theme “Roll up, roll up, the circus is in town”. As well as the activities listed above, we’ll have a talent show, craft activities, silly games with no real winners and a dorm competition involving games of wit and intelligence, dexterity and skill, balance and sleight of hand. As you might guess, I never win. Big ticket items included a trip to the beach, an afternoon in Barnstable playing Hunt the Spy and, a barbecue on the beach and probably everybody’s favourite, the Wet Wide Game and water slide. My dorm, the Lilly-Livered Lion Tamers, are in their last year on camp before moving up to the CYFA age, 15-18s.

There are four bible teaching slots each day. This sounds like a lot but the methods were varied so interest could be maintained. We begin with Swords at Sunrise: personal study for every member of the camp. After breakfast we met for Buzz Groups, an interactive and dynamic way of thinking through different aspects of the Christian teaching, using the headers, “What would Jesus say to Amy Winehouse, Madona, David Beckham…”

In the evening after dinner we had a main meeting, where, thanks to modern technology, we watch photographs of that day’s events, sing a Christian song or two and listen to a talk. Last thing at night before we go to bed, we hold Swords at Sundown, a small group bible study in our dorms. The bible teaching programme is based around key passages in Luke’s gospel this year and is designed to give the youth a full and wonderful view of the life, teaching, miracles, death and resurrection of Jesus.

There are lessons we can learn at Holy Trinity from the experience of camp. First, God’s concern for the next generation is obvious when we read the bible and yet so much of what we do as a church is geared toward the adults. We need a passionate concern for the faith and direction of the next generation and we do this by teaching. And Paul points out that as we teach, we grow as Christians.

Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! (Hebrews 5:12)

Second, leading on a Pathfinder venture challenges us to think, “If we can become like youth for a week, sharing not only our lives but the gospel in an appropriate setting, medium and language then what setting, medium and language should we be willing to learn, understand and adopt as Christians to communicate the gospel to our peers in the MTV generation or to our Asian neighbours, to take just two examples?”

A mission shaped church will be traditional on the message of the cross and the bible but contemporary in it’s style and culture. That means thinking head about how we get the message across in a way which people understand and is culturally relevant.

We must be willing to change style but not content. Why? For the sake of those who have not yet heard the gospel. As we continually change, just be thankful that you will probably not need to dress up as a clown.

Why I don’t wear a dog collar (part 3)

We had a friend round one evening last week and I asked her what the local community thought of the church. She said:

it seems much friendlier since you arrived because you are like one of us. You don’t wear a dog collar.

I am sold out on cultural immersion as the only way to make the love of Christ in his death for sinners like me relevant to others. We are to become all things to all people for the sake of the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:22), making spiritual friends and sharing the gospel by example and natural conversation (1 Thess 2:8). I can’t do that when I’ve a piece of ridiculous looking white plastic tucked into my collar.

You can read other reasons why I don’t wear a dog collar at part 1 and part 2.