Five Church Situations Which Benefit from Outside Resources, Part 2

Accounting and Human Resources

For me as a preaching/teaching pastor, just the words “accounting and human resources” are less interesting to me than words like “Christology” or “expository preaching” or “discipleship.” And in fact, the church in which I serve is blessed to have numerous men and women who happen to have expertise in these areas; I do not take that for granted.

But many churches may not have the in-house knowledge of even basic accounting practices or human resources issues such as tax withholding, retirement plans, and so forth. Let me suggest three reasons to utilize outside help if that help is not found within the walls of your own church.

• Bad financial practices may lose the trust of the congregation. All the funds of the church are donated funds and thus there is a level of trust that the leadership should be able to demonstrate. In my years in the ministry in communication with various other churches, I have seen the gamut of poor financial practices. I have seen pastors badly underpaid and lower-level staff highly overpaid. I have seen large chunks of cash simply lost because there was not a solid cash-management system in place. I have seen bewildered pastors paid in a combination of cash and checks. I have seen remodeling projects put on individual church member credit cards. Bad financial practices can lose the trust of those providing the funds.
• How a church manages its money reflects its commitment to excellence. To be certain, a major theological error a church leadership team can make is to view the goal of the church as being to save money. I know of one church which built up a reserve of several million dollars, yet the leadership did not want to bring on additional staff to help the overworked pastor. Funds are meant to be spent on ministry, not hoarded to protect the church at all costs. But in this flow of money from members into the ministry, making sure every penny is accounted for is no less important than making sure members are shepherded in their relationships with the Lord. In fact, wise use of funds helps ensure that the spiritual ministries of the church are well-funded.
• Re-Assignment to other ministries may be a better use of a volunteer. Perhaps a faithful church member with some basic accounting skills is doing his best to manage the complex flow of funds in the ministry. If he has a greater heart for discipleship or service in some other more direct life-impact ministry, he may be languishing in the “money ministry.” Particularly for a smaller church, a modest monthly fee to hire outside accounting help may free up a key church member to pour his efforts into souls rather than spreadsheets.

This short series is devoted to the local church that might derive some benefit for outside resources. Scripture teaches that the ultimate authority in the local church is the body of elders/leaders God has raised up (1 Timothy 3, Titus 1). But sometimes the better part of wisdom with this body of leaders is to utilize the help of outside resources with specific knowledge. This series suggests five situations which might benefit from an outside resource.