Assessment Pack Is Your Church Fiscally Fit James D. Berkley Four factors to help you determine the vitality of your church finances. See "Leading Financial Stewardship" Training Pack

Store Code: AP26-B Format(s): Microsoft Word Type: Assessment Price: $2.99 Sale Price: $0.00

Topics:	Attitudes, Finances, Fundraising, Giving, Leadership, Money, Offerings, Stewardship
Filters:	Finances, Fundraising ministry, Pastor, Treasurer
Purpose:	Discipleship
References:	1 Chronicles 29:14, 2 Corinthians 8:8-9, 1 Timothy 6:17-18
Date Added:	August 22, 2007

No single statistical method exists to measure the fiscal fitness of every church. Churches vary greatly by denomination, locale, demographics, size, and other factors. However, certain factors point toward church fiscal health, and others indicate possible concern. In each of the areas below, rate your church on a scale of 1 (we are very healthy in this area) to 5 (we are very unhealthy in this area).

Total Annual Income
Here's a benchmark for church annual contributions, adapted from Lyle Schaller's book The Interventionist (Abingdon, 1997). Multiply your average worship attendance by $1,250 to get a healthy idea of what you should be taking in per year. Thus, if my church has 100 attenders on an average Sunday, and annual giving is $125,000, we're on track.. Another way to look at the same figures is to multiply $25 per head in worship for any given week. If my church averages 200 in attendance, it should be receiving about $5,000 a week.

How do we rank in this area? We are healthy 1----- 2----- 3----- 4----- 5 We are unhealthy

Income History
Ask yourself:

• Is our church meeting its budget?

• Are we consistently ending the year in the black?

• Can we pay our bills?

• Is church income rising or falling? Why? Do we have reason to believe the trend will continue?

How do we rank in this area? We are healthy 1----- 2----- 3----- 4----- 5 We are unhealthy

Sources of Income
Evaluate where your church's money comes from by asking these questions:

• Do our new pledges more than exceed the old pledges and the pledges that expired last year?

• Is each age group in our church giving its share?

• Do a few people underwrite our finances, or is the burden spread across a large number of givers?

• Do we collect at least 90–95 percent of the pledges promised for each year?

How do we rank in this area? We are healthy 1----- 2----- 3----- 4----- 5 We are unhealthy

Division of Expenditures
Lyle Schaller advises typical churches to designate 45–55 percent of their income for personnel costs, with smaller churches designating more and large churches less. For benevolences (i.e., missions), Schaller recommends 15–16 percent, and never more than 33 percent. For building projects and debt retirement, Schaller advises 20 percent.

How do we rank in this area? We are healthy 1----- 2----- 3----- 4----- 5 We are unhealthy

—James D. Berkley

Discuss

1. How is church financial health about more than offerings and contributions?

2. What is our healthiest area? What practices have made us healthy in that way?

3. What is our weakest area? What steps should we take to improve?

Average Rating:

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Posted: April 09, 2009 Arlan Howard  (Registered User)

Question, when computing your average worship attendance by $1,250 or multiply $25 per head in worship for any given week, should you use total attendance or just adult attendance?

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