US Marines and Church

Posted on November 13, 2012 Written by

Recently I’ve visited several churches. I’ve noticed something in common about all of them, and it’s something that is disconcerting for an organization whose primary purpose is to help people have a faith relationship with Jesus Christ. Here’s my discovery:

Most churches are designed for themselves.
That’s a pretty broad statement, so let me explain. I’ve been in church life and work my entire life. When I walk into a church building, I know how to slip in and find a seat without being noticed too much. I know what the program in the Sanctuary or worship center will be like and how long it will last. I know who the people “on stage” are even if I’ve never seen them before. I know all this because I’ve been in church for a very, very long time.
What about people who have never been to church or haven’t been to church in a very, very long time. Are those people are going to overwhelmed by the physical layout of your buildings? Are they going to know when to sit, stand, and turn around during worship? Are they going to be offended or embarrassed by being asked to fill out a card or be recognized as a visitor? Are they going to feel under-dressed and uncomfortable?
Churches have one chance to get it right. When someone comes to visit, they’re giving you one shot at making it so compelling and interesting that they’ll want to come back the next week. You have one chance to do church so well that these guests will look forward to the next Sunday. One shot – just one.
Is that fair or right? No. Is it reality? Yes.
Think about the way you do church: is your Sunday morning programming crafted to appeal to newcomers or to make the long-timers feel comfortable? Unfortunately, in most churches, it’s not what it should be. Even Jesus didn’t go to the synagogue very often because, well, the synagogue of Jesus’ time was very much like many churches are today: designed to make the religious feel good about themselves and not reach those who desperately need a faith relationship with God.
The U.S. Marines Rifle Drill Team is flat-out impressive. Watch a YouTube video of them. What they do is amazing. They are probably about as close to perfection as you can get; each and every time, they do it right. I haven’t seen them in person yet, but I want to, and I know I’ll be even more impressed.
I know churches run with volunteers led by church staff, so there is plenty of room for human error. But what I challenge churches to do is to be a LOT more intentional about what they do, how they do it, and what it looks like on Sunday morning. And by “it” I mean shaping almost everything about Sunday morning so that people you are trying to reach actually want to be there and aren’t counting the minutes till they can leave without insulting you.
I don’t expect churches to be perfectionists like the U.S. Marines, but I do expect churches to raise the bar. We’ve let our standards get pretty low, so it’s time to raise them several notches. We should expect our staff and volunteers to be at the top of their game every Sunday, with every person. Challenge your leaders to make the Sunday morning experience one that makes everyone, guests and regulars, vital to their lives.
Now, go watch the U.S. Marines Rifle Drill Team (even the one where the rifle breaks in the middle of the drill!) and see what you can learn from a really good team that works seamlessly together.
Lead On!
Filed Under: church staff Tagged:

Spears, Tridents, Pitchforks, and Rakes

Posted on October 30, 2012 Written by

I am concerned about the focus of the church, or its lack of focus. There was a time when the church in the United States was relatively financially flush and spent its money on a variety of ministries. Churches had food pantries, libraries, gyms, etc. I’ve even heard of a church that had a minister of softball!

My concern with this is that lots of organizations do those same things. Some of those organizations are Christian, while others are completely secular; some do it well and some don’t. But there are others out there doing this work. So, why does a church feel the need to replicate what is already being done by others especially in today’s very tight financial economy? I fully believe that churches should be involved in social ministries, I just don’t think those ministries have to be located inside and paid for by the church. Take advantage of the economies of scale of several groups working together.

Here’s my challenge to churches: stay on your mission-critical path. Focus on those things that no one else is doing. Concentrate on what you were tasked to do by Jesus Christ. Do what is in the marrow of your bones. Stay away from things that lead to mission creep.

Instead, if a church member wants to start a ministry, ask that person to find out what other groups are doing the same type of work in your area. The other groups may or may not be Christian, but that doesn’t matter; we don’t always work with Christians, we work for Christ. Next, find out which of those groups is the most effective, most efficient, and financially transparent in what they are doing. Finally, ask them if they could use additional volunteers and perhaps an occasional financial gift–and then partner with them.

Churches don’t need to use their resources to accomplish everything. They need to use their resources strategically. There are three main resources a church has: buildings, money, and people. When a church uses one, two, or all of these for a ministry within their own walls, they may take away resources that could be used for the church’s critical path needs. And, when a church uses some of its resources in a ministry outside its buildings, it gets its people and money to be involved and invested in the community–exactly what Jesus asked us to do.

Every manager knows that he or she can focus on 3-7 goals at any given time, at a maximum. Do anything more and projects began to suffer; resources get scarce. Businesses know to concentrate on no more than five major items at one time (for confirmation, read any book by business guru Jim Collins). ITT is a great example of business that decided it could do everything at the same time. You’ve never heard of ITT? That is probably because it went bankrupt decades ago.

Churches need to learn from businesses and remain focused on a primary goal: sharing the Good News of Christ. Extraneous ministries are good, but they can be done by church members volunteering at other well-run organizations. They will still be able to explain their motivation in helping others: because of their desire to share and exemplify God’s love.

Here’s an analogy: if you take one piece of steel, you can shape it into a spear, trident, or even a pitchfork and those one, three, or five points can make a very strong impact. Those points are always going in the same direction and are virtually unbreakable. That same piece of steel can be made into a rake which has 20 or 30 prongs which bend every which way and sometimes don’t even work together, bend at awkward angles, or even break off.

I challenge every church to be a spear,  a trident, or a pitchfork–singularly focused, very strong, and unified in its mission. Too many churches are like rakes going in lots of different directions with a wide variety of ministries. Use your resources strategically; use them for the Kingdom of God and the path on which God has set the church.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: leadership, wisdom Tagged: ,

Financial Records Retention for Churches

Posted on October 26, 2012 Written by

Records retention of financial data can get very complicated very quickly but I think it should be simple. I’ve studied different charts but it all can be divided into two categories: 7 years and permanent.

7 Years

  • Bank statements & reconciliations
  • Contribution records
  • Accounts payable records
  • Payroll detail
  • And other financial detail records
 Permanently
  • Commercial insurance records and payments (property and workers’ comp)
  • W-2s, W-3s, 1099s, and 1096s
  • General Ledger detail
  • Monthly financial statements
  • And other big picture records
The short-term docs are kept mostly in case of a church or staff member being audited by the IRS; IRS audits can go back only 7 years maximum. Also, after 7 years, most financial info is considered “historical” and not relevant to the church’s current status.

 

The reason for keeping insurance docs forever is for legal purposes: if something comes up years later (child molestation or a building issue), you want to get the insurance company at the time of the incident to pay for and handle all the legal issues You need to keep a copy of the policy and payment of the bill to prove it was in effect. Other long-term docs are kept for legal and financial history; they are rarely consulted but it is a good way to keep financial history. There is no legal or financial reason to keep records of individual gifts beyond 7 years.
BTW, there is no permanent or long-term accepted standard for record-keeping. Right now the best way is on paper with an electronic backup in PDF format. Everyone is waiting on the Library of Congress to determine the definitive long-term storage but LoC is waiting on technology (which changes constantly). Until then, print things out (old-school) and have an electronic version (new school).
These docs need to be stored
  • In a climate controlled environment such as a closet
  • Above floor level  so that rising water won’t damage them
  • Behind a secure door which is keyed differently than all other building keys
  • In boxes on shelves to make access in subsequent years easier
  • Together by fiscal year and all permanent records need to be stored together
  • And, the financial records storage closet can also be used to store items that just don’t fit in the finance office.

Each year, the oldest docs need to be shredded. I took the annual shredding chore and made it into an opportunity to help church members. I announced, especially to the senior adults, the day that shredding would happen and encouraged them to bring in old docs such as tax records and bank statements. The seniors were very grateful that the shredding could be done at no cost to them and it didn’t cost the church any extra either.

Shredding will cost less than $100 or you can see if your bank will shred your docs for you. Some businesses have “shredding parties” to draw new customers – take advantage of that even if you don’t become one of their customers.

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: church administration, church finances, church financial statements Tagged: , ,

Proverbs 22:9

Posted on October 12, 2012 Written by

Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor.

Motives are at the heart of generosity. Why are you generous? What action, event, cause, purpose, or reason makes you generous? Every person has a different motivation for being generous.

The writer of Proverbs in the Bible says that one motivation is to get nothing in return. Feeding the poor means you don’t expect anything in return. In fact, you’ll probably be met with suspicion as to why you’re feeding the poor – suspicion from both the poor you’re helping and from your peers who wonder at your motives. So, to see who is truly generous, see how they act around the truly poor. Observe them, their interactions with the less fortunate. Watch what they say and how they say it to those with few financial means.

A few times (too few, really) I’ve taken action to be generous according to this verse. Each time I’ve come away changed. I tell these stories to remind myself to be more generous more often – because it is good for me. Ironically, each time I share, I’m blessed; each time I give, I get.

  • While I was in grad school, I went to the grocery store. At the checkout line, the lady in front of me forgot her wallet at home. She left the items in the checkout line and went to call her family to bring some money. I knew she was poor from what she was buying and having to put back because it cost too much. When she stepped aside, I got $20 from my wallet and paid for her groceries and asked the cashier not to tell her. I paid for my own and left the store. That was over 25 years ago – it is still a fresh memory.
  • While on a trip overseas, I came across a family of four who are economic refugees. They travel (with two young children) from country to country looking for jobs. My heart aches for the kids who think this is normal and who don’t have the opportunity to have a solid education so they can become professionals to break the economic cycle. My wife and I gave them about $50 (all the money we had on hand). That was last year – I pray they have found a home and a well-paying job, but I doubt it.

There have been many other occasions in the years in between. It is never about the amount of money, it is always, always, always about the attitude of the heart. Each time I have been generous is etched in my memory. Each time I have asked enough to know that the recipient is poor. Every single time I have been overwhelmed with the sense of what I ought to do. And every time I did the right thing, I have welled up with a feeling a gratitude that I was able to be generous. Yes, there have been times I have not been generous – and those are also etched in my memory and are embarassing to me. They are lessons to my heart, to always have the attitude of generosity.

I challenge you to be generous in your daily life. Every so often some opportunity will present itself and you’ll have a choice – to be generous or to withhold a blessing. Believe me, it won’t affect your wallet (it really won’t), but it will affect your heart (not to mention the recipient). Be generous.

Lead On!
Steve

read: greedy, selfish, self-centered, miserly, stingy

Filed Under: generosity Tagged:

Generosity Index

Posted on October 5, 2012 Written by

You need to know about the annual Generosity Index  which is an interesting measure (at least to us numbers geeks) of how generous people are. This link is to the 2011 publication of the 2009 tax data. The compilers gather data from the US Internal Revenue Service (Canada is in the survey but in this blog I’m referring only to the US). They gather data by state:

  • Total amount of income on all the tax docs filed
  • Total number of tax filers
  • Total number of tax filers that made a charitable contribution
  • Total amount given to charities

The data is sliced and diced in two primary ways: 1) percentage of total aggregate income given to charity and 2) amount of average charitable donation. Those two are merged to get the Generosity Index and then states are ranked by each of these.

It is interesting to see the number of tax filers in a specific state but we don’t know if these donors gave $10 or $10,000 so I prefer to look at the percentage of income that is given to charities. That percentage is very telling about those who are inclined to be generous with their money. BTW, by far the largest recipient of charitable dollars are churches – no one else comes close.

  • The most generous state is Utah whose residents give an average of 3.09% of all their income to charities. The second is Georgia whose tax filers give away 1.85% of their collective income. There is a big drop from #1 to #2 and that is due to the Mormon emphasis on tithing.
  • The top ten most generous states are
    • 1. Utah
    • 2. Georgia
    • 3. Alabama
    • 4. Maryland
    • 5. South Carolina
    • 6. Idaho
    • 7. North Carolina
    • 8. Oklahoma
    • 9. Mississipp and New York (tie)
  • The top ten stingiest states are
    • 41. Ohio
    • 42. New Mexico
    • 43. Arkansas
    • 44. Hawaii
    • 45. Rhode Island
    • 46. West Virginia
    • 47. New Hampshire and Vermont (tie)
    • 49. Maine
    • 50. North Dakota

Generalizations are rarely correct but there are interesting patterns

  • Many of the most generous states are seen to be very religious (Utah & Idaho with Latter-Day Saints; Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi with Baptists and Methodists).
  • Many of the most generous states are seen as some of the poorest states
  • Many of the stingiest states are in the Northeast: Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine which is an area of the US that is considered less religious
  • Is there a correlation between faith and generosity – it would seem so (if we are looking broadly).

Years ago I read that research by Empty Tomb, Inc. showed some interesting statistics:

  • In 1932 the average Christian gave 3.2% of his or her income to the church. This is at the depth of the Depression, when people had less to give than ever before as a nation. It was a very, very tough time for the US.
  • Just before the economic collapse of 2008, the average Christian was giving 2.3% of his income to charity. During one of the most prosperous economic times in the US, Christians were more stingy than during the Great Depression. The figure of 2.3% has steadily dropped since, which means Christians are giving even less.

You can draw your own conclusions from this information. Here are mine:

  • More money does not make you more generous.
  • Generosity comes from the heart, not the wallet.
  • Being poor (a relative term in our country when we compare ourselves to other countries) means you understand better than others the importance of helping others.
  • A person’s faith and religion plays a large role in his or her generosity.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: budget, church finances, generosity, leadership Tagged: , , ,

EveryTHING Ends Up in the Trash

Posted on September 24, 2012 Written by

I have two kids: a teenager and a preteen. One of the lessons that I, as a parent, am trying to teach them is the lack of value of possessions. My wife are not wealthy, but we are blessed financially and can use our money to give our kids lots of things. However, we know that everyTHING we give our kids will end up in a landfill as trash. No exceptions – even our house will end up there at some point.

There is one thing that we can give our kids that will never end up in the trash: memories. Memories will last a lifetime. Memories are stories and when coupled with pictures, they are powerful reminders of days gone by. Those bygone days (like today) are not perfect, but they hold their value better than most possessions.

So a couple of years ago, we began carrying out what we feel is a much better investment of our money: going on trips in the US and internationally. We drove from our home in Virginia to Oklahoma for a family wedding and on the way back, we visited Ft. Worth, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Louisville, Mammoth Cave, and other sights on the way. Last year we took a trip to Spain and visited Madrid, Granada, and Sevilla. We’re already dreaming and planning more trips across the US and to Europe (our preferred international destination).

These trips are fun (my kids are great travelers), instructional and educational (they’ve visited the Gateway Arch and the Alhambra, learning about culture and architecture), and priceless bonding time (my kids get to see their parents in a different light in a different venue). My wife and I want to continue traveling as often as we can; we are blessed financially to be able to do this, and (more importantly) we consider it one of the best things we can do for our kids. Travel and memories are certainly better and longer lasting than a video game or clothes.

To etch these memories in our collective memory, my wife does something wonderful at the end of each year and special trip. She uses an online publisher to create a picture book. These picture or memory books are easy to do, relatively inexpensive, and they will be wonderful to look at years later.

I don’t want to tell anyone how to spend their money. I will suggest you consider how you’re investing your money in your kids and in the future. Are you putting it into assets that will wither up, break, and end up in the trash? Or are you putting your money in priceless, precious memories which involve spending time with your kids? You don’t have to travel (that is our choice and we’re grateful we can do that), but you do have to set aside time to be with your family.

Invest yourself in the future—in memories made with your kids and your family. You’ll never regret it.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: generosity, leadership Tagged: ,

Choices

Posted on September 10, 2012 Written by

Have you noticed? Young people today just don’t have the same level of commitment to church as their parents and grandparents! They have no loyalty. They have no deep roots. They don’t believe and support the one thing that their ancestors did – that bedrock commitment to their church. They really don’t value investing themselves in a church, planting seeds into that faith community, and paying it forward to the next generation.

(Okay, this is where I insert a disclaimer to say this is not true but a massive generalization – please read on)

Of course they don’t.

They don’t because their parents and grandparents – the same ones who voice many, if not most, of those complaints above – taught them they don’t have to have commitment to anything. I’m not blaming anyone, I’m just pointing out how this past two generations have been brought up by their parents.

Choices.

That is one of the hallmarks of capitalism and one of the benchmarks on which this nation is built financially. You, the consumer, get to pick and choose.

So, flashback to your childhood and remember when you sat in the grocery cart as your mom turned the corner and enter Wonderland – the cereal aisle. Mom slowly pushed the cart and you began saying (or if you couldn’t speak, you’d scream) what cereals you wanted. Mom ended up buying 2, 3, or even 4 different kinds of cereal because she knew you would switch every few days. And Mom didn’t stick just to Kellogg’s  brands, she’d even get General Mills or even the occasional off brand (which Dad usually ended up eating or maybe you gave it to the dog!).

Sure enough, over the next couple of weeks you’d have Cheerios for a few days, then switch to Fruit Loops, and then jump over to Sugar Smacks, circle back to Cheerios and finally you’d say you were tired of all those but you’d seen a new cereal on TV and you wanted to try that one so Mom might as well throw away all of the others and just go get the new one.

Kids learned that they can switch cereals on a whim. But also soft drinks, clothes brands, fast food chains, and any other consumer product out there. As an adult, we switch loyalties with car manufacturers (even though grandfather was a Ford or Chrysler or Chevy buyer) and even neighborhoods – I know of people who will move every few years when they grow tired of their home. Young people do the same with jobs. 20-somethings today will switch careers 7-10 times in their work life – that means that they will change job every 3-7 years.

Anyone who has been a child in the past 65 years (since WWII) has been raised in a culture of choices where they are in charge of making those choices.

So why do long-timers in the church get all upset when their kids and grandkids jump from one church to a different church to no-church and over to a church of a different denomination or no denomination. After all, it’s what we taught them: “you don’t have to accept what is in front of you,” and “you have the power to change your circumstances and surroundings so do it.”

Church-hopping today doesn’t happen for only the same reasons as before. I think that our grandparents jumped to another church because of something that happened and caused them to leave. They take that frame of reference and apply to their kids or grandkids.

I think there are a multitude of reasons why people today leave church.

  • They don’t like the programming or staffing
  • A friend invited them to go to another church
  • They want to experience and experiment with a different church
  • They’re looking for a church with values that they have (at the present time)
  • They want a church that will be good for their kids even if there is nothing for the adults
  • They’re seeking a church that is strong in one area of ministry or cause which they identify with
  • They’ve had a conflict with a lay member or staff leader
  • Or any of hundred other reasons

So what is a church to do. How do you address the issue of church hopping in your church? The number of responses is equal to the number of problems but here are a few prime answers

  • Do nothing – just accept that people will come and go through your church. Don’t change anything and realize that the back door is just as wide as the front door and that many people will use both and a few core people will stay and help run things.
  • Focus on a few core principles that guide your church and which in turn limit the number of ministries you do and then do those few ministries extremely well. That means the people who do come will be inculcated into your few ministries.
  • Provide a variety of ministries so that you’re trying to do lots of different things. This is what many churches do – focus on nothing and aim at everything. It works for a while but frankly it dilutes the power and ministry and energy of a church to focus on nothing and try to do everything.
  • Have a few compelling environments which attract people and make them stick to your church. These compelling environments will attract like-minded people so long as it remains a high-level of quality. This is simliar to #2 but that is focused on ministries and this point is on people-groups.
  •  Have several different worship styles within the same facility. That means building several worship centers or doing quick-changes; it also means a bigger staff. But the hope is that you can be a church where people can flit between worship and education venues all the while hearing the same message in a variety of methods.

OR, change the point of view of the people coming to church. That is MUCH harder to do. You see, everything I wrote above sees people coming to church as consumers. They aren’t. And church leaders should stop treating members as consumer. Church attendees are to be givers – of their time, their talents, and their financial treasure. They are to be GENEROUS!

When you attend a wedding, you are not a consumer. You are there at the invitation of the bride or groom; you didn’t just crash it. And the wedding is NOT about you – it’s about the bride (sorry, grooms!). You are a participant – there to enjoy the party and to help celebrate a special day.

Worship is NEVER about the people inside the church. People are there at God’s invitation (and we have no right to turn anyone – anyone! – away). Everyone must be there with the right motivation – not “to get something out of it” but to celebrate God and the life we’ve been given and in turn give away anything and everything we can to help others.

Yeah, changing members in a consumer-oriented culture into reverse-consumer (generous givers!) is not easy. But God doesn’t do easy (or else he’d wipe us off the map – LOL) and God certainly isn’t a consumer-God.

God does love and giving and celebrating and joy. We should and can and must, also.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: future, generosity, strategy, young adults Tagged: , , ,

Benevolence Gifts

Posted on September 3, 2012 Written by

A friend asked me what the IRS rules are regarding benevolence gifts to help people. I mean, if someone is in really, really dire straits, don’t they get an exemption from having any tax consequences if they get some money from a church? The church can give it directly to the individual, but the church has to prove that the person is really in need and know that the gift will be used exactly as intended. There is a better and easier way which is to pay someone’s rent/mortgage, groceries, medical bills, etc.

  • Payments made to an individual are considered taxable income unless there is a provable expense or personal need. BTW, the IRS doesn’t care what you call it – love gift, honorarium, salary, bonus, wages, stipend, gift card, etc. – to them it is all income, pure and simple, and is thus taxable as income.
  • If you pay someone $600 or more in a calendar year, then you must provide a 1099 UNLESS that is documented as a reimbursable expense such as mileage, travel, program expense, etc., etc. That means that all gifts and fees for services are considered taxable income. It doesn’t matter how serious the need is by the person or family. If you give them $600 or more in cash, it is taxable income to them.
  • The only way around this is to make a payment on someone’s behalf to another organization. This includes paying someone’s mortgage, rent, utilities, car repair, medical bill, etc. The church gets the invoice from the organization and pays it directly. The money never goes through the hands of the individual – it goes from one institution to another institution, just like any other accounts payable paid by the church.
  • The IRS is concerned that all benevolent funds be under the authority and control of the tax-exempt organization and that the church not be used as a conduit for personal purposes or gain. Thus, you cannot give money to your family or anyone else by “running it through the church” or you’ll jeopardize the church’s tax-exempt status.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: generosity Tagged:
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