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10 Reasons Why Churches are Broke
Dec
06


14

10 Reasons Why Churches are Broke

This morning I attended a training event hosted by Launch at West Ridge Church. Casey Graham helped us brainstorm a list of why churches are broke. Here’s the list Casey and the crowd of church leaders developed:

  1. People aren’t tithing.
  2. Pastors are afraid to teach on money, and, therefore, most people are uninformed of biblical stewardship principles.
  3. Assuming growth will occur. (Casey shared that Church of the Highlands only budgets based on 90% of what they brought in the previous year.)
  4. Churches have taken on too much debt.
  5. Churches have budgets, but there is unwise spending and lack of controls.
  6. Money is diluted and going in too many directions because of overprogramming.
  7. People don’t make the connection between giving and eternal impact.
  8. Leaders think financial issues will just go away someday.
  9. Churches don’t plan their offering times.
  10. There is no one who is thinking intentionally about increasing giving at churches.

What would you add to the list?

 

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  • http://www.DailyGratitude.com Wes Hopper

    I don’t think that “people aren’t tithing” is a reason. It’s an effect of another reason and that is they aren’t taught or don’t believe/understand the cause and effect law of giving and receiving. And they don’t believe in an abundant Universe.
    One of my classic teachers wrote that prosperity is not in a collection of ‘stuff’ but in a recognition of one’s connection to the divine flow which is always sufficient for every need. When the minister believes, teaches and practices that, and the Board teaches and practices that, the church will thrive.

  • Bill Ehrhardt

    Churches have limits within their own body of structure to what they can do. Can they really think like a business? Can they really grow commitments before their flock is ready?

    In this economy, folks generally do not have the $ to give. Regardless of list.

    If a church can allow “sponsorships” for missions, site work etc… If your church has a large campus….can you develop a “bench sponsorship” program. Schools do it? I would sponsor a bench for $1000 in memory of a loved one. These are small….but what if you had 100 benches. What can $100,000 do for your church.

    I bet if you approached things like this, many things can be done to help campus cost or general overhead.

  • http://twitter.com/wobcYouth Bryan

    A lack of vision. I not only want to know where the money I give is going-but I want to know how that money will fulfill the vision God has placed upon the church.

    If the money doesn’t go towards the vision of the church (or if I don’t know if it is)-I’ll struggle to give.

    Churches need to do a better job of telling the stories of how tithes are benefiting the community and world. Don’t just assume the church knows where the money is going.

  • http://www.justcris.com Cristiane Ferreira

    Tony,
    You’ve raised an interesting and important topic…
    I would summarize this list by saying that the church isn’t trusting God with their finances.
    In my opinion, trusting God with our finances means spending money wisely according to His will (that includes tithes and offerings) and trusting that He will provide whatever we need. We must do our part. He will certainly do His.
    How will people trust God with their financial needs when they see the church is in trouble and doesn’t seek God to guide them through these problems?

  • Jose

    The reason that churches are going broke is that they have diluted the word of God to conform to the expectations of the attendees.
    It is now a free social club to attend instead of a group of people that support you as you strive to improve yourself.
    As we soften the word of God to bow to the political correct crowd, or in an effort to make sure we don’t hurt any feelings, we also destroy the ability of God’s word to exhalt a group of people to a higher level.
    Give it some bite, and give people some expectations and then watch them grow and live up to them.

  • Jose

    @ Cristiane Ferreira…

    When people realize that the are holding God’s money, and he as asking for a portion in return, maybe then they will be willing to look at the blessings that come from a tithe.

    When we consider it “our” money that we are giving to God, then we destroy our ability to humble ourselves, and it puts God in a subservient position.

  • Rob

    I am a faithful tither–I do occassionally give additionally to other projects that draw my attention, but not often. For the church to get a consistent increase in giving from me, my tithe will have to increase. For my tithe to increase, I’ll need to increase my wage. In this situation, as the economy improves giving will improve (as will inflation unfortunately, to negate these increases).

    Now, I understand that not everyone is a faithful tither, so the situation won’t get better until more people tithe.

  • Elisha Bjorne

    The churches who are broke today I would guess misused the funds in the good days, never considering there would be bad days, weeks, or years. A famine of sorts has come and many churches were not prepared. As a giver, I’d have to ask “How was the money spent?” Time to pull out the budget and once again explain to the congregation why they should sacrifice the finances of their family to support that institution. If the ministry spent years building up the hi-tech but failed to build up the hi-touch, then it may be time to sell those possessions and get back to the basics, the basics of helping people in need.

  • Ralph

    Good list of reminders. The main thing the church needs to do is disciple attendees rather than treat the issue as a fund raiser situation. The church needs to be the church and not just a nonprofit organization. The church needs to train (Financial Peace U., Crown Bible study, etc.) not just preach on good stewardship. There are so many resources which the church can use to assist people grow in their godly use of money and resources rather than the world’s perspective. We need to learn a New Testament systematic, sacrifical generosity before the Lord.

  • Tiffany F

    There are some churches that do allow for hi-tech giving. My church is a part of http://www.parishpay.com which allows me to set my monthly giving through a credit card/bank account and then let the magic of the internet take care of it. My church also includes the second collections in theirs (I’m not sure of most churches do this), so my husband and I can set the ones we are most passionate about higher. It is a “set-it and forget it” system that works really well for us. Even when we go to the local university chapel for mass, our parish gets the money.

  • http://www.briandoddonleadership.com Brian Dodd

    Tony,

    I know Casey personally and he is an expert on this topic. One topic not listed is many church leaders neglect or do not know who to cultivate financial leaders.

    Also, there is a generational difference on why to give. People 40+ years in age give out of duty. People under 40 give to life change. Therefore, the communication strategy to the younger generations must be attached to life change. Otherwise, those funds will given to Haiti or Darfur. They are going to give. The question is will they give to you?

  • Pingback: Links I Liked and Learned from this week « Lane Corley

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=502907072 John Mason-Smith

    The economy is in the toilet since 2008. 23 million people are out of work. And we wonder why churches are struggling?

  • http://www.facebook.com/levanjt Jeremy LeVan

    Leaders don’t remain focused on The Mission of The Church and churches lose momentum.

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