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Ten Tips for Dealing with Money
Money is a high-stress issue in most congregations. Who gives how much is often secret, even
from the pastor. Congregations struggle to meet their budget, let alone increase their
ministry. When church leaders and church members are anxious, it’s hard to make real
progress in this area. And our society as a whole is highly focused on money and success.
The larger arena is fraught with anxiety, just as the congregation is.
Here are ten tips for dealing with money in congregational life:
1. Remember that this is a high-anxiety area for many people. Family issues around money
will be played out in the church.
2. Learn as much as you can about your own family history with money (over as many
generations as you can). This will help you manage your anxiety about money in the
congregation.
3. Leaders need to share the responsibility for money challenges with the congregation. It
is their church. When you feel anxious, ask yourself, “Whose anxiety is this, really?”
4. Leaders need to ask the congregation to give (more than once a year). Once a month is not
too often to talk about stewardship in some way. This can happen in men's and women's
ministries, in children's and youth education, not simply with adults.
5. Lighten up! Cultivate your sense of humor in this critical area. People get very serious
about money, especially when it is tight, and this inhibits their ability to creatively
solve problems.
6. Leaders need to define their own views on stewardship to the congregation. This will be
much more effective than trying to willfully convince people to give more.
7. Congregations will do better if they move in th direction of less secrecy around money
rather than more. Different churches will be in different places on this spectrum, of
course. But in general a move toward openness will help spread the responsibility for the
church’s financial life more broadly.
8. Staff need to resist the temptation to volunteer to help the church balance its budget on
their salary. Salary negotiations always benefit from a light touch and clear thinking (not
always easy to achieve). Know your own bottom line.
9. Expect church anxiety around change to show up in this area. Don’t take it too seriously
or personally. At the same time, don’t allow denial to overtake you or other church leaders.
10. Keep looking for the deeper processes at work within the church. Money is a convenient
focus, but problems with money are always symptomatic of other issues.
Rev. Margaret J. Marcuson works with church leaders who want to learn an easier, more effective way to lead. The author of Leaders Who Last: Sustaining Yourself and Your Ministry (Seabury, 2009), she can be reached at Margaret@margaretmarcuson.com.
from the pastor. Congregations struggle to meet their budget, let alone increase their
ministry. When church leaders and church members are anxious, it’s hard to make real
progress in this area. And our society as a whole is highly focused on money and success.
The larger arena is fraught with anxiety, just as the congregation is.
Here are ten tips for dealing with money in congregational life:
1. Remember that this is a high-anxiety area for many people. Family issues around money
will be played out in the church.
2. Learn as much as you can about your own family history with money (over as many
generations as you can). This will help you manage your anxiety about money in the
congregation.
3. Leaders need to share the responsibility for money challenges with the congregation. It
is their church. When you feel anxious, ask yourself, “Whose anxiety is this, really?”
4. Leaders need to ask the congregation to give (more than once a year). Once a month is not
too often to talk about stewardship in some way. This can happen in men's and women's
ministries, in children's and youth education, not simply with adults.
5. Lighten up! Cultivate your sense of humor in this critical area. People get very serious
about money, especially when it is tight, and this inhibits their ability to creatively
solve problems.
6. Leaders need to define their own views on stewardship to the congregation. This will be
much more effective than trying to willfully convince people to give more.
7. Congregations will do better if they move in th direction of less secrecy around money
rather than more. Different churches will be in different places on this spectrum, of
course. But in general a move toward openness will help spread the responsibility for the
church’s financial life more broadly.
8. Staff need to resist the temptation to volunteer to help the church balance its budget on
their salary. Salary negotiations always benefit from a light touch and clear thinking (not
always easy to achieve). Know your own bottom line.
9. Expect church anxiety around change to show up in this area. Don’t take it too seriously
or personally. At the same time, don’t allow denial to overtake you or other church leaders.
10. Keep looking for the deeper processes at work within the church. Money is a convenient
focus, but problems with money are always symptomatic of other issues.
Rev. Margaret J. Marcuson works with church leaders who want to learn an easier, more effective way to lead. The author of Leaders Who Last: Sustaining Yourself and Your Ministry (Seabury, 2009), she can be reached at Margaret@margaretmarcuson.com.
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Margaret Marcuson
Rev. Margaret Marcuson works with churches that want to create a ministry that lasts and clergy who want more impact on the people they serve best. She is the author of Leaders Who Last: Sustaining Yourself and Your Ministry (Seabury, 2009). She served as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Gardner, Massachusetts for thirteen years.
