Pastors Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Last year, you may recall that the bottom fell out of the economy.

According to a survey conducted by Brian Kluth of over 1,000 churches, 29% of the responding churches reported giving was down in 2008, and 53% of churches reported giving was behind budget for the first quarter of 2009. The amazing finding was in the face of these statistics, only 14% of churches made cuts to their 2009 budget. At face value, this would seem to indicate that at at least 15% of churches are going to be faced with severe budget shortfalls this year.

However, if the 53% of churches who were behind budget early in the year don't architect a financial turn around, many of them could be seriously behind budget for the year. This could put a number of churches in the position of needing to take some drastic and painful steps later this year or early 2009. One thing is certain, no pastor or board wants to fire staff or reduce important programs and ministries. One might consider this situation to be "the rock."

Churches that are having a hard time meeting budget, are struggling to pay mortgages, or can't afford to hire needed staff have only three options: reduce expenses, increase giving, or a combination of both. Two of the three solutions depend, in whole or in part, upon increasing giving to the church general fund. This brings us to the "hard place"; the Lilly Endowment Studies report that 85% of pastors feel uncomfortable and/or unequipped to preach on giving.

The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10, "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?" The same question might be asked about giving; how can anyone expect to increase giving in the church if 7 out of 8 pastor's are unwilling or unequipped to preach on biblical stewardship?

The Kings James Bible has 64 verses that mention hell, and 334 that mention love, however there are reportedly over 2,000 verses (depending on the source quoted) that deal with money and possession. Pastor Randy Alcorn's book, The Treasure Principle, puts the number of these verses at 2,350. Now there are those who will dispute that number, and it is certainly open to debate, but even if the number of verses was overstated by 100%, there would still be 3x more verses about money and possessions than love and hell combined.

Being unwilling to preach and teach on money is not a new problem. Malachi begins in chapter 1 by rebuking the priests for failing to properly oversee worship (particularly the offerings), and failing to properly instruct the nation in God's Law. He goes on to call the people to repentance, not the least of which was the famous "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings."

So what are pastors to do when they feel caught between a rock and a hard place?

The answer is to clearly and unashamedly preach and teach on biblical stewardship and not be afraid to challenge the people to respond. In 1 Chronicles 29:5, King David, after proclaiming his financial support for the building of the temple then clearly challenges the people to give by boldly asking, "Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the LORD?" David clearly threw the gauntlet down and the people responded.

Pastors and church leaders who wish to become equipped to lead their church in biblical stewardship, should consider the Dynamic Giving Toolkit. Pastor testimonials report increases in giving of 10-30% the first year and double digit increases yearly thereafter. The web site asks a very good question, "What would your church do with 10-30% more money?"

The core of the program is the book, Pastor Driven Stewardship by Dr. Rod Rogers. Used by over 1,000 churches in 13 countries, these materials have transformed the members and the giving of churches around the world. If your church needs to retire debt, hire staff, expand ministry, or you just want to avoid painful budget cuts, we think these stewardship materials will teach, equip and challenge you to lead your church in biblical stewardship.

Post a comment and let us know what your church could do with a 30% increase in giving...

A Wise Quote, Still True Over 100 Years Later

I love this quote. It is appropriate in so many circumstances, not the least of which is in church design and construction.

“There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey.” - John Ruskin

For more sage words, see these John Ruskin Quotes.

The Most Asked Question in Church Construction

"How much will it cost to build the church?" is by far the most asked question we receive.

This is a very important question, and one worthy of an accurate response.  Everyone wants to know how much it costs per square foot to build a church.  The REAL answer is this: All I or anyone else, including your local builder, can do is guess (we professionals call this "estimating") - until there is a real set of church plans. Anything else is just a guess, and not one you can hold someone to, at that. 

Can an experienced church builder look at a concept drawing of a church plan and get pretty close on cost?  

Yes they can.  I have been blessed to be be uncannily close on several projects - simple because, like a builder, this is something at which I have experience.  However, when you talk to someone who does not specialize in church construction, or worse, someone who gives you a lowball estimate just to try to get a business relationship going, the church can end up in trouble.  There is no way most churches know if their builder is really honest and capable until it is too late. To make it worse, most architects don't really know what a church will really cost to build - ask just about any builder and they will probably tell you the same thing.

Most churches push their budget to the max in order to build all they can afford.  A church can easily into the design process and spend several ten's of thousands of dollars on plans based on a bad guess or deceptive estimate. When the church gets the real construction bids and find out they can't afford the building, they then have to pay even more to have the plans redrawn.  This is not only a waste of money, but of time and momentum.

There are two ways to solve this problem:

The first is to NOT do the tradional Design-Bid-Build approach where you don't find out how much the building will cost until after it is designed.  A better approach is to put together a team consisting of the architect, engineer, and builder to work the process together, getting pricing estimates all during the design process so that by the time the building is designed, it is also priced.  This is commonly referred to as the team build approach. Team build differs from design/build by virtue of the fact that both the architect and the builder work for the church, an important distinction.

The second way is through the use of a new church plan offering that allows churches to buy detailed plan sets from previous building programs for only $895.  Starting with any one of the 200 or so church plans on ChurchPlanSource.com, the church can find a plan that is very close to what they want to build in size and general seating capacity.  The church can then buy detailed blueprints in PDF format and submit them to a builder for pricing.  

Once the church determines it can afford the building, the changes to the plan are made to make it the church's own.  The key to making this work is to find a building that is as close as possible to what the church needs.  Non-structural changes to room layouts and reconfiguring space will not greatly affect the price of the building, so the church can have construction drawings completed with the confidence they know the final price.  Even if the building needs to be resized soemwhat, the cost per square foot for the church will be approximately the same.  If it cost $100/sqft to build a 10,000sqft building, it will probably be the same price per square foot to build a 9,000 or 12,000sf building based on the same plan. Personally, I find these sample plan sets to be very helpful.  All too often churches don't believe me when I tell them how much a building project will take.  They are always sure they can get it done much cheaper.  For churches with unrealistic expectations, this is a great way to confirm if they can actually build it for what they believe.  If they can, Praise God, if not, they have lost very little.  (I may not have been able to keep them from shooting themselves in the foot, but I did at least switch them to a lower caliber that made a smaller hole. LOL)

If your church is in a hurry for whatever reason, it can have church building plans in hand in days instead of weeks or months. The full sample plan set in PDF format can be used to:

Get an accurate cost, or better yet, a firm bid, from a builder.
Be submitted as part of your inital loan application package.
Used for a preliminary plan review meeting with your local building department.
Uses as a planning document to communicate desired changes, and much more...
Go to ChurchPlanSource.com for more information and pricing.