Budget preparation is a task nobody looks forward to and few understand.
Many grit their teeth coming to budget meetings because they view the process as, at best, a necessary evil, a painful search for "fat" to cut, with frustration at escalating required costs (e.g. health insurance) and tough allocation decisions. Which is more important, dollars for mission or a raise for staff? Even in good times, hours spent on budget planning can seem like a distraction from the real work.
I say with humility that few really understand budgeting. My trustees typically possess financial acumen superior to mine. But business savvy can lead, ironically, to granting the budget process both more and less importance than it deserves. More because it's just an instrument, after all. Less, because it exposes our priorities, making a theological statement that could shock or dismay us.
Think of the budget not as a static document but an expression of the organization as a living organism. There is a life cycle to every annual budget that reflects both finite usefulness and theological significance.
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Quietly Courageous: Leading the Church in a Changing World by Gil Rendle
The changing dynamics of contemporary church life are well-known, but what's less well-known is how leaders can work most effectively in this new context.
In Quietly Courageous, esteemed minister and congregational consultant Gil Rendle offers practical guidance to leaders - both lay and ordained - on leading churches today. Rendle encourages leaders to stop focusing on the past and instead focus relentlessly on their mission and purpose - what is ultimately motivating their work. He also urges a shift in perspectives on resources, discusses models of change, and offers suggestions for avoiding common pitfalls and working creatively today.
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Eastern Star Church is helping bring hope to the 46218 ZIP code in Indianapolis through housing initiatives, social services, a grocery store, financial coaching and more.
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Through various programs on economic discipleship, the Boston Faith & Justice Network is inspiring Christians to put biblical values into practice, including rethinking how they're spending their time and money.
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Choosing Change: How to Motivate Churches to Face the Future by Peter Coutts
Humans have been choice-makers since the days when hunter-gatherers had to decide when to hunt and what to gather. Making choices is what humans do. But individuals feel more personal autonomy and power to choose today than ever before in human history.
In Choosing Change, author Peter Coutts acknowledges that clergy today recognize the impact our individualistic culture of choice is having on congregations. But Coutts also points out that many leaders do not think about motivation. For them, encouraging change is about selling their congregation on a new idea, governed by the assumption that a better idea should win the day. Wide experience in the church demonstrates that this approach often doesn't work and leaves many congregational leaders demoralized. Leaders see the need for change in their congregation, and they earnestly want to help their congregation to change. But the approach to leadership they learned, which perhaps worked better in days gone by, is no longer working. Leaders are in the motivation business, argues Coutts.
Choosing Change provides an overview of thinking from the field of motivation psychology. In the first half of the book, Coutts explores theories, ideas, and terms that are most pertinent for leaders who desire to encourage congregational change. The second half of the book offers detailed guidance for congregational leaders who want to be motivational leaders.
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