8 Best Practices for Pastoral Financial Health February Ministry Ideas

Take advantage of coaching networks available to pastors (yes, that may mean paying a coaching service for your long-term health in ministry). It’s an investment, not an expense, as seasoned ministers have years of advice for you.

• Participate in a financial acumen class (Financial Peace, Money Matters, any Larry Burkett program, and others).

• Opt for a non-Bible degree undergrad program. (Business would be a good option for ministers.)

• Take advantage of spousal insurance or retirement plans. (If your spouse is a teacher, maximize the benefit of retirement plans and paid health insurance.)

• Go bivocational. Many pastors doubt their ability to work in the marketplace, but they have a huge set of needed skills, such as writing, speaking, human resources, customer service, linguistics, counseling, and so forth.

• Ask your church to ease the financial burden by offering compensation in areas where you’re spending extra dollars (discretionary funds for books, taking folks to lunch, conference expenses, initial moving expenses for new ministers, and so forth).

• Negotiate salary demands per contract period. (Many churches hire “independent contractors” who sign a legally binding contract, so leverage this for the sake of your family.)

• Say no. If your work demands are far exceeding the dollars coming in, say no to certain demands and expectations and build a system of lay leaders around you (Ephesians 4) to help in ministry tasks.

—By Brandon Morrow, who is doing pastoral research on this topic. Morrow is lead pastor at Gateway Church in Benton, Arkansas (gatewaybenton.org), and cofounder of Preacher Prep (www.preacherprep.com).

#Ministry Tweets

“Great leaders celebrate the success of the team. It is about influence and impact, not about who gets the credit.”

—Justin Irving, @lead2purpose

“If you are feeling that your Christian life, ministry or life in community is a heavy load, then it is not Jesus’ load you are carrying.”

—Caesar

February 5—Super Bowl Sunday For outreach ideas, go to the Super Bowl Outreach page of Sports Fan Outreach International: http://sfoi.org/super-bowl.

February 11—Make a Friend Day Holiday Insights (www.holidayinsights.com) describes this day as “a great opportunity to meet someone new or do something to make a new friend.” Leverage this weekend to encourage church attendees to connect with others in community through small groups or other ministries.

February 14—Valentine’s Day

• Throw a Valentine’s dance just for singles. Provide a fun, inviting opportunity for those who are tired of online dating and blind setups. (You might even encourage singles not to bring dates.)

• Offer a free Italian dinner for couples and throw in some entertainment for an inexpensive and fun evening out.

Have a ministry tweet to share? Please tag @MichaelCMack, #BestPractices. We may use it in a future issue.

“We cannot reduce God to a Black church, a White church, a Hispanic church, a Chinese or Korean Church!! God’s church is a reconciled church!”

—Dr. John M. Perkins, @JohnMPerkins

“Spread hope like it’s grass seed in a big wind.”

—@bobgoff