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Should a church have a savings account?
- Thread starter jcjordan
- Start date
We do have a savings account - it is for our building fund.
Does my opinion hurt your feelings?
Meanwhile, back in the thread...
We have several savings accounts. Not to get too descriptive but they are all maintained within certain levels and monitored frequently. We try to budget slightly under our previous year's reciepts, a hard practice imho. This allows us to release extra funds to do ministry. Lots of these funds are placed in a general account and accessed as needed.
A second kind of account is our endowment. We contribute a certain percentage towards an endowment that is for developing future ministries and with a possibility of future expansion as we are led. We have a firm rule that the endowment can't be tapped for the first ten years unless we encounter a huge issue. Also, only one of our leadership councils has the power to activate a withdrawl request. The senior pastor does not have a vote on this council. (Honestly our biggest fear is that something we've spent years building up is abused by some future leader for their own gain.)
Finally we have a standing savings account for a building program we are prayerfully pursuing. We will not build until it is at 50% of cost.
We have several savings accounts. Not to get too descriptive but they are all maintained within certain levels and monitored frequently. We try to budget slightly under our previous year's reciepts, a hard practice imho. This allows us to release extra funds to do ministry. Lots of these funds are placed in a general account and accessed as needed.
A second kind of account is our endowment. We contribute a certain percentage towards an endowment that is for developing future ministries and with a possibility of future expansion as we are led. We have a firm rule that the endowment can't be tapped for the first ten years unless we encounter a huge issue. Also, only one of our leadership councils has the power to activate a withdrawl request. The senior pastor does not have a vote on this council. (Honestly our biggest fear is that something we've spent years building up is abused by some future leader for their own gain.)
Finally we have a standing savings account for a building program we are prayerfully pursuing. We will not build until it is at 50% of cost.
____Agreed
Yeah sorry tractor-boy, apples & oranges.
FR7 Baptist
Active Member
My church has several savings accounts. We have a building fund, a restricted fund, an emergency fund, and a scholarship endowment fund.
No, I'm sorry, boy who's parents didn't teach him any manners, they're very similar.
In Matthew 26, the perfume was spilled out in an act of worship to Jesus.
In this case, the money is being spent for the work of the Gospel, which the Bible compares to an act of worship to Jesus.
David Michael Harris
Active Member
I would save that for a fellowship to have some sort of buffer is fine but to hoard cash just for interest while people starve and suffer in the world just does not seem right to me.
Maybe many fellowships rest secure in their financial situation rather than their faith.
There is also what maybe is just an excuse of using it for the future for something.
My first church pulled down the old building and spent 300k on a new one, there was nothing wrong with the old one and the new one did not seat that many more and I bet it's not always full now. Ah, but, it was an act of faith? 300k in 1985 was a lot of cash as it is today.
Thing is when you say money could have been spent on something better you risk sounding a bit like Judas.
Maybe many fellowships rest secure in their financial situation rather than their faith.
There is also what maybe is just an excuse of using it for the future for something.
My first church pulled down the old building and spent 300k on a new one, there was nothing wrong with the old one and the new one did not seat that many more and I bet it's not always full now. Ah, but, it was an act of faith? 300k in 1985 was a lot of cash as it is today.
Thing is when you say money could have been spent on something better you risk sounding a bit like Judas.
Our Church doesn't have a savings account, but we do have a CD account. The only difference is your return and how often you can take out of it if you need to. I don't see anything wrong with them as long as they are used for the purpose they were set up for and monitored the way others are saying they do it.:smilewinkgrin::godisgood:
windcatcher
New Member
I think it would be good stewardship to save about 10% for future needs such as building programs or emergencies which might arise above the ordinary...... and to teach the flock to do the same.... tithe 10 and save 10 and then live within your means. The community church might wish to cap the limits at some point .... for instance.... if the savings reaches a percentage or a multiple of the then existing annual budget.... or earmark an amount or percentage of excesss to go for a specific goal or ministry,..... sponsoring mission trips, church building, starting community outreach programs, adding needed full-time or part-time staff, etc.
I don't think Jesus was against building a barn to store against lean times: I do think that parable was about excessive hoarding of wealth during times when one has abundance beyond measure of needs or stewardship for the future and fails to use the excess to minister to needs apparent around him. The rich man had barns and sufficient to secure his present and foreseeable needs.... but wasn't satisfied with his abundance.... so much so.... that he was greedy for more and too selfish to acknowledge God's goodness and providence towards him and minister with the abundance God gave him to others in need.
To equate this to building a new church.... If one sees a ministry is growing and the church is too small to contain the people who attend... and there is abundance enough within the body, and other major ministry needs are being balanced and addressed, to build a new building which will acomodate more people.... then build.
But if the growth is stagnant..... and that because within the body and the community, the people have no vision.... or the community itself is stagnant or shrinking, it is foolish to build larger when potential for growth is lacking: In the latter case..... the church might expand its ministries to other areas such as sponsoring missionaries, offering a ministeral student a scholarship, or developing other forms of outreach to those in the community unable to benefit from church attendance and participation..... like nursing home visits, a soup kitchen and Bible study for the elderly the poor and the hungry.... a ministry to the disabled such as transportation, home visits, tape ministry ..... a family outreach providing a 'baby-sitting' nursery at an appointed time during the week or month where the church provides supervision of children under a certain age.... complete with entertainment and Bible stories.... so parents get a night off together.
I also think that such accounts are preferably kept within the control and the confidence of a select few and trusted members...... and available before the business meeting as a spoken report as opposed to a published report passed out to all the members or visitors which might attend.... IOW, the general budget and active accounts receipts and expenditures.... are published.... but the savings is secured requiring a minimum of several signatures and approval by 'the board' for withdrawals, and the accounting of balances given only a brief oral report in the business meeting. In this case.... once funds become active (i.e. a deposit or a withdrawal) that becomes part of the published report.... showing either the deposit to savings or the transferr from savings into the active accounts.... but the balance in the savings account is not published to keep it from those who might speculate... gossip.... or use avarice to extort the dedicated stewardship of the body.
Just thinking.
I don't think Jesus was against building a barn to store against lean times: I do think that parable was about excessive hoarding of wealth during times when one has abundance beyond measure of needs or stewardship for the future and fails to use the excess to minister to needs apparent around him. The rich man had barns and sufficient to secure his present and foreseeable needs.... but wasn't satisfied with his abundance.... so much so.... that he was greedy for more and too selfish to acknowledge God's goodness and providence towards him and minister with the abundance God gave him to others in need.
To equate this to building a new church.... If one sees a ministry is growing and the church is too small to contain the people who attend... and there is abundance enough within the body, and other major ministry needs are being balanced and addressed, to build a new building which will acomodate more people.... then build.
But if the growth is stagnant..... and that because within the body and the community, the people have no vision.... or the community itself is stagnant or shrinking, it is foolish to build larger when potential for growth is lacking: In the latter case..... the church might expand its ministries to other areas such as sponsoring missionaries, offering a ministeral student a scholarship, or developing other forms of outreach to those in the community unable to benefit from church attendance and participation..... like nursing home visits, a soup kitchen and Bible study for the elderly the poor and the hungry.... a ministry to the disabled such as transportation, home visits, tape ministry ..... a family outreach providing a 'baby-sitting' nursery at an appointed time during the week or month where the church provides supervision of children under a certain age.... complete with entertainment and Bible stories.... so parents get a night off together.
I also think that such accounts are preferably kept within the control and the confidence of a select few and trusted members...... and available before the business meeting as a spoken report as opposed to a published report passed out to all the members or visitors which might attend.... IOW, the general budget and active accounts receipts and expenditures.... are published.... but the savings is secured requiring a minimum of several signatures and approval by 'the board' for withdrawals, and the accounting of balances given only a brief oral report in the business meeting. In this case.... once funds become active (i.e. a deposit or a withdrawal) that becomes part of the published report.... showing either the deposit to savings or the transferr from savings into the active accounts.... but the balance in the savings account is not published to keep it from those who might speculate... gossip.... or use avarice to extort the dedicated stewardship of the body.
Just thinking.
Yes, a church should have a savings account. Why?
1. To meet emergency or unexpected expenses, like a furnace breaking.
2. The majority of the savings should be used for helping others in need. This can be members of the church, or people outside the church ... both locally, nationally and internationally.
And, yes, the money should be in a account that draws interest.
This is the same reason individuals should save .... primarily to help others in need that God brings into their lives, but also to meet unexpected emergency expenses.
A church absolutely have a savings account.
Otherwise they will have debt.
You can't have one without the other because of a few things:
* in this economy giving is down
* unexpected emergencies crop up
* God gives us unexpected opportunities to minister and/or grow our outreach and if we are not financially ready, then what do we do?
Our church has no debt. We built an addition to our building many valid reasons with all cash. We will be needing some new vehicles in the near future and we are saving money for that purpose. We have had missionaries with emergencies where we have been able to provide for them without having to take up a special offering. We are also in the process of planting a new church in the next 6-9 months and we are saving up for that so we do not go into debt for that.
There are entirely too many reasons to have a savings for a church but if that savings becomes more than a year's worth of budget (probably even less), then I think the church is lacking in missions/ministry compared to the size and ability of the church.
Otherwise they will have debt.
You can't have one without the other because of a few things:
* in this economy giving is down
* unexpected emergencies crop up
* God gives us unexpected opportunities to minister and/or grow our outreach and if we are not financially ready, then what do we do?
Our church has no debt. We built an addition to our building many valid reasons with all cash. We will be needing some new vehicles in the near future and we are saving money for that purpose. We have had missionaries with emergencies where we have been able to provide for them without having to take up a special offering. We are also in the process of planting a new church in the next 6-9 months and we are saving up for that so we do not go into debt for that.
There are entirely too many reasons to have a savings for a church but if that savings becomes more than a year's worth of budget (probably even less), then I think the church is lacking in missions/ministry compared to the size and ability of the church.