The pastor's and treasurer's essential handbook to all aspects of church finance. Building on a stewardship model, this guide outlines sound, up-to-date financial practices.
Pastors and church leaders can use the normal activities of church life to touch the innermost lives of their flock, fostering spiritual growth and building up the body of Christ.
In the spirit of Cyril Barber's classic work from the 1970s, The Minister's Library, Robert Yost provides students and pastors with expert guidance on building a working ministerial library. From Old and New Testament languages, lexical aids, and grammatical tools, to commentaries and theologies as well as pastoral resources, Yost is a trustworthy guide through the multiplicity of books that seem to just keep rolling off the presses. Far more than just a guide to commentaries as are so many works today, this resource is a balanced pastoral tool for pastors and students who are overwhelmed by the proliferation of literature in the fields of biblical and pastoral studies.
Money Matters in Church helps leaders to discover a one-stop, comprehensive model for managing finances and fundraising. It guides leaders of any size church or ministry to create a culture of giving that supports savvy, faithful, and legal financing. The authors present a biblical theology of stewardship that supports ways to develop donors and maximize contributions, enact a strategic budget and effective audit process, project income and expenses, work with banks, compensate staff, and address debt. The book's practical step-by-step approach makes finance issues understandable for leaders without a business background.
Authors John and Sylvia Ronsvalle present the results of a three-year Lilly Endowment Study which shows that both church membership and giving-as-a-percentage-of-income are declining. The study focused on many Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church. Advice for Christian leaders on reversing this trend is given as well as a thorough diagnosis of the problem.
A field-tested guide to the management and finance of church congregations, revised for a new generation. Clergy are generally equipped to preach and provide spiritual care. But when it comes to budgets, insurance, fire safety, and church management many find themselves at a loss. The Church Administration and Finance Manual is the classic guide to running a church, written to answer key questions for clergy and lay leaders. Not simply a theoretical resource, the Manual provides suggestions for almost every aspect of parish administration: position descriptions, financial forms, materials for stewardship and Christian education, building use and safety issues, employee record keeping, and much more. This revised edition offers guidance on many new topics that are of vital importance to churches, including protecting children, information security, approaches to preventing and responding to violence, planned giving, social media, and hybrid work and worship. Whether clergy are just out of seminary or well-seasoned in parish life, the Manual is full of excellent guidelines, tools, and forms for improving the management of the parish.
Overseeing the financial health of a church is no simple task. Increased regulations, IRS audits, and changing technology are a few of the challenges facing both new and experienced treasurers, bookkeepers, business administrators and executive pastors. Church Finance, the new, ground-breaking comprehensive guide created by respected experts and CPAs, Michael E. Batts and Richard R. Hammar, gives you the confidence you need to manage every aspect of your job. From building rock-solid internal controls, to understanding the intricacies of payroll taxes and housing allowances, Church Finance is the "go-to" reference every church needs. Using straight-forward language, the authors of Church Finance delve deeply into the critical issues all churches must address-budgeting, financial reporting, tax compliance, insurance coverage and more.