This is a newsletter that the GBOD Christian education staff produces that will be of interest to persons in your Conference office, districts, and churches involved in areas of Christian education ministry. This is the latest issue and I have their permission to pass it along to you with encouragement that you'll pass it along as well.  I think the best way to get on this list to receive future issues is to send an e-mail to the GBOD e-mail address at the bottom of this newsletter.

 

Bill Gnegy

 

August 2007

A toolbox of wisdom to develop, nurture and encourage teachers, small group leaders and pastors in their teaching ministry.

Budget Planning

 

By Susan Hay

A budget is our financial plan for ministry, yet budget planning is often left to chance. Just as a building contractor works from a building plan to avoid construction chaos, you need to work from a budget to analyze your ministry needs, prioritize the financing of those needs, and then manage the finances. One way to build a budget is to consider what you did last year, adjusting budget figures up or down according to your spending history. Then add or eliminate particular items, depending on your overall ministry needs. The primary goal of any ministry budget is to fund necessary ministries through healthy financial practices. Developing an accurate budget and managing it well will help you keep your focus on the ministry and not on penny pinching because you did not adequately envision your ministries financial cost.

Budget planning is an integral and intentional part of ministry planning.

I want to emphasize that budget planning must be more than just putting numbers in columns and then hoping that the bottom line will balance between the expenses and income. The budget of your church reflects what your church values in its ministry. The budget should support and sustain the vision of your church, not determine the vision. 

As you build your Christian education budget pay careful attention to where the priorities lie. Think about what you value in your ministry. How does your vision for Christian education fit the vision of your committee or your church? Is Christian education a critical part of the ministry of your church? What in your budget needs to be carried on and what can be disposed of?

You want to make your budget as detailed as possible so that you will get a true picture of where the money is going each year. Each of your headings may also include subheadings. For example:

Curriculum 

Last Year's Expenses 

 Projected expense

Children

$

$

Youth 

 

 

Adult

 

 

Short-Term studies 

 

 

Other 

 

 

Curriculum Total 

$__________

$__________ 

 

 

 

And in keeping with good budget planning, don't forget about sources for additional income; for example, registration fees to cover the cost for certain programs, such as VBS; charging (or asking) participants for their short-term study books; or individual gifts or memorials for purchase of durable equipment.

Once a budget is prepared and approved, the work still continues. Consider:

  • What will be your plan of monitoring the expenditures throughout the year?
  • Who is authorized to make purchases on behalf of the education ministry?
  • Do I get a monthly financial report (from whom?) to help me monitor expenditures?
  • Who plays the bills and are receipts required before a bill can be paid?
  • Can individual teachers make purchases for their classes? If so, what is the reimbursement practice?
  • Is there a dollar limit on how much a person can spend?
  • Does your church require you to get a purchase order number before hand?
  • Can classes order their own curriculum or will one person order for all?

As you go through the church year questions to keep before you might be:

  • Where does the majority of our budgeted money go? (Curriculum, small groups, etc.)
  • Where are we showing income? (Fundraisers, special programs, etc.)
  • Does our spending reflect the vision and mission of our committee?

Susan Hay is Director, Ministries with Youth at GBOD.

For Further Reading and Reference...

 

The Ministry of Christian Education and Formation: A Practical Guide for Your Congregation (Discipleship Resources, 2003). Look for budget templates and other ideas.

Guidelines for Leading Your Congregation series: Christian Education (Cokesbury, 2004).

Feedback?

 

 

We'd like to hear from you! What would you like to see in our next issue? Drop us a line and let us know. Write us at ChristianEd@GBOD.org

 

 This newsletter was created by the Christian Education Team at GBOD and is made possible by your generous giving to the World Service Fund. You're receiving this newsletter because you've submitted your email address to us.

 

The Christian Education Team is partnered with The United Methodist Publishing House - Sunday School, It's For Life

 



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