How And When Should A Church Render Account Of Its Budgetary Expenditures To Its Members?

How And When Should A Church Render Account Of Its Budgetary Expenditures To Its Members? My Experience, By Michael Chidozie

On this particular Sunday, I had a late change of plan. After having dressed for church, I decided to honour a friend’s invitation to witness the start of the budget year in his church. He had once spoken to me about the practice. I decided to see how it pans out. I went with an open mind.

Since my childhood, I have attended church programmes but never had I witnessed a budget reading session in a church setting. This is usually what you find among publicly traded companies and well organised private organisations that value their people and see them as shareholders.

The norm among some organisations is that everything about the budget is shrouded in secrecy – the planning, decisions on the items to include in the budget, the amount allotted to each item and sometimes extending to outright refusal to share the plan for the year with members and staff at the beginning of each New Year.

I was few minutes late. The singing was great. The sermon was inspiring and heart awakening. The participation and atmosphere was awesome. Then came the moment I came for. Usually, you will find the priest/pastor standing and speaking to the congregation from the pulpit. In this kind of scenario, members don’t usually ask questions. The preacher may initiate that if and when it’s necessary and expedient.

In this case, the senior pastor sat down on a chair on the altar instead of standing beside the pulpit. This position psychologically communicates with the congregation that they are set for a meeting and not the usual I speak, you listen to sessions. The pastor started by reviewing the income from the previous year, activities/projects, expenditures and balances. Hmm! I forgot to tell you that the church runs a yearly calendar that begins from July and ends in June the next year. Routinely, account rendering and budget planning session is done on the first Sunday of July every year.

The account rendering was presented in activities and percentages but not in figures. It was explained that the previous years, figures were quoted, maybe high figures. Due to the present situation in the country, such high figures could generate inordinate interest in ‘special group of persons’. The idea was shelved this year. Although I was expecting to see a budget planning session, I witnessed a budget presentation. The truth be told, holding a budget planning session would have been more chaotic than anyway helpful.

After the income and expenses of the previous year were read, the budget of the New Year was presented. It was detailed. I have never witnessed such detailed presentation of budget in a public setting than that Sunday. The pastor didn’t shy away but conducted the session in a business-like manner. The major sources of income as narrated in their sequence of importance are the tithe, offering, budget pledges and building pledges. The tithe is the highest source of income followed by offering, budget pledges and building pledges.

Majority of the incomes as in the previous year was detailed to be spent on supporting other smaller churches (not part of their ministry) that seek their support or whomever the holy spirit leads them to support especially for church and school building, scholarships and spiritually focused programmes. A huge chunk of the expected income as in previous years will be spent on corporate social responsibility, community scholarships, staff salary, pastor’s support, teenage camp meetings, building projects, purchase and maintenance of machinery.

In all, I had a great experience. It was my first time to witness this play out in a church setting. For me, it comes with a lot of gains. I saw a cultured display. A win-win situation. This kind of experience gives the people a sense of buy in as against being manipulated. It creates a strong atmosphere of trust, high sense of integrity and greater commitment to the vision and mission of the church. This particular church is building a positive, rich and enduring culture. The senior pastor advised all members present to apply the same strategy in their homes, businesses and workplaces.

Let me end with this. Patrick Ngolibe said, ‘’Any investor who doesn’t dive deeper into the culture of the organisation will be greeted with a rude awakening of compliance breaches, engineered books of accounts, integrity failures, simmering tension between the top and the rest of the masses, poor customer services, disengagement, low motivation, inert resistance to change and eventual collapse.’’ Apply this to my story, from what I witnessed during that Sunday service and some of the feedbacks I got from more in-depth inquiry, it became clearer to me that the church may be threading on a positive path and building the right culture within its fold. Sometimes, it is good to step out and see the world from another prism. It is indeed and often beneficial.

Bringing it home.

What is your own experience?