Is debt pinching your ministry, forcing you to cut back on
staff, eliminate ministries and generally putting an uptight feeling into your
congregational life? A capital campaign can strengthen your church finances and
get you back on track. Initially a debt retirement campaign seems unappealing,
but it is the best course to reduce the danger of turning off your people
through constant pulpit appeals, urgent letters, rearranging financing, or the
possibility of bankruptcy.
The tough economy has caught many churches by surprise who
in the good times of "borrow and build" incurred more debt than is
prudent. The universal "debt law" is to
* Leverage no more
debt than 3 times your income
* Indebtedness
doubles according to the rule of "72" which means whatever rate of
interest you are paying, divide that into 72 and the number you get will be the
period of time over which debt doubles. For example, 72 divided by 6% = 12
years.
Your church may be reluctant to undertake a debt retirement
campaign because the economy is tough and people are struggling with reduced
incomes, investment declines, lay offs, etc. Furthermore, debt retirement lacks
the appeal and excitement that comes with building or expansion. The fear is that
members won't respond without some tangible result for their efforts. The
challenge of debt retirement is to develop a message that makes sense to the
congregation and which is manageable for the people to support. How can the
church motivate the people to dig deeper and participate in extra giving?
To conduct a successful debt campaign, the message must
focus on the following:
* how debt impacts
the "people" and "ministry" of our church like pastors and
staff, missionaries, children's/youth, poor and needy, our city whom the church
is mandated to evangelize
* the integrity
and credibility of church leaders who are entrusted with the management of the
church's finances and are committed to operate church finances either debt free
or within the margins of conservative debt
* to make giving
possible for the people by showing that if everyone gives the "widow's
mite" we can over time correct the debt imbalance in our church. For
example, with blue collar wage earning people they can be challenged to give
the first hour wages of their week; or with professionals or business people to
consider tax advantaged giving through giving equities that have lost value
which now can be taken to reduce taxable income
* the purpose of
the capital campaign is to get the church through paying off or reducing its
debt as quickly as is possible and to conserve dollars in order to get on with
funding the real values of our church which are worship, outreach/inreach,
missions, fellowship, Christain education, and so on
A capital campaign will plow through your church to aerate
the ground for new mustard seeds of hope and energy. The campaign will have the
benefit of forming teams who pull together to make the future possible. It gets
the people into a positive formation with ostrich heads out of the sand. It is
a proven plan to develop information, togetherness, ownership, and movement
forward.
Is now a good time to consider a debt retirement campaign?
Why not wait until the economy gets better? Now is a good time because during a
bad economy the financial excesses of the past are brought to light so that
people need to rely on God's provision and help. It is a time for prayer, faith
and trusting for God's provision. Bad economies lead people to be more creative
and disciplined; church attendance increases; new ideas and innovations
surface; people come to church to find God's help. Also, bad economies do not
last and over the three year giving period people are rewarded for their new
found frugality and penny pinching. It is when times are the most ugly that
churches can best teach God's principles of life management. Bad times are the
best time for people and church to grow and learn how to make it better for the
next economic cycle. The above paragraph contains the message to present to
your people for your church's debt retirement campaign.
King Solomon, the wisest and richest man of his time says,
"For the dream comes through much effort...when you make a vow to God, do
not be late in paying it, for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you
vow!" Ecclesiastes 5: 3-4. So let's be good money managers and get on with
the task of eliminating or paying down the church's debt.
