Our church family experienced explosive growth over the last year. Attendance jumped from 170 to around 300. The sanctuary can't hold that many people. Two services relieve some pressure. Yet the second service continues filling up the building.
The elders and deacons are feverishly trying to accommodate all of these people. Discussion ultimately ends revolves around some type of overflow room. For this, we need to transport video and audio signals. That means equipment purchases - money the church doesn't have.
During one of these discussions, I heard the phrase steal from the computer technology budget. The person who said it was displaying their wit. Unfortunately, a grain of truth lies behind the sarcasm.
A budget is nothing more than a list of priorities. Any church has a finite amount of funds. And they can only accomplish a finite number of things with those finite funds. A budget says which things the church accomplishes that year. So what happens when your priorities change half way through the year? That's right - your budget changes too.
Someone won't be happy. Some ministry or goal will lose out on funds they rightly expected. It is imperative that leadership talk with their congregations about the changes. Call a special meeting with ministry leaders. Give them the problem and ask them for a solution. Guess what? They'll reach the same conclusions you did. And now it's their idea. They'll find money for you.
Your budget is a contract. In personal finances, Dave Ramsey says that couples spit shake and pinky swear. You did just that when instituting the church budget. You made a solemn promise to the ministries and administrators. Show them the same respect you would your spouse. Let them know about new church priorities. And negotiate a new contract - change the budget.
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