Congregational budget-makers frequently divide into two
camps that approach the task in different ways. The first camp is
likely to include children of the Great Depression, experts in finance,
elementary school teachers, and persons anxious about their own money
situation. Their first priority is to make sure that the budget
balances and that the congregation makes no plans or commitments it is
less than 100 percent certain it can meet. They squint over budget
sheets like bookkeepers of old with their bright lamps and shoulder
garters—I call this camp the Green Eyeshades.

The second camp typically includes young clergy, upscale
decorators, Baby Boomers, college professors, and commission
salespeople. They firmly believe that with God (or even without God)
all things are possible. They say, “We are a congregation, not a
business.” This camp can be identified at budget meetings mostly by
their absence. When shanghaied into talking about money, they glaze
over. Staring at a distant sunrise, they float over the surface of
numerical reality—I call them the Rose-Colored Glasses.

Read the rest of this article at Alban.org.

The stewardship committee at my church asked me to say a few words recently in behalf of the annual fund drive. It was interesting, having the chance to speak as a lay member. Here is what I found myself saying:

When Chris asked me to speak this morning, she suggested I might talk about how I became a Unitarian Universalist and why I support this church financially. The first question I can answer easily-I was born a Unitarian, and grew up in a active UU family. I remember the first day I went to church in a sport jacket. Mrs. Bourland, who told stories to the children, greeted me: “Why Danny, you look like the president of a bank.” She meant it as a compliment-and I stored it up as part of the encouragement that every child deserves, and that UU children generally get.

Why do I plan to pledge to the Middleboro UU Church? So far as I can tell, this year’s fund drive is not especially sexy or dramatic. Our gifts will go for heating oil, construction paper, disability insurance, tuning, vacuum cleaners, pew repairs, books, snow shoveling, choir practices, hospital visits, children’s stories, rug replacement, counseling sessions, and light bulbs. All the ordinary things that go into sustaining this extraordinary place, this special group of people.

If there is any special drama in 2009, it is in the atmosphere of economic worry. No one is untouched. I feel lucky that so far, the recession has nibbled me around the edges-”paper” losses, kids and stepkids who need extra help. For some of you, I know, the hurt is more immediate, the fear more pressing. If that’s you, I hope you stick around, because I know how helpful it can be to be part of a congregation when the floor falls out of your life. I’ve been there. In fact, one of the reasons I plan to pledge is to make sure this church is here for people who-for whatever reason-won’t be able to give much at all next year.

Like you, I’ve had easy days and hard, and especially on the hard days I’ve been glad to be a Unitarian Universalist. April 15, 1997 was a bad day for me; I lost my job, and it was pretty devastating. I was slouching down Main Street to drop off my tax return, when like magic-or a miracle-a pale blue Volkswagen pulled up beside me, stuffed with men on their way to the Men’s Breakfast of the UU congregation I belonged to then. They scooped me up and took me to a restaurant where I had breakfast with eight guys, each of whom had been fired at least once. I felt buoyed by their support, I felt warmed by their care, I felt connected. And I knew I’d be OK. It was not the first or the last time I have been glad for a community that has faith in people and holds you tight even when you might feel inclined to slink away.

This year-knock on wood-I have a job. And so with Susan, I’ll do what I can to help make sure this church is here for everyone who needs it. And if you can, I hope you’ll do the same.

“Conflict of interest” is an ugly phrase, but it’s time to say it, lay it on the table, and deal with it as a normal part of life. Everybody who is not a hermit manages conflicting interests all the time. Congregations’ awkwardness and silence on the subject only makes us vulnerable.
Many congregations accept practices that in other contexts we would question. For example, when the driveway needs re-topping, why deal with someone we don’t know when good old Tom of Tom’s Blacktop sits right here at the board table? We know he’ll give us a good price (don’t we?). In any case, if we suddenly quit using him, he’d be upset…

Read more about “Conflicts of Interest” www.alban.org.

Reporting on a ravaged Mississippi town on the Gulf coast, the Associated Press said that “Katrina clobbered the rich and poor alike.” A cliché repeated often enough slips past the brain into the heart. We like the idea that in times of disaster all stand equally in awe before the powers that beset us. The proud are leveled, and the humble are (at least relatively) raised up.

In truth, though, precious little affects rich and poor alike. Wealth confers huge advantages, including the ability to drive away ahead of hurricanes, insure vulnerable property, and find comfortable shelter. Poverty wears people down even in fair weather; when the storm comes it kills a lot more of the poor. The rich have more to lose, and may feel more surprise, but the worst actual damage falls to the poorest.

Read more about “Pretending to be Equal” on the Alban Institute website.

Some time ago, I created a financial self-evaluation tool for churches. I’ve been testing it informally ever since, and welcome further feedback and suggestions. If you use it, I hope you will post a comment here that will help me to improve the Snapshot.

Some questions you might address include:

• How well do the “benchmarks” scale up and down to churches of different size?
• What changes would be necessary to make this tool useful for synagogues?
• How does the process play out in your board, finance committee, or other leadership group? Does the concept of “satisfaction level” work for you?

Dan

I received a lesson in the relationship of faith and money the morning my oldest child was born. I was 29 and serving a small church in Florida; my wife was teaching at the nearby state university. For the first time in our adulthood we were enjoying financial stability and independence. We had purchased a condominium apartment and a $50 sofa at St. Vincent DePaul’s. (What an improvement from the trunk we had been sitting on! Material things can sometimes make a spiritual difference.) We had a modest bank account and a second-hand Toyota Corolla station wagon. We were ready to become typical middle-class parents.

After the birth and a brief time for the three of us to rest and cuddle in the delivery room, my first paternal role was to tag along as the nurse wheeled little Carolyn down the hall for her first pediatric checkup. For some reason this procedure took me by surprise. I think I had imagined that if mother and baby survived childbirth, we were safe. But of course that checkup was the first opportunity to diagnose any of a thousand pediatric ailments.

Read more of A Soul Decision.

 Q: My congregation is expecting its first bequest. We would like to use it to establish an endowment fund. A stockbroker in the congregation offered to manage it for us, but we’re wondering if this is wise. We’re also worried that the endowment will have a bad effect on member giving to the church. What should we do?

A: Give thanks that you have the opportunity to structure your endowment now, before it has any money in it! It is much easier to plan when you don’t have the worry of managing funds at the same time.

I would say, “Thanks, but no thanks” to the stockbroker. You want an arm’s-length, businesslike relationship with your fund manager. Also, a broker’s expertise can be expensive if he or she is earning commissions on investments. Many local congregations place their endowments in a joint denominational fund. Brokerage and mutual fund companies and the trust departments of banks also manage this type of fund.

Read more of Ask Alban: Setting Up An Endowment Fund.