We're in Financial Trouble and Need to Make Cuts

Is your church struggling to keep its financial foundation intact? Join me, Todd Rhoades, on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, where we tackle the pressing issues of financial hardship that are affecting churches nationwide. With firsthand insights from countless conversations at Chemistry Staffing, we unravel the tightrope walk between faith and fiscal responsibility. It's not simply a matter of numbers; it's about how we engage with our congregation and make choices that honor our community and our faith. Drawing inspiration from financial expert Dave Ramsey, we'll share practical strategies for living within your means, fostering transparency, and navigating the challenging waters of budget cuts or potential layoffs.

This episode isn't just about recognizing a problem—it's about crafting solutions. Learn how churches can confront financial instability with prayerful discernment and open communication, ensuring their ministries not only survive but thrive. From creating realistic budgets to prioritizing generosity, we explore the tools and mindsets necessary to emerge stronger from economic uncertainty. Whether you're leading a congregation or part of the community, this conversation is crucial for anyone invested in the health and sustainability of their church. Tune in for a blend of faith, wisdom, and actionable advice to guide your church through financial challenges with hope and resilience.

Have questions or comments? Send to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

Hey there, welcome to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. I'm Todd Rhodes, one of the co-founders over at Chemistry Staffing and your host here on the podcast, and today we're facing a really tough reality that many churches are grappling with, and that's financial hardship. We talk to candidates all day, every day here at Chemistry Staffing, and a lot of times one of the main reasons that people are moving on is because just where they're at, their church, is not financially stable. They're going through some hard times and when your church is in this situation, it's a difficult conversation, but it's a conversation that needs to be addressed with honesty and transparency and a spirit of faith.

Speaker 1: 0:46

No one likes to talk about financial troubles, especially in the church. It can feel like a failure, a sign that we're not doing something right. But the truth is, financial challenges are a reality for many churches, especially in times of economic uncertainty and turmoil that we've been through for the last four or five years. It's been crazy and what we found, what we continue to find coming out of the last four or five years, is that, you know, for a period there, churches were not able to meet and everybody thought that would be our downfall financially, but everybody kept giving when churches were able to meet again, a lot of people didn't come back, but those that did come back rose to the occasion and giving stayed pretty steady. But about, I'd say, 12 to 18 to 24 months ago, it's like the long tail of all of the things that happened started to hit churches. You know, first it was attendance-wise, but eventually and we knew this would happen a church that used to be a church of a thousand is now a church of 700 and they can't support the staff, they can't support the budget of a church of a thousand anymore. They could for a couple of years, but now the rubber meets the road and they have to make some really hard financial decisions.

Speaker 1: 2:01

And when faced with a budget shortfall, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and discouraged because you have to do some trimming. But it's important to remember that God's our provider and he'll see us through. However, we also need to be wise stewards of the resources that he's entrusted us. So we get calls quite a lot from churches that are like we're going to have to lay off some people or we're going to have to make some cuts. And let me tell you, making cuts is never easy. We always say that firing someone or laying somebody off from your staff is like doing surgery without any anesthetic it's just, it's going to hurt, it's going to hurt them, it's going to hurt you. So making cuts is never easy, but sometimes it's necessary to ensure the long-term health and sustainability of the church. It's a time that you really need to be prayerfully discerning and openly communicating and really have a willingness to make those tough decisions, and you need to make the decisions before it's too late. So studies have shown that churches that proactively address financial challenges are more likely to weather the storm and emerge stronger on the other side. They prioritize transparency, they encourage that open communication with their congregation and they seek creative solutions to ensure their ministry continues to thrive.

Speaker 1: 3:24

Financial expert author, dave Ramsey. Some people love him, some people hate him. I get it, but Dave Ramsey often talks about the importance of living within your means, both personally and as an organization, and that includes the churches your church and that includes the churches your church and he encourages churches to create realistic budgets and to avoid debt and to generalize and prioritize giving and generosity. If your church is navigating this financial hardship, it's going to require a combination of faith and wisdom and practical action, and here are a few tips. First of all, you need to be transparent. Communicate openly and honestly with your congregation about the financial situation. Share the facts and the challenges and the potential solutions. And some churches are very transparent with their finances. Monthly financial reports are available. You can see them online. You can get a copy of them.

Speaker 1: 4:15

Other churches I've talked very little about finances. They talk a lot about generosity but they don't ever say how are we doing on our budget, where's all the money going? And if you're not transparent and you hit a financial crisis, you've got to be on the front end of that, because the last thing you want to do is everyone think, because nobody ever communicates about finances. All of a sudden, you go to them and say we've got two months and we're on life support. So be transparent early and often. Second thing is just seek wise counsel. There are people out there that deal with this Financial experts. You've got some trusted advisors or maybe other church leaders at similar type churches that have faced similar challenges. There are people out there that you could talk to that you can get some wise counsel from, and I would absolutely encourage you to do that. It could be that you're going to need to prioritize essential ministries. Nobody loves to axe a ministry or a program, but you need to evaluate your programs and ministry to determine which ones are really vital, which ones are having great success to your mission and vision, and it could be that you're going to have to let some of the ones that aren't priority go, at least for a season.

Speaker 1: 5:24

Explore creative solutions. Look for ways to reduce expenses, the two ways to get out of financial hardship. Just like in your family finances. You can either reduce expenses or you can increase revenue and generate additional income. Be creative with that. See if there are ways that you can reduce. See if there are ways that you can increase revenue and generate additional income. Be creative with that. See if there are ways that you can reduce. See if there are ways that you can increase.

Speaker 1: 5:43

You can also just and part of this goes with transparency but you can encourage generosity, remind your congregation of the importance of giving and encourage them to continue to support the church's mission, even in difficult times. Now this is a little bit more difficult if you've not been transparent and not preached on generosity over the years and, all of a sudden, first time you really talk about generosity is when you're in the hole, but it's always good to encourage generosity wherever you are. And then, lastly, once you've done the things that you need to do, you've got to get your head out of the sand. You've got to communicate, be transparent, seek the wise counsel, prioritize those ministries, the creative solutions you encourage generosity. Then, and all the way through this, you need to just put your trust in God's provision. Remember and I said this earlier on the podcast this week God is not surprised at our situations. Remember that God is our ultimate provider and if we seek his guidance and trust him, that he will provide our needs.

Speaker 1: 6:41

All right, so here's the bottom line. Facing financial hardship in the church is never easy, but it's an opportunity to lean into God's provision, to exercise wide stewardship and to seek creative solutions. If there's any way that I can help your church we have some people on our team that are gifted in the area of generosity and financial support Reach out to me. You can email me anytime, podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. We'd love to be able to help your church through a really difficult time. All right, thanks for listening to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. If you're listening to this on the day it came out, it's a Friday, so go, enjoy your weekend. I'll be praying for you and your church, for your weekend services. And just remember, even if you're dealing with financial hardship, either personally or in your church, god is faithful and he will provide for all of our needs. He promises that and to guide us through this challenging season. All right, that's it for this week. Hope you'll come back and join us again next week. I'm Todd Rhodes and you're listening to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast.