Managing the Church

For council chairs, trustees, and others with gifts of administration

When the pastor is in financial crisis

by Lloyd Miller

Alice is an active pastor. Divorced and mother of three school-age children, she has incurred significant credit card expense as she juggles the family budget. Not only is she dealing with normal household expenses, she has needed extra money for vehicle repairs and medical bills. She is too embarrassed to mention this to her deacons and is feeling more and more hopeless.

Pastors have never been immune from personal financial pressure. In today’s economic climate, the risks are even higher.

Financial pressures create tensions, robbing the pastor of both energy and focus.

The current economic crisis is creating real hardship for some pastors. As congregations feel the pinch to their spending plans, they usually make cuts in two areas: (1) outside-the-congregation giving (missions) and (2) pastoral compensation (salaries/benefits). Salary freezes, diminished benefits, and reduction to parttime with no reduction of time expectation places real pressure on the pastor and family finances. As more and more pastors find themselves in bi-vocational settings and as the job market tightens and unemployment soars, bi-vocational options are becoming limited. Single pastors do not have spouses to supplement the household income.

Bill is pastor of a small rural congregation. Although the congregation professes intimacy, no one talks about family finances. Bill’s father-in-law died in another state, necessitating a 1,600-mile round-trip to join the extended family for the funeral. At precisely the same time, Bill’s daughter got married. Bill also desperately needed new bifocal glasses. On their reduced salary, they found they could not meet their obligations. They knew the congregation could not help them, so why talk about it?

Underlying all this is the biblical mandate for qualifications for church leadership in 1 Peter 5:2, Hebrews 13:5, and 1 Timothy 3:2-5. These passages offer a double bind for pastors and have often been interpreted in ways that keep the pastor and family “in their place.” The pastor is made to feel that personal needs reflect suspicion on the pastoral call and abilities. These expectations usually have interfered with the pastor leveling with the congregation about family realities and have kept congregational leaders from asking. Money does funny things to relationships. Financial pressures create tensions, robbing the pastor of both energy and focus.

Kerry lost his family’s group health insurance when his congregation decided it would no longer subscribe to the denominational group health plan. Although he was able to obtain individual health insurance, he needed to pay all expenses for pre-existing conditions for one year. Unfortunately, a family member needed hospitalization and prescription drugs, which the new insurance company refused to cover. The congregation is small and cannot afford to help. And Kerry is sensitive about sharing his family’s needs.

What is a congregation/pastor to do?

1 Create a safe setting for confidential financial conversations. Deacons/elders can model by discussing their own financial realities.

2 If it is too sensitive or dangerous to speak freely to elders/deacons, pastors can talk with someone outside the congregation—preferably their conference minister, overseer/ supervisor, or bishop. This person should be a listening presence, keep confidences, and have the capacity to access financial assistance. Onetime mutual aid grants can be explored. The denomination/ conference may have a benevolence fund that is designed to assist the pastor in time of need.

3 Pastors are not immune to financial pressure! It does not mean that the pastor has a mismanagement problem or is not qualified to be a pastoral leader. Whether the financial pressure comes from a medically related emergency, credit card abuse, educational debts, emergency family needs, or debt accumulation, financial counseling is available.

4 MutualAid eXchange (MAX) is a church-related property and casualty insurance company that has a Share Fund supported by contributions from its insurance profits. It is available for emergency financial needs of pastors. This one-time grant matches funds that can be accessed via the denomination/ conference.

---

Lloyd L. Miller serves as mutual aid minister and director of denominational relations for MAX. He also administers the MAX Share Fund. He can be reached at lmiller@maxwholeness.com. Miller is a member of Southside Fellowship in Elkhart, Indiana.