By Debi Keay

Renovating your financial life is a great idea! Unfortunately, for many, that initial rush can quickly give way to a sense of futility. Desmond Henry, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) in Topeka, Kansas, knows that for many of his clients, getting started is the hardest part.
 
"Sometimes focusing on lofty money goals like building a retirement nest-egg and paying down hefty student loan debt can feel so impossible to achieve that it actually paralyzes us and we end up doing nothing," says Henry. "Instead, create baby steps and focus on accomplishing small money wins.”

By ​Nancy N. Fritschner and Rev. John Fritschner

Clergy compensation comprises the major portion of any congregation’s budget. Often when clergy refer to “Clergy Compensation,” they mean something different from lay leaders who often don’t ask questions to fully understand. We will explore the difference between clergy compensation and a clergy package. Understanding the components is very important in preparing an accurate budget.

Specifically, we will look at the composition of “wages”, housing (both housing allowance and church provided housing), SECA reimbursements, 403(b) contributions, pension assessments, health insurance, and other non-cash benefits. We will talk about reporting requirements and where to find helpful resources. We will discuss the different tax structure for clergy and how that impacts their bottom line. This will be an interactive webinar to provide plenty of time for Q & A.

Presented by Nancy N. Fritschner, CPA, and On-Call Tax Consultant for the Church Pension Group, and the Rev. John Fritschner.

​Hi Jan -
How do you feel about paying the bills?
I mean your personal bills.
Seriously, take a second and think - how do you feel about paying bills?
Sometimes it depends on how much money you have. If there’s plenty, it’s easier. Let’s be honest.
In my own life, however, I realized that no matter how much money I had, I found paying bills stressful. Even if I had enough to pay these bills, I worried there wouldn’t be enough in the future. This was a lifelong habit (and a family pattern).
So what was I to do? Was I the only person who felt this anxiety? And what could I change?
I read a transformative book called Money as Sacrament, by Adele Azar-Rucquoi. I highly recommend it.  It’s out of print, but there are used copies on Amazon. This book by a former Roman Catholic nun changed my experience of bill-paying.

April is financial literacy month and a good time to talk about basic financial statements. It’s easy, when preparing financial statements, to do what has been done in the past. We take out last year’s financial statements and drop in this year’s numbers. But does that statement tell the reader what he or she needs to know? I suggest that we take some time to think about what could make our financial statements more meaningful to the reader.
My approach in providing basic financial statements has four goals:
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Goal 1 - Provide complete and accurate financial information to the reader
It is important that the finances of the parish be transparent. All financial activity should be reflected in the statements and not just the general operating account. To accomplish this, we need an adequate accounting system that is properly maintained. This means that all financial information is entered into the system and there are checks and balances to verify that nothing has been left out.

By ​Jerry Keucher

Vestries are the fiduciaries of the parish corporation. Whatever word we use — fiduciaries, stewards, trustees — we mean the ones responsible for the good management of something that doesn’t belong to them. The parish has been put into the hands of the current vestry, and the current vestry is responsible for it. Vestries discharge their fiduciary responsibilities by trying to make sure that they hand on to their successors a parish that is stronger and more viable than it was when they took office. 
The financial well-being of the parish is one of the most important fiduciary responsibilities of the vestry. No vestry can fulfill its responsibility in this area without regular monthly financial reports. The report the vestry should receive every month is a statement of income and expenses-- that is, what money came in from what source, and what it was spent on. 
Many vestry members do not have a financial background and may feel intimidated by a discussion of numbers. If that describes you, this article is intended to give you a basic grasp of the concepts, which are not difficult. If you find the financial reports you receive at vestry meetings mystifying, it might be because the reports are not organized and presented in a way that facilitates understanding. The purpose of the accompanying spreadsheet is to give your Treasurer a format for a financial report that is easily understood. In addition, you may wish to view the ECF webinar entitled “Fearless Finances” held on October 2016 that discussed the topic of this article. 

The word “stewardship” has become associated almost entirely with money and fundraising in church culture. Unfortunately, we have burdened this word with money-talk and we have become so routine in doing this that we even have a set time in the calendar year when we say the word “stewardship”. Usually, it happens in the fall. Growing up, I remember my dad always preparing sermons on stewardship in the month of September. September would roll around and my dad would be grumpy. “I don’t like writing sermons in September. I hate asking people for money,” he would say.

By the Rev. Allen D. Rutherford, Chair
Congregational and Community Life Committee of the Diocese of Indianapolis
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Extensive research has documented that Episcopalians would much rather talk about sex than have a transparent and informed conversation about clergy compensation within their congregations! The following series of questions is designed to facilitate and demystify how clergy are compensated.
 
Many of these questions and much of this information were born out of a conversation Allen had with his vestry following the 2016 Spring Clergy Conference and the launch of the Pathways to Vitality Initiative. It was his effort to create a healthy dialogue — and it worked!

By ​Erin Weber-Johnson
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1.) Treat fundraising as a means to an end instead of a ministry
“Imagine the ministry we can do once we’ve received these funds!” exclaimed an excited fundraising volunteer a couple months ago. YES! I love dreaming of what is possible together and keeping a parish’s collective eyes on a common goal. And yet, when we fixate on the goal alone, we are tempted to miss an important point: the process of fundraising is itself a powerful and life-giving ministry.