October 29, 2003
The Pious Pastors
The Esteemed Parish Councils
The Faithful People of God
of the Holy Metropolis of Denver
Beloved in the Lord,
As you begin to prepare your annual budgets for consideration by the parish general assembly at the Autumn meeting, I ask that you reflect on the following thoughts that for most will be a major paradigm shift when thinking about the parish finances and our stewardship responsibility toward them.
There are perhaps three major budgeting models that most of us are
familiar with: business (for profit corporation
), family, and parish
(non-profit organization
).
In the business model, one first considers expected revenue
(income), and then production costs
(expenses). The goal is to
maximize income and to minimize expenses because the difference between
these two values—profit—is the reason a business exists.
This is good business practice.
In the family model, the husband and wife first consider their net take home pay (income), and then decide how to spend it (expenses). The goal is to afford the things they wish for themselves and their family. This is the normal way that most of us manage our home, or personal, finances and it works well.
In the non-profit
or parish model, however, one first
considers what the needs
(expenses) are, and then raises the
funds
(income) to meet those needs. The purpose of a non-profit
entity is to meet the needs of the people it serves. The budget process
therefore begins with recognizing the needs
(and associated
expense
) of that service and then identifying the proper sources
for income.
The goal of a non-profit entity is not to make a profit
or to
accumulate savings,
but to give things
away. The Red
Cross, the Salvation Army, the homeless shelters, etc. in your community
exist to provide the services and necessities they exist to supply.
Likewise your parish exists to give things away
: the divine
services, philanthropy, religious education, etc. In fact these are the
things
that we need, and for which our parish exists.
In regard to need
let me make one point very, very clear: our
parish does not need us. Neither does God need us
; He loves us
and He wants us to be His people; it is we who need Him. So too, our
parish belongs to God, and it wants to meet our spiritual needs; it is
we who need the parish.
Each of your parish expenses
could be listed as a need
that each of us has. We need a church building (because it is cold
worshipping on an open field in February!). We need lights and water
and heating in our building for our welfare. We need the priestly
ministry of our assigned clergy. We need Sunday School and other
religious education assistance.
The parish budget process therefore starts with tabulating our needs,
which we commonly have referred to as expenses.
I suggest to the
parishes of this Metropolis to re-label your budget as Needs
and
Stewardship,
in that order, with Expenses
and
Income
in parentheses.
Once we have tabulated and added up the costs of our needs
(expenses
), we will know how much minimum stewardship
(income
) is need in aggregate just to keep our parish alive to
meet our immediate requirements. Beyond these, of course, are the
growth and expanded ministries that the Lord calls each of us to
exercise.
Any parish that prepares its budget by first considering
Income
(usually puts down a little more than last year’s budget)
is condemning itself to mediocrity. This is a no growth approach, both
physically and spiritually.
Most of you who serve on the parish councils are business people, and all of us have our own personal finances. I am challenging you to set aside your preconceived notions regarding the budget process—which come from the business and family models (and are perfectly fine and good within those contexts)&mdasg;and grasp the non-profit budget paradigm for your parish that first considers needs (expenses) and from these determines the minimum needed level of stewardship (income). I recognize that this may be a new concept to some, but I know that you love your Church and were elected by the faithful to administer its affairs because of your skills and insight.
I believe that if you adopt this approach, you will be setting goals for your parish in meeting the real spiritual needs of God’s people. The way that we have run our parishes in the past, we have not set positive goals, but have limited our spiritual potential.
I pray that this Autumn and the coming new year of 2004 will bring the Lord’s richest grace and blessings to you and your beloved parishes.
With Paternal Blessings,
Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver