September 23, 2004
The Pious Pastors and Assistant Clergy
The Esteemed
Parish Council Members
The Faithful People of God
of the Holy
Metropolis of Denver
Beloved in the Lord,
This is the time of the year that you begin to prepare the annual parish budgets that will be considered at your forthcoming Autumn General Assembly. As you prepare the budget, and as you prepare for discussions at the Assembly, I ask that you consider and reflect on the following points.
First and foremost, it is critical to understand that there is not a finite amount of money available in any parish. Quite the contrary, there is an infinite amount of money available. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself clearly teaches us this in the Parable of the Talents; I ask each pastor to clearly explain this parable to the faithful in every parish.
In the Parable of the Talents Jesus assures us that if we do good with what He has given to us, He will give us more Ñ thus we have an infinite source of riches available to us if we do good with it. Likewise, if we do not use our God-given resources well, whatever we have will be taken away from us. I firmly believe that this is the real reason why our parishes struggle with finances: we have not done as well as we could have done with what God has given to us.
Second, but equally important, we must all learn generosity. There are parishes where the appeals for such obvious causes as IOCC, OCMC, etc. are ignored and the information is not even given to the faithful; the erroneous thinking is that money given to other causes is money "taken away" from the parish. Nothing could be more wrong; such behavior actually limits, often severely, the actual potential donations that could have come to a parish. Telling people not to give to this or that cause, hoping they will later give to the parish, only teaches them to be selfish and stingy; when the parish appeal comes they will behave as they were taught: selfishly and miserly.
On the other hand, if people are taught to give generously to good causes, they both develop the habit of giving and they experience the joy of giving. When it comes time for these people to respond to the parish appeal they will behave as they were taught: generously and joyfully.
Which way do you want it to be in your parish?
Third, the parish budget is very distinct from a for-profit business budget or from the family budget. Let me briefly describe each for you:
- In the business model of budget preparation, "expected revenue" (income) is considered first and then "production costs" (expenses) are examined. The goal is to maximize income and to minimize expenses because the difference between these two values (the "profit") is the very reason a business exists. This is "good business practice" Ñ but it is a very bad model for a parish (or non-profit business). Sadly, when this model is mistakenly followed in a parish, the general assembly discussion is about "cutting" this and "reducing" that expense.
- In the family model of budget preparation, 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 (house, car, food, vacation, etc.). This is the normal way that most of us manage our home finances and it works well for a family Ñ but, again, it is a very bad model for a parish.
- In the parish (or "non-profit") model, however, the considerations are reversed: the "needs" (expenses) are considered first, and then the parishioners address how to raise the "funds" (income) to meet these needs. Happily, when this model is correctly followed in a parish, the general assembly discussion is about stewardship and the willingness of the faithful to meet the needs of their beloved church.
I recognize that this will be a different budget paradigm for some of you. Although I wrote much the same to you last Autumn, not all parishes were able to implement this concept at that time.
Most of you who serve on the parish councils are business people, and all of us have our own family finances. I am challenging you, however, to set aside your existing ideas about the business and family budget process (in which income is considered before expenses), and to adopt this approach which first considers needs (expenses) and from these determines the minimum needed level of stewardship (income).
Please keep one very important truth in mind: our parish does not need us, but rather it is we who need the parish. Parallel to this is that God does not "need us" either, but rather He loves us and He wants us to be His people. In fact it is we who need God. Our parish belongs to God, not to us, and it exists to minister to us in love; again, it is we who need our parish, and we must do all we can to meet our need. All of this ultimately leads to our inheriting the eternal Kingdom.
Accordingly, I suggest that you start your budget process with tabulating your needs Ñ which we in the past used to refer to as "expenses." Each of the parish "expenses" could be listed as a "need." For example, we need a church building (because it is cold worshipping on an open field in February!). We also need lights and water and heating in our building for our welfare. We of course need the priestly ministry of our assigned clergy. We additionally need Sunday School and other religious education materials.
After you have listed your needs with an anticipated cost indicated next to each one, you can add these up and you will know how much minimum stewardship ("income") is needed in aggregate from the parishioners just to keep the parish alive in order to meet your immediate requirements.
The "old way" of considering expenses first is a no growth approach, both physically and spiritually. The reality is that any parish which prepares its budget by first considering "income" (usually by putting down a little more than last year's budget) is condemning itself to mediocrity.
Instead, if you adopt the approach of "needs first, then stewardship," you will be setting goals for your parish to meet the real spiritual needs of God's people. The way that we ran our parishes in the past, did not allow us to set positive goals, but instead limited our spiritual potential.
I pray that this Autumn and the coming new year of 2005 will bring the Lord's richest grace and blessings to you and your beloved parishes.
With Paternal Blessings,
+Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver