Your Cart: 0 items
There are no items in your cart
Course
It Takes Money: Understanding Your Church’s Finances
~20 Hours
Discussing church finances can be uncomfortable. But the reality is that money is essential for running most churches today. In the course, It Takes Money: Understanding Your Church’s Finances, learn the basics of financial matters that are vital for leading your church, stewarding its resources well, and ensuring a financially healthy future.
2 instructors
About This Course
Conventional wisdom says that pastors (or ministry leaders) and money don’t mix. Some pastors roll their eyes or shake their heads when they hear the words like “budgets” or “finances.” The entire topic of church finances can feel very uncomfortable. But there’s another truth that’s even more important: Money is essential for running most churches today. Pastors don’t need to be finance experts, but a basic understanding of financial matters is vital for leading a church. Led by Mike Bonem, executive pastor, business leader, and author of five books on ministry leadership, this course will teach learners the basics of church finances, offering practical tools for financial health in the church. This course’s design takes some of the mystery out of church finances. You won’t become a financial expert, but by the end of the course, you will be equipped to play your part in the financial leadership of your congregation.
This course counts towards the Business of Ministry Certificate.
Learning Outcomes
- Define key terms related to financial reports, budgeting, and fundraising
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of the church’s financial statements and evaluate the overall financial health
- Develop a philosophy for raising funds
- Evaluate and recommend changes in the church’s financial practices, including reporting, budgeting, forecasting, and fundraising
Created in partnership with the Church Leadership Institute, which is part of the De Pree Center, and FULLER Equip.
- Administration
- Ministry Admin Training
- Professional Training
Introduction
1. Getting Started
2. Dealing with Finances Is Part of Ministry
3. What Does the Bible Say About Money?
Understanding Financial Statements
4. Financial Statement Overview
5. The Income Statement
6. Analyzing the Income Statement
7. The Balance Sheet
8. Analyzing the Balance Sheet
9. Debt
10. Special Items
Financial Planning
11. Budgeting
12. Financial Forecasts
13. Forecasting and Managing Expenses
Raising Money
14. You Are a “Fundraiser”
15. Special Topics Related to Raising Money
Conclusion
16. Putting It All Together
17. Next Steps
Your Instructor
Mike Bonem
Executive Pastor, Business Leader, Author
Mike Bonem is a consultant, coach, author, speaker, husband, and father. He offers a unique mix of world-class consulting and executive leadership experience to help churches, ministries, and their leaders turn vision into results. Mike works with congregations, denominational bodies, and faith-based non-profits on vision discernment, strategy implementation, and organizational design. He also coaches ministry leaders, helping them grow their capacity. He has developed and taught seminars for the Willow Creek Association, The Purpose-Driven Church (Saddleback Church), Christian Leadership Alliance, and Leadership Network. Mike served over 10 years as an executive pastor. He also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, was a senior consultant with McKinsey & Company, and held executive leadership roles in two businesses. He is the author or co-author of five books on ministry leadership, including his most recent, The Art of Leading Change: Ten Perspectives on the Messiness of Ministry.
CLI
The Church Leadership Institute (CLI) is a consulting and coaching group, a laboratory of church leadership, and the “Harvard Business Review” of the church. While there are a number of good resources and consulting groups at work in the larger church today, the De Pree Center Church Leadership Institute brings four distinct aspects to this work: Convene: Through our alumni and partner organizations, we bring the diverse church together across denominational and cultural lines to address the largest questions and challenges for the widest possible learning. “We talk to people who don’t talk to each other.” Research: Nested in a graduate school, our resources and experiences are grounded and will continually be grounded in research. Ongoing research will enable us to continually learn and offer those learnings to the larger church. Reach: As a non-profit institution with a technology platform and international reach, we can raise money and serve churches that could never afford the expertise of consultant agencies and pour the money from our consulting services back into other congregations, thus strengthening the larger body of Christ Formation: As an institution of formational education, our experience and expertise is on the formation of the inner life, character, resilience, and wisdom necessary for leadership—both individuals and congregations as a whole.
