5-page paper synthesizing the 3-5 ideas from the readings that made the greatest impact on you, and how those ideas apply to yo

Context of the Project

Currently, I serve as a consultant to pastors and churches mainly in the Assemblies of God (AG) in Southern California. I assist pastors in the preparation of their individual tax returns by applying current Internal Revenue Service (IRS) laws to the tax return submitted by clergy members. Due to my professional designation as an Enrolled Agent, when pastors and churches are audited, I represent them before the IRS or provide assistance with various accounting needs. This consists of helping pastors and churches design the best accounting methodology for their ministries. Furthermore, I present lectures for people seeking ministerial credentials at the School of Ministries for the Southern California District Council of the Assemblies of God. During these seminars, I teach the use of proper business strategies for both personal and church applications. Currently, I also serve as the Presbyter for the Desert Section of the AG. As presbyter I supervise the pastors of the District Affiliated churches in the section and give oversight and representation to the General Council churches in the section. At all levels, I help individuals learn and implement suitable business strategies for their specific ministry context.

The Problem

Most AG churches in the United States have an average attendance of less than 200. The Assemblies of God U.S. Vital Statistics for 2010 show the following figures: 84 percent of churches average less than 200 people, 64 percent less than 100 attendees, and 35 percent fewer than fifty people.⁰ Of that number, 17 percent of the churches have plateaued, and 41 percent have declined in attendance.⁰ Based on these percentages, it is likely that more than 6,000 Assemblies of God churches under 200 people in attendance are not growing. This is unacceptable for one of the largest denominations in the world. Pastors, districts, and General Council leaders within the AG must address this lack of growth.

Statistics indicate that churches that implement basic business procedures experience greater growth than churches that ignore these principles. In fact, the magnitude of careless business procedures among Assemblies of God churches with attendance under 200 is astounding. For instance, about 42 percent of all churches do not answer their telephones during normal business hours.⁰ Most churches do not cover their telephones during the time most potential visitor’s call, which is Saturday afternoon and early Sunday morning.⁰ Almost 50 percent of churches do not have a Web site and, of those that do, only about 15 percent provide people an opportunity to donate money or pay tithes online.⁰ Many churches fail to keep their Web site current. Almost no Assemblies of God church recognizes current giving when visitors make contributions to their churches on any given Sunday.⁰ Few churches have systematic plans for tracking and following up on first, second, and third-time guests.⁰

Many churches under 200 have weak accounting practices, which negatively impacts giving within their churches. Most churches have not implemented written plans regarding appropriate segregation of duties for accounting cycles nor do they issue quarterly financial statements (which can increase giving by 6 percent).⁰ Churches under 200 often fail to use good strategies to stimulate church attendees to be good stewards. They neither provide instruction on stewardship before offerings nor use current attendees’ testimonies about the miracles that God has done in their lives through tithing and giving to missions.

Rarely do churches under 200 take attendance each Sunday. Therefore, they cannot follow up on regular attendees who are absent. They fail to use nametags so everyone who attends can become better acquainted with each other, which is key to assimilating people into the local fellowship. Many small churches fail to use “email blasts” to regularly communicate with those who attend their services. Often, pastors do not have formalized methods of personally speaking with families in the church at least every three months to assess their spiritual needs and to maintain connection.

As pastors proactively take steps to assimilate people into churches, the congregations will experience growth, as well as retain people who would otherwise leave unnoticed. Therefore, investment in the acquisition of basic principles of business can positively impact churches numerically. Such efforts could also create a greater sense of belonging, which, in turn, translates into people staying in churches for long periods of time.

The Purpose

The purpose of this project is to help pastors of plateaued or declining churches experience measureable growth in attendance through the implementation of proper business strategies for accounting and visitor retention. This study should prove that by implementing appropriate business strategies in a local church, the congregation will increase in attendance. While this project will only measure Sunday morning attendance, it is expected that the income of the church will increase as the attendance increases. Pastors will be given information on how to increase church finances by providing biblical teaching on financial health.

Definition of Key Terms

Segregation of duties in the accounting cycle: a means of managing church funds that provides accountability by having different people, unrelated to each other, conduct each stage of the accounting process.

Email blasts: simultaneously sending email announcements to everyone on the church’s email lists.

Financial Statements: reports that show (1) the income and expenses of the church during a specified period of time, and (2) the assets and debts of the church, along with the amount of money in each fund as of a given date.

Systems thinking: a holistic approach to analysis that focuses on the way a system’s constituent parts interrelate and how systems work over time and within the context of larger systems. The systems thinking approach contrasts with traditional analysis, which studies systems by breaking them down into their separate elements.

Best practice: a method or technique that has consistently shown results superior to those achieved with other means and is used as a benchmark.