Dirty Talk in the Church

This past sunday we had “the talk” at church.  “The talk” was the money talk, and how we don’t have it. We didn’t meet budget, in fact we were several thousand dollars off. It was hard because of course it’s an awkward conversation, but in the end I think that the people walked away encouraged rather than guilt riden. We showed our budget and where the money is going (i.e. staff, insurance, RCC/NCC, bulletins, etc) and explained what we have cut and/or are cutting. The miracle is that last year we were able to give 20% of our budget away to non profs, benevilance funds, and other various people/organizations in need.

We, the church, make this money converstaion such a dirty talk. Have you ever noticed that when we talk about money, usually it is solomon who is quoted and not jesus. I think this is because Jesus’ words are a little harder (sell everything you have…). I’m not going to get into this right now though, because that is a whole other can of worms.

Anyways, after the talk I felt like we walked out encouraged rather than discouraged. We know exactly where money is going and what we do with it. Unfortunately we live in a time of economic crisis and our human nature tells us to keep it.  I saw this cartoon at ASBO Jesus a while ago that showed a pastor asking a person, “Do the birds worry?”  t o which the person replied, “Do the birds have a mortgage?” This is are human nature taking over our faith.

So I wonder this:

1. Who else has had this talk with your church? How did you handle it/HOw did they take it?

2. If you are a church worker (Pastor, director, etc), what changes have you seen in the church staffing and budget?