People-First Finances

How Our Church Prioritized Our Spending and Resources During the Pandemic  

News about the coronavirus in mid-March sent fearful shockwaves down my spine. I had no idea what it all meant for the nation, for Southeast Christian Church in Parker, Colorado—which I serve—or for the people who call Southeast home. I had received no instruction in how to lead a church through a global pandemic, nor did I have practical experience in doing so.

Consequently, while considering next steps for the church, I immediately thought of the worst-case scenario of people at Southeast—and young people especially—dying of COVID-19.

There are two things I truly hate about ministry. First, I hate doing funerals for children. The death of a little one just seems so far afield from how things should work. And while I grieve with the families and attempt to comfort them, I personally struggle to make sense of those same moments in my own faith journey. I seriously worried that COVID-19 might ravage the youngest among us.

Behind-the-scenes investment in our staff translated into our congregation having confidence in the church as we traversed an unfamiliar path through the pandemic.

I also hate firing staff. The church is supposed to be the family of God. It feels weird to fire family. And while I know such times come to almost all church staff teams, it just never sits well with me. Part of me always wrestles with how I might have let that person down. COVID-19 made the prospects of this situation even worse. The thought of needing to release staff through no one’s failure was horrible. I couldn’t believe I was facing this situation only six months into a new ministry.

Making matters worse, the church had already seen its share of heartache, turmoil, and insecurity during the three years prior to me being selected as lead pastor. We seemed to be turning a corner when we were blindsided by something beyond our control. I must admit, I had a couple of conversations with God about the tremendous unfairness of this.

So, when stay-at-home orders were issued, I immediately created a Zoom link (we all have become familiar with those) and met with my executive pastor and our main finance person to discuss what was necessary for surviving whatever might occur next. We were all a bit dumbfounded at that point, but we assembled a list of financial priorities.

Investment in Staff

I believe money in the church is best spent on people. Though buildings are a normal part of ministry, Jesus didn’t command us to love God and love buildings. Jesus said to love people. So, we immediately decided we needed to take care of our staff first, no matter what the future might hold.

The prospect of not working due to suspensions of worship services and our regular weekly activities deeply concerned our employees, especially those who are paid hourly. This posed a unique leadership challenge and a heavy emotional responsibility.

When leaders are insecure or angry or fearful, the people we lead can sense it. For the good of everyone at our church, I knew we needed our staff to lead well. And for that to happen, I needed to do my best to eliminate fear and insecurity for our staff team.

We did three things for our staff very early on that I believe stabilized our church’s finances during the pandemic.

First, when stay-at-home orders were issued, I assembled our entire staff via Zoom to tell them we would not change how they were getting paid. We would pay them as if they were working normal hours. I watched our staff members breathe deep sighs of relief knowing they would not be asked to make sacrifices they were not in positions to make. It reinforced to the staff, “We value you.” In turn, their positive attitude undergirded everything we did to communicate with our church body.

Second, we began daily, 20-minute check-ins with the staff via videoconferences. While some—OK, most—have grown tired of videoconferences, these were times for laughing together, cracking jokes, praying together, staying connected, and encouraging one another daily (just as the Bible instructed). It’s been an incredibly helpful leadership tool.

Third, the staff was given creative license to find ways to reach out to the people in our congregation during the restrictions on group gatherings. And when we saw staff members step out and do fun or creative things, we celebrated those wins.

Rather than hoarding money and trying to ‘protect ourselves,’ we trusted in our God of abundance, and we became his hands and feet in the community we serve.

For example, our early childhood director developed a tool consisting of Bible-based lessons and activities for use by parents who were cooped up with their children. It was a great example of our staff taking positive leadership steps to help resource our people.

This behind-the-scenes investment in our staff translated into our congregation having confidence in the church as we traversed an unfamiliar path through the pandemic. It was an unspoken incentive for our people to continue supporting the church as we sought to fulfill their needs and honor the Lord.

Investment in Church and Community  

Leadership took three additional steps that helped instill confidence in our stewardship among the people.

First, very early on we created a group email that helped connect needs of individuals within our congregation to those who had the resources to help. The importance of doing this exceeded our expectations. It was a blessing to both those who received the help and those who extended it (and perhaps more so among the latter). In our area, there was much talk of “helping one another get through this,” but not many real opportunities to do so. Our initiative provided a much-needed outlet for those who wanted to make a difference in our community.

Second, we were generous with area churches who were facing serious struggles because of the pandemic. God always blesses generosity, and he did so again with Southeast! We were shocked again and again as God provided through his faithful people for the needs of not only our church, but also for those of several churches in our area. And, in the midst of escalating racial tension nationally that occurred concurrently with COVID-19, we were able to help sustain three Black churches because of our folks’ generosity. It was a huge statement to many.

Third, we made a more concerted effort to talk about helping our community (and then following through). Rather than hoarding money and trying to “protect ourselves,” we trusted in our God of abundance, and we became his hands and feet in the community we serve. We cannot outgive God; instead, we need to take him at his word. The more we stepped out in faith, the more God proved himself faithful in all things.

It obviously helped that, while we were allocating funds toward helping others, we were not spending money on such things as youth camps, VBS, conferences, and many other events that kept getting canceled. As various expenses fell off the radar, we were able to reinvest in other types of kingdom work. We learned that sometimes God provides by giving plenty, and sometimes he provides resources by taking away certain other things for a season.

As I sit back and consider the last few months, I am amazed at what we have experienced. We have moved from fear to wonder. I marvel at God’s goodness. We have seen struggling folks step out in faith to give. I am so proud to be a part of our church family. We have remained faithful to put God’s heart first. And we have watched as God himself has provided for us—exceedingly, abundantly, and above anything we could ever think or imagine.

I am reminded of Paul’s words: “And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity” (2 Corinthians 8:1-2).

May our trials also well up in rich generosity!