November 6, 2025
At The Solomon Foundation, we believe that ministry is all about relationships. We invest in them with both individuals and with churches. We have no desire to be your bank; we want to be your ministry partner.
While a minister may not want to know what individuals in their church give, it’s wise for them to know about the annual budget, the average weekly or monthly giving, how much debt, if any, the church has, and what percentage of the budget is being spent to service the debt.
September 1, 2022
A day or two after the finance committee mailed the letters to the church's members, the preacher came into my office. He was furious. He shouted, “Your committee’s ruined the church!” . . .
By Doug Crozier You can’t avoid it. The health of your ministry is tied to your personal and professional health. Many leaders (me included) have learned this lesson too late; we continue to push harder because we passionately want to grow God’s kingdom. Working hard is one thing; overworking is another. Since transitioning from the corporate world almost 30 years ago, I have dedicated my life and ministry to the Restoration Movement. It was a big change, but I have never regretted it. After many periods of burnout in my life, I began to develop a plan to break these
January 1, 2021
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
August 15, 2020
By Kent E. Fillinger The COVID-19 pandemic has dominated our time and attention for much of 2020. This month’s article provides an overview of church finances based on our 2019 survey of 439 churches, while next month’s article will share findings from a separate survey that seeks to determine the impact of COVID-19 on the financial health of our churches. How Much Money Was Given to Churches Last Year? The total amount given last year to the churches we surveyed was $872,134,383. This included giving to the general fund, capital campaigns, building funds, and other sources. This reflected less than
December 31, 2019
By Jerry Harris The January issue of Christian Standard focuses on the business side of church. Leaders make decisions every day about spending, staff, volunteers, fundraising, organizational structure, leader development, staff and volunteer education, debt, facility management, marketing, media, and online presence. Yet, despite all of that, it is rather amazing how little most church leaders know about business, finance, real estate, administration, or management. Many mainly rural and small churches are closing daily because they can no longer manage their own existence. Attendance and giving might be dwindling; the churches may no longer be able to pay for a
March 7, 2018
By Jessie Clemence The church gymnasium, once filled with the sound of squealing children and bouncing balls, fell silent. The church bank account, once bolstered with tithes from generous givers, dropped to a frightening low. The elder board had vacancies. The pulpit lacked a minister and the worship team was missing vocalists and musicians. Children were missing from Sunday school classes, but that was OK because there weren’t enough adults to teach them anyway. The church had split, and those of us who stayed walked through an endless succession of losses. I grew tired of trying to explain to
January 13, 2018
By Darren Key and Mike Kocolowski Managing church finances can be like preparing for a hurricane—it’s best to have a plan in place before the wind starts to spin. That way, if the worst-case scenario develops, you’ll be prepared to weather the storm. Faith and Finances We have consulted with hundreds of churches on financial issues over the last three decades, and we know that managing a church’s cash flow is tricky. Seasonal cycles, unexpected events, and the inherent irregularity of income and expenses add to the complexity. For these reasons, keeping ample reserve funds is critical to your
January 12, 2018
By Brad Dupray We lived in fear. It could happen at any time. We stood with our freshly shined shoes on the edge of the carpet scanning the mall. Waiting. Watching. Our shoe store’s district manager would show up only about once a month, but when he did, we knew we were in for it. He had a knack for finding those things we didn’t see. We were “store blind.” Store blindness happens when the proprietor or employees of a retail store walk into the environment so many times that they simply don’t perceive the little things—the crooked table, the
January 6, 2018
By Jerry Harris One of the top-selling books of the recent past by an independent Christian church writer is undoubtedly Barry Cameron’s The ABC’s of Financial Freedom, which has sold approximately 250,000 copies since its release in 2001. The book has helped hundreds of churches and thousands of people across America turn their financial situations around, and it has helped churches raise millions of dollars for kingdom causes. Through the ABC’s, readers have discovered biblical principles to help escape the burden and bondage of debt, enabling them to declare their financial independence. Churches have reduced their debt and improved their financial
December 27, 2017
By Doug Crozier It was late August 1972 when I walked into one of my first college classes at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Accounting 101 was in a lecture hall large enough to hold more than 700 students. I learned a lot from Accounting 101 during that first semester, even though the large lecture hall was intimidating to this small-town kid. One of the key fundamentals of financial accounting I learned is a simple rule: Total Assets minus Total Liabilities equals New Worth (or New Assets in the not-for-profit world). In the mid-1990s, when I went work in
September 1, 2017
By Matt Summers This month, Crossroads Christian Church (the urban church we planted in Joliet, Illinois) celebrates its 10-year anniversary. During that time, we have grown from several dozen people into a thriving congregation of more than a thousand with a vision to reach thousands more for Christ. We have built our ministry by meeting the social and spiritual needs of our community. We have baptized 500 people into Christ, remodeled our original church building, built a larger worship center, started a Spanish-speaking congregation, and now we are relocating to a new building that will facilitate even greater growth and
July 27, 2017
By Ryan Rasmussen I must admit, right off the bat, that as a minister, I”m still learning, and the church I lead, First Christian of Canton, Ohio, is a work in progress. We don”t have the greatest turnaround story of all time, but God has done some incredible things over the past few years, despite our imperfections. You see, as I write this, I am sitting at my dining room table on a beautiful 82-degree day. The sun is breaking through the blinds as if God himself is stretching the rays of light, pinching one end between his thumb and
June 7, 2017
By Tim Cool I come from a background of planning and building ministry facilities. I have been blessed to invest 30 years of my life into developing new and renovating existing ministry facilities. That phase of my life brought me great joy and fulfillment. But now I am very burdened by the millions . . . and billions . . . of dollars spent each year on religious construction without a clear understanding of the real cost of ownership. Most ministry leaders, I think, do not understand that the ongoing costs of a building eclipse the initial costs, and do
September 8, 2012
By Alan Ahlgrim Picture this: Your church launches a new campus with a state-of-the-art, 70,000-square-foot building on 30 acres””just before the economy implodes in the greatest recession most of us have experienced. Meanwhile you are fighting for the church”s life in a lawsuit that costs you $2 million to win. This creates a loss of momentum that results in staff reductions and the departure of many members to another congregation nearby. What do you do in such a situation? Alan Ahlgrim, pastor of Rocky Mountain Christian Church in Colorado, faced all those challenges and more. As he shares in this
May 2, 2011
By Kent E. Fillinger Financial experts disagree on the economic status of our country. Have we rebounded from the recession or are we preparing for a second dip? The economic impact has been unevenly felt across the country and in churches. Two years ago, I wrote an article titled “Sustaining Ministry in a Shrinking Economy” for the megachurch issue, so it seemed valuable to assess the current financial state of the churches in our survey by examining several economic indicators. Strap on your financial seat belt, break out your calculator, and get ready to review a detailed financial portfolio of
March 22, 2009
 By Darrel Rowland  On Long Island, fledgling True North Community Church is readily shelling out more than $2 million for a three-year-old building on four acres. In northeast Ohio, historic First Christian Church in Canton is meeting the payments for a $25 million relocation project from three years ago””for now. Along Florida”s Gulf Coast, rechristened New Day Christian Church faces an uncertain future because of its struggle to pay for a $5.5 million facility built about four years ago. While America”s economic woes are unquestionably hitting churches across the country, the varying experiences of this trio of growing
September 2, 2007
By Barbara Rendel That headline on the cover of Time magazine”s September 18, 2005, issue really caught my attention. After all, the main purpose of my job is to raise money for a Christian university. Is it wrong to think God blesses people financially so they can be a blessing to others? Is it wrong to think my university needs money””in a sense, it needs to become rich””in order to become bigger and better and “produce” more people to win the world to Jesus and provide services to those who are in need? Is it wrong to think the university
April 7, 2026
John B. Penrose Jr
April 7, 2026
David Faust
March 27, 2026
Rick Cherok