Articles for tag: Missions Budget

January 9, 2018

Christian Standard

How Budget Trends Are Affecting Missions

By Emily Drayne Missionary support, as most of us know, can be subject to change without notice. Consider the missionary on the field who hears her financial support is being cut by her top supporting church or individual. Time and again, a financially assured ministry has been deflated, usually without notice, in a single conversation. What causes such changes and what impact does it have on the missionary? Is there anything a missionary can do?   Finding Balance A recent trend is for churches to refocus their mission efforts on local community development. This is a viable choice, there’s no

November 4, 2017

Christian Standard

The Church and Global Missions 

By Kent E. Fillinger  With 195 countries and 7.5 billion people in the world as of April 2017, we have our work cut out for us in fulfilling Christ”s commission. Therefore, every church should have a clear global-missions strategy.  I surveyed 148 churches in late August to gain a better understanding of the current status of global missions in our movement. The survey size was somewhat small, but the responses included a nice cross-section of churches:   “¯37 small churches (average worship attendance of fewer than 250) “¯38 medium-size churches (attendance of 250″“499) “¯29 large churches (attendance of 500″“999) 22 emerging

November 10, 2014

Christian Standard

Missions Ministries that Work: Tower Hill Christian Church

By Derrick Ritchie When Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” we believe this calling is for not only individual Christians, but the church as well. I confess this is a challenge, because our church will give more than $85,000 to missions this year. There are always things I would love to do with this money inside the walls of our church. Really, I have a long list in my head! But I believe God will bless our local ministry in relation to our generosity to missions and missionaries around the world as we advance his

November 8, 2014

Christian Standard

Missions Ministries that Work: Academy Christian Church

By Carol Norris From its beginning in 1973, Academy Christian Church”s leaders and members have emphasized missions. The program”s successes are due, in part, to the formal, documented policies and systems set up to help with decision- making and the ongoing operations of the mission team. These mission policies include a purpose statement, financial and selection policies, and responsibilities of the missionary, the church, and the team. There are also questionnaires for missionaries and organizations that request support; their responses are evaluated against set criteria. Mission support is an integral part of ACC. We believe missionary work is vital to

May 12, 2014

Christian Standard

The Megachurch Missions Minister

By Chris DeWelt “With great power comes great responsibility” (Voltaire, not Spiderman) The megachurch missions minister occupies a new and unique role. In their article, “U.S. Megachurches and New Patterns of Global Mission,”1 researchers Robert J. Priest, Douglas Wilson, and Adelle Johnson make several important observations. One is that the American megachurch missions pastor is a gatekeeper who watches over a very significant portion of the megachurch budget. Their survey found the average annual foreign missions budget in the megachurch was $690,000. Outside of general payroll and facility needs, the missions budget of the typical megachurch easily eclipses all other

January 7, 2012

Christian Standard

In Just One Year: Tell Me It’s Not Just a Dream!

Nothing challenges us to think about changing times more than the transition from one year to the next. On this first day of 2012, we asked six Christian leaders to think about the church a year from now and to draw a picture of our progress””and our problems””then.  * * * By Eleanor Daniel It is so vivid””identifiable people and places, actions, colors, and sounds. The year is somewhere beyond 2012. I see a church that intrigues me. The people include those of all colors, ethnic backgrounds, and languages. Names like Gomez and Vegas, Wong and Hasmani, as well as

December 7, 2008

Christian Standard

The Looming Christian College Cri$i$

By Doug Gibson There was a time when attending a Christian college was a good deal. When my father attended in the 1950s, the cost of a Bible college education was only slightly higher than that of the local community or state college. I wonder if those days are gone forever. Today”s students pay $10,000 to $20,000 a year for a Christian college education. Admittedly, everything is more expensive than it used to be and the expectations of today”s students in the areas of technology add to the expense, but that is not the primary issue driving student expenses to

November 12, 2008

Christian Standard

The Right Decisions in a Downturn

By Mark A. Taylor Faced with economic downturns like those we”re experiencing now, many businesses make their first cuts in the marketing department. The conventional wisdom (which is often anything but wise) says we can”t afford advertising and publicity when revenue is falling behind budget. Such thinking ignores the fact that we must work twice as hard to make the sale when economic times are hard. Sometimes business should up the promotion when income is down. Unfortunately, some churches make a similar mistake. Faced with falling offerings, they retreat and retrench. They miss the great opportunity before them when tough

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