Read more
The church budget is a far more potent pastoral tool than many church leaders realize. Budgeting for a Healthy Church examines each section of a church's budget in light of Biblical principles to show how a church budget can lock in healthy approaches to ministry.
List of contents
1. Why Does God Care About Your Church Budget?
2. Leadership: Budgeting is Pastoral Work
3. Income: Aiming for Faithfulness
4. Staff: Supporting Servants of the Word
5. Programs: Equipping the Congregation for Ministry
6. Outreach: Investing In What You Know
7. Operations: Helping the Church Proclaim and Portray
8. Communication: Using the Budget as a Pastoral Tool
9. Conclusion: The Freedom of Trust
About the author
Jamie Dunlop has served as Associate Pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC since 2009 where, in addition to general pastoral duties, he oversees administration and adult education and coordinates oversight of several non-profits based at the church. Prior to joining the church staff, he worked for a decade in business, managing an operating unit of a large consultancy while serving his church as a lay elder. He holds degrees in engineering from Princeton University. Jamie and his wife Joan live on Capitol Hill with their three school-aged children.
Summary
Many pastors conceive of the church budget as primarily a financial tool, but in fact it is primarily a pastoral tool. A church's philosophy of ministry is locked into its budget, and so the budget will either stifle or accelerate any attempts to move a congregation toward a biblical model of church health. As such, the church budget is a far more potent pastoral tool than many church leaders realize. Budgeting for a Healthy Church examines each section of the budget in light of Biblical principles to show how a church budget can lock in healthy approaches to ministry. Whereas most books on church budgeting are "how" books, explaining how the budgeting process should work, this is a "what" book, helping church leaders determine the pastoral implications of what they choose to fund in their budgets.
Additional text
Jamie Dunlop masterfully weaves together his business mind and his pastor's heart. It's a book I wish I had read twenty-five years ago. Filled with biblical principles, financial insight, and practical helps, Budgeting for a Healthy Church is a resource that every pastor and church leader should read!
