Money Matters in Church: A Practical Guide for Leaders

High praises for this book. This practical guide covers dozens of considerations that I wish were specifically addressed in Seminary. One of the rarely stated facts that many pastors face is the lack of exposure to some of the practical aspects of "overseeing" a ministry. Truthfully, most of us pastors are self-trained in areas of finance, campaigns, and budgeting as we work through the challenges of ministry on our own. Unfortunately, though I learned many great things in Seminary from an incredible faculty, some things like these were rarely discussed. The authors walk a reader through a well-rounded approach to financial management (stewardship) in the church. From requiring the pastor to develop and articulate his own theology of stewardship, to structure of committees, boards, budgets, and planning for capital expenditures. Particularly helpful were the subjects that are on many leaders' minds but are difficult to bring up in conversation without sounding "ungrateful" or "self-serving," like compensation, budgeting, management of day-to-day ministry expenditures and so forth. I intend to provide a copy of this book to my key leaders and take my own finance team through a study of these principles. In many ways, I think it will prove to be affirming to our current practices while also providing opportunity to consider areas for improvement and implementation. I would strongly recommend it to every pastor and key staff leader who are involved with finances. Some might criticize the focus on such subjects while proclaiming that if we all just "love Jesus" everything else will work out. While dependence on God's guidance through the Holy Spirit and His Word are of primary importance, I believe that God can use this book to aid pastors in developing a culture of stewardship among God's people.

Just finished Money Matters in Church by Aubrey Malphurs and Steve Stroope. I read it for two reasons, one, it was assigned in my lead pastor coaching network and, two, for help in an upcoming series at Revolution. It is by far the most helpful and thorough book on the topic of money, stewardship and the church I have come across. Malphurs is a professor, so he brings with him a host of knowledge on the theological end of the spectrum when it comes to this topic and Stroope is a pastor of a growing church that is able to help apply the concepts in easy ways for pastors and leaders to use. The book covers topics like what stewardship is, what the Bible has to say about money, how a church chooses a bank, good banking habits, creating a strategic budget, funding new facilities and ministries, paying staff members, how a church chooses what benefits to pay for, how to deal with debt and how to run a capital campaign from beginning to end. Like I said, thorough. They actually leave nothing out when it comes to this topic. What makes the book so helpful is that most pastors, unless they have a business background have very little clue on how to do this aspect of a church. Yet, it is incredibly important. Without money, a church will die very quickly. While most people don't want to hear that, it is reality and something that more leaders need to think about. For me, as a lead pastor I have the tension that as the leader of Revolution (along with the staff and elders) I am responsible to God and will be held accountable for how money is used at Revolution. I am held responsible for how we use the resources that God entrusts to us. These resources are not only valuable because of where they come from but also for what they will be used for. They can't be wasted. Too much is at stake. I think the parable is not only true for individuals but is also true for churches. God entrusts more to churches who can handle more. It is that simple. When it comes to people, resources, finances, if we will waste them, why would God give us more of them? This book was a great reminder of some things, as well as something I got a ton out of. I highlighted so much as we are thinking through some of the policies they talked about in the book. Definitely worth picking up and passing off to your financial team (which I've done). [...]

A great comprehensive guide to money and the church. I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion on tithing theology. Many of the principles carry over, I only wish it had more from the perspective of the small church.

This book fills a giant hole in church leadership books - how to handle money, increase giving and raise big dollars for big projects. Co-author Steve Stroope is my mentor and friend, but he and Aubrey Malphrs deliver the goods in this book. This book is the best book I've read on church stewardship since Money, Possessions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn.