I cannot help but smile as I read Nehemiah 10, and not because there is any humor in it. I smile because the author takes the time to work through the roster of those who signed the covenant to maintain and follow God’s law, to name those who placed their seal on the document, and to confirm the people’s commitment to obey the document. In the final verse of the chapter, the people acknowledge that they will be faithful when it comes to supporting God’s work. The last part of verse 39 reads, “We will not neglect the house of our God.” I smile because this reminds me of my church.

Taking Care of the House of God

Whether in the days of old or today, we must all take care of the house of God. Those signing the roster in the book of Nehemiah can be compared to current-day members, and, while Old Testament believers maintained the temple, New Testament church members are called to take care of their church, the building as well as the people and ministries it accommodates. This includes church finances.

There will always be aspects of your church’s finances that will need fine-tuning (and perhaps a total overhaul). You might have a large church with a strong group of officers, or you might be in a small church where a few people are bearing a heavy load. Either way, you as a member can help your leaders and bless them with reminders and recommendations, especially if your leaders are juggling many responsibilities.

Several aspects of church finances should be addressed. The following is just a smattering of issues that you should consider delving into:

Take Care of Your Pastor

• Don’t assume your pastor is doing fine financially. You may want to ask your elders and deacons whether they periodically sit down with your pastor regarding his finances and compensation.

An extension of this idea is to have a pastor compensation committee, a team that will periodically sit down with your pastor to review his situation. This is not at all intended to pry into your pastor’s finances. At the same time, if your pastor chooses not to broach the topic, it does not mean that he and his family might not have a need. This committee should include at least one church officer, and at least some committee members should have a reasonable financial planning background.

• Pastors are entitled to claim a housing allowance pursuant to the U.S. Internal Revenue code. A deacon or elder in your church should be knowledgeable as to how this tax provision operates, and can work in conjunction with your pastor to be sure that this tax provision is implemented correctly and in the most effective manner.

• Does your pastor have long-term disability insurance? What about adequate life insurance? These methods of protecting your pastor and his family should be discussed.

• Does your church have a written employment agreement with your pastor? How much vacation time or sick time is he entitled to? If he has a serious or fatal illness, what are the church responsibilities to your pastor and his family?

You should never have loose ends regarding these matters. Your church and pastor may have conflicting expectations. These things, and good communication, especially apply to a pastor living in a parsonage.

Take Care of All Your Employees

• Worker’s compensation insurance covers the cost of medical treatment when an employee is injured on the job. It might have to include part-time as well as minor-age employees. Ensure that your insurance carrier is handling this coverage.

• Provide your employees with a Form W-2 if they are indeed employees. You may need to speak with a tax professional to determine if the individual working for you is defined as an employee or an independent contractor. The cost of providing a W-2, filing quarterly payroll tax returns with the IRS, etc., will be greater than the cost of merely filing a 1099-NEC form, which is all that is required for independent contractors. But we are called to be subject to our civil authorities. We need to do all to the glory of God. This includes filing the right forms with the tax authorities.

Take Care of Your Property

• Ensure that the physical facilities your church owns are maintained and in good shape.

• Your property should have adequate insurance in the case of fire or other damage.

• You maintain your home on a regular basis. Treat God’s house with at least as much care! Do not let small issues become big issues. Take care of maintenance issues as they come along.

• Practice preventive maintenance. You might want to have heating and air conditioning technicians come on a regular basis to inspect all your systems.

Take Care to Protect Your People

• You should have adequate liability insurance, including for misconduct and for counseling liability.

• You may want to keep church doors locked during the week when there may only be one person working. If you feel compelled to keep the doors open, consider restricting access to your building to one door.

• You should consider a security system to monitor outside activity. Also consider doorbells with cameras.

• If applicable, you should consider having an usher present in your narthex during the entire church service.

Take Care to Protect Your Revenue and Expenses

• When collecting weekly revenue, you should have more than one person count all cash and checks.

• Reconcile the church bank account every month. You would be surprised how often the lack of doing so can result in a significant discrepancy between what the church reflects on its records and what your bank reflects.

• Set up your process so that the person entering transactions into your accounting system is not the same person signing checks.

• Periodically review random expenditures to be sure that the amounts spent are in order. This review should occasionally be performed by a deacon on a surprise basis.

• Many accounting packages allow for multiple online users. Giving a deacon the ability to access the accounting software whenever the deacon desires provides an extra safeguard to the accounting system.

Encourage Wise and Effective Giving Methods

There are several ways to give to your church that provide tax advantages.

• Your members can give appreciated securities and never be taxed on the capital gain.

• A farmer can give crops or cattle to his church. He will never be taxed on that transfer. He will save both on income tax and self-employment tax.

• If you are over age 70-1/2, consider giving to your church by means of a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from your IRA. This is done by direct transfer to the church and is not taxable.

• You might want to incorporate the use of a charitable remainder trust or charitable lead trust.

You should obtain competent tax advice to ensure that these techniques are transacted in an efficient and effective manner.

Conclusion

I suspect you love your church—whether your church is small or large, rural or urban, bursting at the seams or trying to get by. The point is, it’s your church. And it’s your church family. There are various financial aspects of your church home in which you can bless fellow members as well as your church officers. Show them that you care.

Some people are better at swinging a hammer. Others prefer to work on financial matters. Reach out to your church leaders and ask if you can help in any way. Your goal is not to wag a finger at them and attempt to direct them as to how to do things, but to bless them and to bless the ministries and people in church. That is what taking care of church business is all about.