Difficult Economic Times

QUESTION: If there are difficult economic times coming to our nation what should the church consider?

ANSWER: The is a very broad question. However, I think the Church is responsible to pray and prepare...spiritually and practically.

First we pray for Divine intervention; the type of prayer found in 2 Chronicles 7:14. I also think we are responsible for equipping our congregants to be the Church...to be Salt and Light...to be a stable voice of Peace and Hope. I would suggest that church leadership prepare its congregation Biblically for difficult times...without sounding like chicken little or Harold Camping. ie. James 1:2-8, 1 Peter 4:7-11, Revelation 2-3 (Christ to the churches)

Second, I would look at the church's financial situation. We always need to have the same type of cash reserves we teach our congregants is wise. We need to remain generous as a church to others...widows, orphans, missions and even other ministries. God's people are to be obedient tithers and generous givers. Are people prepared to be generous to their neighbors? Is the church prepared to be generous to its community? Finally, we need to work to eliminate any debts.

Designated Donations - Refund or Redirect

Question: Our church plant has not survived the first couple of years. Unfortunately, it received contributions towards a future facility. What are we legally to do with those funds now?

Answer: This question is disappointing on several levels. It breaks my heart when for any reason a church can no longer continue. It is also sad when an individual believes in and contributes toward a vision (in this case a building) that will not come to pass.

Donations designated for a specific purpose can only be used for that purpose. This church will need to ask each contributor to the fund where they would desire to redirect their amounts.

In a continuing church simply redirecting the donations to another area of ministry is the simplest and often preferred choice. However the funds can be redirected to any other charitable organization.

The donor could also request that the funds be returned. There is no reporting required to the donor or the government for the refund. The donor would not receive a 1099.

Starting a School of Music

Question: Can a church start a School of Music Ministry offering both individual and group lessons? What legal issues do we have if we use people in our church who have music degrees and allow them to charge for the lessons?

Answer: Yes, our church did this for 5 years.

First, every instructor should have a complete background check performed, especially if they are working with children.

The easiest way to facilitate this vision is for the church to allow its facilities to be used but not hire or direct the instructors. As independant contractors they schedule thier own instruction, collect their own payments, handle their own missed appointments, etc.

We chose a more complex model. We actually preq1ualified the instructors, charged the students $2 more per lesson to administrate the entire instruction experience, collected the payments, mediated disputes, paid the instructors, etc. In this method the instructors are not independant contractors. As employees they must be compensated as such...which means we had to handle payroll, deduct taxes, etc.