Budgeting for a healthy church, aligning finances with biblical priorities for ministry

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.

Publisher: Zondervan
Type: Paperback
ISBN: 9780310093862

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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.

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Almost every church has a budget. And yet too many churches give little thought to the spiritual dimensions of planning, developing, and communicating a budget. That's what Jamie means to remedy in this immensely helpful book. While my Presbyterian sensibilities may quibble here or there, I'm grateful for a terrific resource that is so biblical, practical, accessible, and wise. This is a book we've needed for a long time. KEVIN DEYOUNG, senior pastor, Christ Covenant Church (Matthews, NC); assistant professor of systematic theology, RTS Charlotte