At our pastors' convention this April in Calgary someone made a profound statement. I can't remember who exactly said it, but it was so good I wrote it down. The quote: "Until the future of the world is more important than the future of your church, you won't have a church in the future".
If I didn't hear anything else that whole week that would have been enough... And as we head into our third week as a church replant in New Westminster, that statement has not left me. How do we do that? Keep that focus on the main thing and not get subtly nudged into the rut of just doing church?
As this is my first pastorate (and church plant) it's not guaranteed that this won't happen. In just this short time we have already experienced some of the pressures that come both from within and from without to just go with the status quo. We've had to navigate the choppy waters of transitioning an established church congregation into unchartered territory. And we're not through the rapids yet.
So why rock the boat? Do we really want everyone upset and risk losing our ratings. Can the church grow if we don't give everyone what they want! I don't know the answers. But the future of the world needs to be more important than the future of the church, otherwise we won't have a church in the future.
So we're going to take some time to challenge our worldviews, presuppositions, culture (yikes!) and traditions (double yikes). We'll take even more time to look at our identity and values and plumb the depths of where they are rooted. Who are we as a Foursquare church? Who are we as a church in New Westminster, Vancouver, Canada and the world? Who are we? Where do we need to realign ourselves with the truths of God's Word and purpose for our church?
Most of you who know me won't be surprised that one of the first things we will challenge is how we handle the area of finances and administration. As long as I have been a Christian I have been involved in this area of church ministry in one capacity or other. And as I have worked with churches over the years I have seen many testimonies of God's faithfulness and unfortunately some failures (not God's). I have pondered a lot, searched the scriptures and prayed.
This past week I met with our Administrative Coordinator, Kunal Marwaha. This young man moved to Canada 4 years ago from Tanzania at the age of 19 years to attend Providence Bible College (Degree in Business). His testimony of how he came to Canada when the odds were zero (no money & no chance) is amazing. I told him afterward that anyone with as much faith as he had was absolutely perfect for this ministry! Not only does he have a heart to serve the church with his skill and education but his experience of what God can do is not limited or shaped by our Western way of thinking about finances.
So, CAN we talk about money? I know it's a difficult subject for the church (and pastors) but I'd like to just share some of what we've been prayerfully considering. The most recent statistics that I was able to find (2009) says that 85% of church budgets go toward operational and staffing costs. That's leaves only 15% that actually goes to the costs of outreach and evangelism. Barely 2% of that goes to overseas missions.
When working with our Foursquare churches we recommend a 3-way split between operations/staffing/ministry. For Life Design Foursquare Church we are going to work towards a 4-way split: 25% staffing, 25% operations, 25% internal church ministry, 25% church planting/overseas ministry. That means that we want to give away 50% of our operating budget to outreach and evangelism. Maybe more if we are able.
We have a lot of vision for the various ministry areas: education, youth, children, prayer, outreach, evangelism, church planting, missions. We also have plans to be a resource to all churches (more details for another blog post). But the bottom line is that none of it will happen without resources. It will take extra effort to be intentional about what we commit to and be willing to giving generously away from ourselves. It may mean that we chose not to go with the status quo.
It will definitely require Giant Faith and a belief that the future of our world is more important than the future of our church...
Rhonda Berkhiem
Lead Pastor
Life Design Foursquare Church
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