Getting a New Pastor? Four Reports You Should Prepare
Change is in the air! At least in some congregations.
Move-in day is just around the corner for oodles of clergy (yes, I know, that’s a technical term). That means oodles and oodles of people in the pews will be meeting their new pastor at the beginning of July.
Oh, for the days that they would show up like John Wesley did, on a horse. Now, that would be an entrance for the ages.
Last week, I posted for the new clergyperson: 30 People You Should Meet During Your Honeymoon.
Now it’s the congregation’s turn.
The Lewis Center for Leadership has an excellent list: 50 Ways to Welcome a New Pastor.
Follow their suggestions, and you’ll be way ahead of the game.
But the one thing this list fails to mention and yet is so important:
Provide your clergyperson ASAP with information about church finances and giving.
Why? Because it will give your new pastor an understanding of the financial health and generosity of the congregation right from the get-go.
To make it easy, prepare a file that contains the following:
1. Financial reports from the past five years. This will allow your new pastor to see trends year-over-year and month-to-month.
2. Giving over the past five years. Once again, this will allow them to see important patterns.
3. Pledging over the past five years. This will show if giving is up or down, or if it’s staying steady. Staying steady – while better than a decrease – is something to take a second look at – especially if you know about inflation adjusted dollars.
4. A list (in ascending numerical order) of the annual amounts given by the congregation. This will give your pastor an idea of the giving patterns of your congregation. For example, are 20% of givers providing 80% of the budget?
Let’s be honest – we lay people have a lot of expectations of our pastors: to be amazing preachers, counselors, spiritual leaders, and administrators. They can’t do it alone. But with your help – especially in putting a few financial reports together – you can set your new pastor up for success.
And while you’re at it, how about renting a horse for that grand entrance on their first day?
Photo credit: Tima Miroshnichenko @ pexels.com (Talk about a grand clergy entrance...)
Cesie Delve Scheuermann (pronounced “CC Delv Sherman,” yes, really) is a Stewardship Consultant for the OR-ID Annual Conference. She is also a Senior Ministry Strategist with Horizons Stewardship. For 25 years, while working as a volunteer and part-time consultant, she has helped raise over three million dollars for numerous churches and non-profit organizations. Want to prove you’re a Metho-nerd? Watch this video on John Wesley and the Circuit Riders.
You can reach Cesie at inspiringgenerosity@gmail.com, at CesieScheuermann.com, or at cesieds@horizons.net. Want to schedule a meeting? She’s got you covered!
Schedule a meeting now.
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