In 2006, churches in North America were a collective $28 billion in debt. So says a recent article in the New York Times. I serve on the leadership team of a church in Elizabethtown, Ky that is about to add to that total. In 2003, I was part of the group that started The Bridge Community. And now, after almost 5 years of weekly worship gatherings in rented facilities, we’re preparing to close the deal on the purchase of an old furniture building – our first owned space for ministry. (If you like, you can read more about it here.)
We have taken what I think is a pretty conservative approach to this purchase, but we’ll still be spending nearly a million dollars. And so, a question: should churches go into debt? Almost surely, Dave Ramsey would say no; but voices just as influential say yes. What do you think? Should churches have financial debt?
I’m learning, in the company of a prudent and centered advisory team at the church, what role stewardship plays in this process. I must admit, as one “in the trenches” of ministry, I’ve been much more concerned about monthly cash flow than the ideal of owning something free and clear. The lower the payment, the better – this was my thinking at the outset of this transaction. But now, I’m questioning the wisdom of certain “creative” financing options available to churches like ours – options that would have us pay off less principle early on with the offer to re-finance and borrow more in the future held out like a carrot.
Since The Bridge has never had a permanent home, we’ve always dealt with the issue of how “necessary” facilities are to ministry. We began with, and have maintained an attitude that church ≠ building; church = people. But, now, on the verge of owning property with a couple of big buildings, we’re seeing how ministry can be amplified, how compassion can be more fully expressed, and how hospitality can be extended in ways we could have never imagined. Isn’t this a good thing? Is it worth the debt and all the interest we’ll pay?
What do you think?
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- Prayer for Holy Rebels … [Do I Really Want to Do This?]
- Business Enterprise and Ministry
- Swiping the Offering at Church
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I believe — you Build it !!! they will come .Teaching a Body to tithe and “Expecting” them to tithe and Give is part of the Word and w/o being taught this ,the People are being robbed.It is a privilege to give in the offering plate as it is passed among the people.
As a CMA member since Birth Giving & Missons is A huge part of the CMA Church. So Yes if the Bridge has taught to give according to the scriptures God will provide .Robby has Bob Russell Book (I Think I loaned it to him ,read it and see what you can use from the book)The church Home will increase souls,families, fellowship,community outreach No limits!
Wayne, I want to say NO to church buildings…
It is interesting that the saying of Jesus is “as the Father has sent me so send I you”
There is a reason why the emphasis from Genesis 1 onwards is scattering…
God wanted people across the face of the earth that he had created and after the Fall that emphasis continues.
God wanted people scattered –even when they are disobedient; and guess what happens Cain wants to go build a city to be secure and ghettoized.
After the flood in Genesis 10, before Genesis 11 we get the table of the nations. Why does it come before the Genesis 11 rebellion of the tower that reaches to heaven. Most scholars agree it is because the final author of Genesis wants us to understand that “scattering” is not a judgment alone, it also is part of the primeval blessing.
I think church buildings create a ghettoized, non-scattered mentality. We are the Jesus community who Jesus is sending!!!
I think that hospitality in a church building actually stands in the way of people predominantly opening the front door of their home in radical hospitality. If you were to ask your faith community how often they have non-Christians into their homes who are not relatives I think overall the percentage is very low. But God the Father in sending his Son is actually inviting us into the family of the Father, the Son and the Spirit. He sent His Son out to bring us in. And Jesus talks about His going to prepare a place for us – the metaphor has implications for how we should be engaging in hospitality. I actually think we encourage selfish lives through church buildings.
And if we think hospitality is only inviting people into our homes when they are all spick and span – we don’t understand hospitality.
I further think that biblical ministry is amplified when we take the risk of getting out in the community to where the people are. So the issue can be often that Christians to-day don’t want to take the risk – they want to be with people who are like themselves.
Sorry Wayne but I really am tired of where the church is at in that most Christians do not have non-Christian friends. Do we really understand who we follow, who WE ARE TO BECOME LIKE? His name is Jesus.
And compassion fully expressed – go visit Communality in Lexington…they live radical lives of compassion from the front door of their homes…. They don’t need a building that is theirs to be compassionate it is in their DNA.
We need to learn to talk to the people we see every day…the girl at the check out counter, the person at the gas station and really build up relationships and engage people but we don’t think of our whole lives as missional – we think of events as missional. Events in a building – but that is sloppy thinking in terms of the way God wants us to live. God sends us to hairdressers, to grocery stores, to gas stations to wherever to be the hands and feet of Jesus…there is no time when we are out in the world when God doesn’t want us to develop a relationship. But we tend to think of these people as serving us rather than us serving them, becoming friends with them, inviting them home and eventually loving them and sharing the knowledge of Jesus with them. It doesn’t mean we will share the Gospel the first or even the tenth time we meet people. But we are to be scattered among them…
Develop a friendship, invite people to your home…my goodness we are supposed to know how to create community with the non believer so we can show them what Jesus is like.
Jesus spent a lot of time with the people outside of his 12. He just didn’t hang out with the 12.
We need the community to go out from not to stay ghettoized in.
To be honest…I am so tired of the Christian building culture…and I think God is too…look at what church buildings are used for in Constantinople – they are mosques today. Look at church buildings in England – they are apartments.
I think having church buildings leads to ghetto mentality and a waste of God’s money. We can tithe for the work of the Kingdom not a building…
Am I impassioned about this…yes.
Most people I know tend to think a church is a worshipping community…to God I think that is only one third of the answer and I think it is an abomination. Israel was told Yahweh did not want their worship and sacrifice because they were not being who they were supposed to be.
We are to be a holy, missional worshipping community. Being a worshipping community without the first two – that is being holy and missional I think is pretty much an abomination to God…he wants a sent community.
We want comfortable easy lives rather than engaged messy lives that take time to be present for the world that doesn’t know who Jesus is – that is why we build church buildings – shame on us….
I am tired of it.
And pastors and seminary professors need to get out to visibly show their congregation and students what it means to be present in the world – in the local Republican or Democratic Party meetings, in the local choral society, in a sports team, in helping refugees, in a gardening club, in an acting society, in a sports group, or in a restaurant or wherever the world who doesn’t know Jesus is… How many Christians call a waiter and waitress by their name or ask them their name. If you believe in the sovereignty of God – well God sent that waitress to your table.
We have moved to a concept of discipleship and training that is transference of more information without the action…and it doesn’t lead to people who act. It leads to people who have a lot of information but don’t know how to act it out.
So Wayne there is my two cents for to-day…
If I could get our church to sell our building I would do so tomorrow. Or build a very different building. A church in Melbourne built a student dorm for International Students. They have the worship services in a big hall in the basement but they are impacting the world. Let’s think outside the box if we are going to build buildings – if you can build low cost apartments put your worship place there, or whatever but not another church building that is solely for the church. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.
I could add a lot more but I think you might get what I am trying to say.
Mary, thanks so much for your thoughtful comments. I am challenged by what you’ve written … I can’t get away from the thought that the biblical story is one of the “scattering” of God’s people. What a powerful – and often missed thing – about being God’s covenant people!
I’m conflicted about the purchase of this building. It’s not a “traditional” church building and we’ve talked about the various ways it can be used to launch ministry outward, but I don’t want to be naive – we are about to “own” something and that can easily lead to despicable human actions. Pray that we’ll not buy into the “ownership” myth, or become too imbalanced in our “gathering” – may we always be stewards of God’s manifold grace and may we scatter according to God’s good pleasure …
Think of it this way, at 5.5% interest, that is $4,219,178.10 per day that was faithfully tithed for the furtherance of the kingdom that is going where? if you take the average giving of $1,348(mean) for 2006, it would take 1,139,309 church members to cover just the yearly interest of $1,535,780,831… roughly 10% of the 118 million people that claimed to attend church in 2006… Odd, that it takes 10% of the church going population to pay for just interest… While it is true that you can make 50% of statistics to say anything you want, but just food for thought. While debt is not explicitly prohibited, in the bible, we can look to at “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1), and in Luke 6:27-26, we are told that we should not expect to receive if we lend… dose this constitute a double standard if we are on the receiving end of this equation? Do I have a car loan? Yes. Am I in debt? Yes. Do I tithe as faithfully as I should? No. Am I the best person to post this rebuttal, no I don’t think so, but I do feel that we should consider the whole picture. All of this is mute if your leadership team has prayed faithfully and God is leading the church into this venture.Yes I am hiding behind the facelessness of the internet, taking shots across the bow… I love the Bridge and it’s mission, I do not envy the leadership team’s challenges in the days ahead… Thank you for your support, guidance, and diligence! God will be glorified in all situations!
Thx for the “food for thought” of those stats … I appreciate you taking time to comment. Look forward to hearing from you again! Pray for The Bridge leaders and community, please.
I think if it’s been prayed over and you are fully convinced it’s the Lord’s leading to purchase the building then HE will provide the funds.
I don’t like being in debt personally-the borrower is slave to the lender. I don’t like that the church is beholden to the world through debt but I believe as I first stated if you are convinced it’s from the Lord-go for it!!
I belong to a church in FL that has a care center along with a large church building on their property. THey very much reach out to the community. THey are presently trying to buy a motel in town that’s up for sale to renovate and house families that have become homeless until they can get back on their feet. They have a care center for women that are pregnant. They have a care center for men trying to get off drugs and alcohol. THey’ve even had a health clinic for people without insurance. We CAN have a building and still serve our communities and bring in those that really need to be ministered to.