This is the first of what I hope to be a series of posts on mistakes I have committed or observed and how to avoid them.
Financial Faux Pas. My first dog was named Faux Pas which means embarrassing mistake. Want to know how long we had that dog? I think it was a m
atter of weeks. Rookies suddenly have an area of responsibility that could prematurely end their career. Depending on the church, this might be a small responsibility or a huge one. Few youth ministers are trained to do accounting, budgeting, and handle fiscal matters. I got hired into a large church straight out of college and had a huge budget to work with (i.e. huge potential to screw things up) with little understanding of how to do it well. A wise rookie in youth ministry will seek advice and guidance on financial matters. If you are lucky, you work for a church that has clear policies in place. Following those will help, but won’t cover every potential landmine. Sadly, most churches I know of don’t have clearly articulated policies about budgets and accounting for them. Here are a few suggestions based on both personal experience and working with a lot of youth pastors over the past 15 years.
Always keep in mind that the budget entrusted to you is other people’s money! Every dollar you spend has been given by members of your congregation who expect it to be used wisely. That can be an intimidating thought, but it should guide you. There is a tendency with church budgets to think that at the end of the year we need to spend the rest of our budget so that we don’t lose it next year. The thinking is that if your budget request is “x” and you spend less than “x” then you will get a budget cut for the following year. In 30 years of full time ministry and many of those with ample budgets, I have never seen that to be an issue. I have always requested what I thought I needed for the year and spent what I actually needed. If I underspent my budget I did not see significant cuts that hindered ministry. So, I’ve always practiced a policy
of no frivolous spending.
Keep good records! Most of us get reimbursed for mileage and various expenses. Keeping receipts and making note of miles is crucial if we are going to turn in accurate reimbursement forms. I’ve met people who don’t do this and because of their lack of simple record keeping end up hurting their personal finances with legitimate ministry expenses. Others end up in trouble with the church treasurer because they don’t remember to keep receipts and note on them what the expense was. If you are not sure what is a legitimate expense that you can be reimbursed for, ask. Don’t be a wuss and drain your personal bank accounts because you did not ask or you failed to keep receipts or records. Your spending must be as transparent as glass in case anyone questions your use of the budget given to you. If your church policies are lacking in this way, be more diligent than required of you. That way if anyone were to accuse you of financial misdeeds you can show them everything you have done. The last thing you want is to be the one the auditors get frustrated over.
Avoid mingling church money with your own. There is a sense in which you can engage in financial triangulation very easily and get into a bad situation. Let’s say a few students give you cash for an event and you then write a check to the church or event for that amount. You are now in a triangle that you should not be. Turn the cash in and keep your finances out of it. Accountants want a clear paper trail on all monies and triangulating makes that a real mess. Some churches are willing to give a church credit card to youth pastors and others are not. I’ve been in both situations. In one job I was told the church had no credit cards, so I needed to just turn in things for reimbursement. So, I got a credit card that I used only for ministry expenses and each month gave the statement and receipts to the treasurer for him to pay the bill. In doing this, I avoided mixing ministry expenses with my personal finances.
When our ministry is meant to be about students, let’s not let the matters of financial responsibility kill our effectiveness or our longevity in the position.
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