April 17, 2025
Pastors and ministry leaders pay close attention to several numbers in their ministry leadership context. Two of those — worship attendance and financial giving — can serve as early warning signs of the health of a church or Christian ministry.
What should pastors, elders, and ministry leaders do when giving is soft in the church or the ministry organization they are called to lead? Here are six considerations.
1. Evaluate the ministry: Is your church or organization being faithful to their God-given mission or ministry assignment? Is it possible that God is withholding financial resources because the organization has abandoned His vision for a lesser mission? The church, along with most Christian ministries, has one mission — the Great Commission — and according to the father of modern missions, Hudson Taylor, “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply. He is too wise a God to frustrate His purposes for lack of funds, and He can just as easily supply them ahead of time as afterwards, and He much prefers doing so.” When giving is soft, leaders must make certain they are doing God’s work in God’s way.
2. Preach about giving: A friend who worked with church planters in the western part of the United States was asked by a young church planter when he should preach about tithing. My friend asked if he preached about it last Sunday. The young church planter said “no.” My friend asked if he planned to preach about it this upcoming Sunday. Again, the pastor said “no.” My friend said, “Then you are already behind.” His point was that giving is part of Christian discipleship and leaders must train believers in this important spiritual discipline.
3. Cast vision: Christians give financially in obedience to God to fund Great Commission vision. When a credible leader begins talking about how dollars will be used to change lives, then God’s people start thinking about how they can contribute. One church in our state has invested a lot of money to reach people who will not be able to give back financially to their church. The church members can see the impact of their giving and are “all in.”
4. Audit the finances: Are the financial resources of your church or ministry handled in a way that demonstrates integrity and transparency? Embezzlement is not common in churches and Christian ministries, but it can happen. When it does, it is devastating for the organizations. Pilfering from the finances normally occurs when one person has unchecked access to the funds, and that person faces a tough financial spot in their personal life and begins to “borrow” from the resources. It is possible that God can use tightened giving to cause leaders to look more carefully at how the resources are being used.
5. Communicate the need: The adage often used is: “People don’t give to need, they give to vision.” That statement is both true and untrue. Christians do give to vision. Just read the Bible and you will see the ready response of God’s people to fund God-given vision. But we also give to needs when they are legitimate. If a pastor in an otherwise strong and thriving church stands before the congregation and says something on the order of, “We are behind budget this month because of unexpected expenses. It will be a challenge to pay our bills. If you are able, would you give more than normal to help.” Many people will help with that special need.
6. Pray and ask God: God supplies all our needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. In one of my pastorates where money was always a challenge because the church was growing and the needs were increasing, it was my wife, Connie, who would often remind me that God cared more about that ministry than I did and that He was able and willing to supply its needs. We prayed frequently and God supplied every time.
At the end of the day, ministry leaders must address the issue of church and ministry finances and then trust the Lord to supply as He deems best. The pastor or ministry leader must then stay focused on the mission and trust the Lord for the results.
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Todd Gray is executive director-treasurer of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. This commentary first appeared in Kentucky Today.
