LindaS wrote:
AnnaB wrote:
I think that if they have not met their budget, then they may need to rethink any raises, also if the church leadership does not allow the entire church to have copies of the entire budget or keeps the finances secret it may be time to either leave or a change of leadership.
We were in a church that was not honest about the finances and the leadership stated that they did not think the whole church needed to know all about the finances, and that is wrong imo and encourages poor stewardship. Unfortunately we were there a lot longer than we should have been, but God moved us out of that church, into a very good church, that is very nice,
They have everything open about the budgets, how much comes in each week, whats needed, whats been promised and whats being paid and where, also any major things that need to be done are brought to a vote, even things that are very minor imo.
Anyway, I'd proceed with caution in a situation like you mentioned because of what we have experienced.
DH is not going to want to leave. He just does not see that what they are doing is wrong. Kinda makes me mad. I know that they will have to answer to God. But, do not be asking for more money when there is non out there to give.
What they do is they get say 100 new members in a year, they plan their budget with so called extra money from their tithing, if they tithe at all.
That should not be done , that money to me , should be put in a separate account and use as needed.
I am ready to leave, but DH and DD are not, DD I donot think it would matter to her at all. She does not have but maybe one friend out of the whole lot.
If things keep up people will leave, and they will be right back where they were three years ago, complaining about not having money, A 4 mill budget is way too much. maybe two thousand members including kids and 75 percent of that is children and youth, 25 is adults.
If anyone says anything to them, they basically kick them out of the church. We have had friends leave because they have comfronted them and they told them to leave.
So to me donot ask for more money if you do not expect people to say no. You have to have at least half of the church saying no or they do not stop what they are doing.
What bothers me is Sunday School teachers and Deacons walk around like nothing is wrong.
I already see people that used to sit by us in church are gone, there were way less people all summer,
Sunday we start a new church year and will see how many people are there.
It is a sad sad story.
The way to deal with this if your dh is not wanting to leave for whatever reason, is to first pray that God will straighten things out from the top on down, because there are people who do not tithe which can be stressful when a church is trying to meet the expense of just keeping the lights on.
Second pray that God will either remove those who are in leadership who are not doing as they should be doing or that God will convict them of what they are doing and that they will change.
Then last pray that if things are not going to change that God will work things out so that your family will be in a different church. *note on this sometimes based on our limited experience this is NOT a very pleasant experience.
We were asked to leave the church we were attending and NOT for any biblical reason, plus it gave the devil ammunition to use against Christians, it was a very not pleasant experience and I would not want to ever go through that again.
But on the plus side because of that experience we are now in a very good church, and we are now living in a very good community, and my dh has applied to attend the college here, he would not start until the spring semester and that is if we are able to come up with the funds to do that.
Also as a result of our moving, our younger children have been extremely blessed by God to participate in many activities they would not otherwise have been able to, such as a missions trip, many services at the college here, (its a bible college) and they have been able to participate in several sports activities that they otherwise would not have been able to, they have been blessed to be in a very good choir that is currently being taught by a man who is very well established in his field, (he is the main music director from the college, if I'm not mistake he is over that whole department) they are also benifiting from music lessons from some of our neighbors that they otherwise would not be, and they have made very good friends their age, who have a desire for God.
All of the kids who are close neighbors to us love the Bible, church, and God, the boys like to have Bible studies, and have been known to pratice preaching to each other, and their younger siblings. *there are a lot of kids in this neighborhood and they are all homeschooled or will be when they are old enough to be in school, or have graduated from homeschools.
*the church we were attending had been bad mouthing this particular college and people from there, based on their own opinions, or maybe someone they met they didnt see eye to eye with I really don't know, but I know for a positive fact that this was being done, because some things were stated to me, that were not very nice.
Anyway, I think I've probably said more than enough, the best thing you can do in my opinion is to pray, and follow your husbands lead, if he is not seeing whats going on, pray specifically that God will open his eyes, and that God will place the desire in his heart to move, or that the leadership will either be replaced or will be convicted and change, also pray that the members will tithe, because even if the leadership is doing wrong God will honour the obedience of his people, and it is biblical to tithe.
Also do your very best to set a very good example for those who are there now, and for any visitors, always be friendly and always remember to refrain from any appearance of evil, because by your actions you may be the very one to bring conviction to the hearts of those who may be doing wrong.
Remember prayer is your most powerful weapon to use for growth, renewal, strength, and for all that is important.