YOUR MISSION'S BUDGET

What is a reasonable financial expectation of giving for each church? 
Although there is no "written" standard many churches have adopted the concept of tithing their general income to world missions.  Thus a church with a gross annual income of $1,000,000 should strive to give at least $100,000 to missions.

Every Pastor would love to have their entire congregation tithe.  It is God's plan of provision for the needs of the local church.  Almost every pastor teaches that those who tithe will be blessed.

Malachi 3:10 says, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test me now in this," says the Lord of Hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows."

Simultaneously, churches that tithe to world missions find that they are blessed and that God pours out an abundance upon them.

Tithing = Blessings!

How can pastors expect their congregation to tithe and be blessed if the church itself is not committed to tithing?

Mission Giving Churches = Blessed Churches

Faith Assembly, Orlando, Florida
Pastor Carl Stephens believes in tithing.  He expects every employee and church volunteer to be a regular tither.  He regularly teaches on tithing and how God blesses the tither.  He extends tithing to the church as well and makes sure that every year the church has given its tithe to world missions.  Each December he checks the records for the year.  If church income is outpacing church missions giving, he will pick up new missionaries to support or give additional funds to special projects.

Faith Orlando has steadily grown over the past decades to a Sunday attendance in excess of 5000 and recently moved into a new $40 million complex; two thirds of which was paid for with cash.  Pastor Stephens believes that there is a direct correlation between giving to world missions and God's blessing upon the church.

First Assembly, Fort Myers
Churches across America were severely impacted by the economic downturn of the early 2000's.  Florida was particularly hard hit.

Pastor Dan Betzer shepherds a congregation of over 8,000 and is considered one of the greatest mission minded pastors in the Assemblies of God.  He relates how his finance pastor came to him at the beginning of the downturn with a very negative report on the church's finances.  Pastor Betzer responded, "I guess there is only one thing we can do.  We will have to add another dozen missionaries to our monthly giving."  Crazy?  Perhaps.  But Pastor Betzer goes on to say that from that moment on church finances grew and they had greater monthly church income during the downturn than they had before.

East Pointe Assembly, Tamp Florida
Pastor Don White had not senior pastor experience when he was elected pastor at East Pointe.  He contacted his mentor and former District Superintendent Gordon Matheny to ask advice on how to successfully pastor.  Gordon Matheny had built a Bethel Temple in Tampa, Florida; one of the districts great churches of its time.  Pastor Matheny gave Don a surprising answer.  "I don't really know any single great way to grow a church, other than to make world missions the churches priority.  Give to what is important to God, and he will bless you and your work."

The million dollar question is, "How?"
Many churches, like most individuals, are living paycheck to paycheck.  There is not an obvious way to tithe.  Just as this requires faith of the individual, it will require faith of the Senior Pastor and church leadership. 

Often pastors who have committed to tithe the churches income to world missions have adopted a very powerful approach: they raise the tithe equivalent in monthly faith promises from their congregations. 
For most churches this is accomplished through a missions convention. Some smaller churches pursue a more direct approach where they encourage members of their congregation to personally promise to support individual missionaries and ministries. 

RESOURCES

Missions Strategy

The Missionary's Budget

Keys to Helping the Itinerant Missionary

Your Missions Budget

Growing a Missions Budget $1 at a Time

Keys to Successful Missions Convention

Bridging the Generation Gap in Missions

AGWM Financial Report