Introduction
LifePoint Church
is a new work started in the Cincinnati Metro Area in Northern Kentucky. The church is scheduled to launch in fall
2013 with core groups and small groups meetings beginning fall 2012. The following budget is based on launch
estimates for the first year of operation for the church. The budget is based on a zero-based budget where
finances are based on resource needs and estimated cost to meet these needs for
each program area.
The budget can be found in Appendix 1.
Sources of
Contributions
The budget for the
first fiscal year is $136,750. To meet
the demands for this budget a two-pronged approach will be used for the
church. First, a capital giving campaign
(budget line item 102) will be undertaken to supply half of the budget, or
$65,000. Secondly, during the initial
core group development phase, the small group members will be encouraged to
tithe to the new work leading up to launch (budget line item 101). It is expected that at the time of launch,
all of the budget for the first year will have been collected and further
giving will support the budget of the second fiscal year. The income projection needed from percentage
giving at LifePoint in 2012 is $71,750 per year. Sources of income are designated from 100 to
199 in the accounting systems.
Average Weekly Offering
Required
As described
above, the budget for the first fiscal year is $136,750 with $65,000 coming
from the church capital giving campaign.
The remaining budget amount is $71,750.
This corresponds to a monthly budget of $5,797.17 or a weekly budget of
$1,380. However, the goal is that the
percentage giving will fully fund the budget by year two and there will not be
a need for denominational or associational support. Therefore, to fully fund the amount of
$136,750 a monthly income of $11,396 or $2,630 per week must be received.
Average Number of
Giving Units
A giving unit is
defined by demographics as a family consisting of three people with an average
family income of $69,340 who practices percentage giving in the amount of 10%
of their gross income. To fund the budget amount at $71,500 annually,
10.3 giving units are needed. For the
budget to be fully funded at $136,750 annually, there must be 19.7 giving units. It is expected that through small group
multiplication that over a hundred will be in attendance at launch, which is
equivalent to twenty-five giving units. Also,
it is anticipated that through discipleship, small group ministries and
financial education that at least 10 typical families will become giving units
before launch. Based on the average
weekly need of $2,630 per week, twenty giving units must be established by the
end of the first fiscal year.
Categories of Expenses
Expenses for LifePoint are broken
down into the following four categories:
1.
North American and World Missions (200 – 299)
2.
Ministry Expenses (300-299)
3.
Pastoral (400 – 499)
4.
Church Staff (500-599)
North American and
World Missions (200 - 299)
This category
serves as the missional, church planting, multiplication and savings categories
for the church. This category functions
to set back 16% of all yearly income ($10,400) for the purpose of missional
work. During the first year, 3% of all
giving will be designated for mission work and trips to support church members
and staff in fulfilling the great commission reaching out for Christ. This value equates to $1,950. An additional 3% will be designated to help
new works begin that may arise from within the church. This amount is $1,950. Church planting is an
integral strategy of the church and percentage giving will be designated to
assist new works. Multiplication will
not be used during the first two years of activity because the original plan
calls for multiplication to occur every ten years. For first two years, the church will use
funds to establish itself and for growth.
Finally, savings stores 10% of the tithes for future purchases and can
be tapped as a pool of resources for various ministry needs and unforeseen
expenses.
Ministry Expenses (300
– 399)
Ministry expenses
are categorized as all the functional ministries of the church. They are further broking down into eight sub
categories, which will be described in further detail below. The operating cost of this category is
$94,500 or 69% of the budget.
1.
Administration is the department, which consists
of church supplies and administrative support such as finance, secretarial,
custodial, printing, and office staff (300 - 309). The budget for this department is $2,400 or
1.8% of the budget.
2.
Connections is the department charged with
connecting people form the various entry points of the church to small groups
(310 - 319). The budget for this
department is $3,600 or 2.6%
3.
Outreach is the department tasked with
coordinating and maintaining all of the small group outreach efforts of the
church (320 - 329). The budget for this
department is $1,800 or 1.4%
4.
Small Groups is the heart of the church. This department consists of materials and
resources necessary to promote and sustain functionality within the small group
network (330 - 339). The budget for this
department is $6,240 or 4.6%
5.
Training and Technology is the department that
maintains records of trainings and the technology of the church including any
websites and licenses (340 - 349). The
budget for this department is $2,450 or 1.8%.
6.
Worship is the department charged with leading
the praise, drama and creative ministries of the church (350 - 359). The budget for this department is $6,000 or
4.4%. Note: This budget does not include money for
upgrades of instruments and systems.
That is a capital item that does not fall within this budget.
7.
Engineering is concerned with the physical
arrangement and planning for the church.
This includes rent, utilities, insurance and liabilities (360 –
369). The budget for this department is
$69,000 or 50.5%.
8.
Youth is the department concerned with the birth
through teens ministries of the church (370 – 379). The budget for this department is $6,000 or
4.4%.
While these
departments represent the church ministries, these values do not include the
individual contributions that are made by the participants every day. Their contributions to the budget cannot be
calculated but help tremendously in the day-to-day operations of the church. The volunteers at the church are our greatest
asset whose worth cannot be defined by a line item or budget.
Pastoral (400 – 499)
The pastors salary
will be an increasing amount to leading up to a full time salary in year three
of the budget. It is expected that the
church will be sustainable with continued growth and maturity both spiritually
and physically before the pastor will take a full time position. Other pastoral staff will be added at later
times to include full-time executive pastor and a pastor for each of the
ministry areas described above. The pastor’s
salary for this budget consists of $3,000 to be taken as salary and $24,000 to
be taken as a housing allowance. The
pastor will also given a cellphone and travel allowance in the amount of $1,800. Altogether, the pastor’s budget will be
$28,800 or 21.1%.
Staff (500 – 599)
The church will
employ staff full time beginning year three.
During this budget cycle there will be no paid staff.
Conclusion
The budget
described above is an operational budget for the first year of a church
plant. The capital budget for launch and
necessary launch and infrastructure items must be procured in a separate budget
for that purpose. It is not included in
this budget. The funding for the capital
budget will come from denominational, associational and church support. The budget here is achievable with church
growth, mentoring and discipleship.
However, LifePoint is God’s church and out budget and needs comes from
his provision. While these plans are
necessary, our dependence and sustainment rests upon Him. This introductory budget, while not
all-inclusive contains elements that may not be used and surely does not cover
many items that can never be foreseen. The greatest budget item in ministry is
the Small Groups category. Since, small
groups is the ministry focus of the church, it is appropriate that the largest
slice goes toward the mission and vision of the church. It is the hope of LifePoint, that we can lead
people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. We believe that our ministries and programs
that are budgeted here accomplish this task as we seek to serve Christ and
fulfill his will in our community, country and world.
Bibliography
5, 10, 15 Minute
Drive Time Ring Study. Demographic and
Income Profile for Alexandria, KY, 41001.
www.esri.com/ba.
Accessed 4/3/2011.
Welch, Robert H. Church Administration. Nashville, TN:
Broadman and Holman Publishers. 2005.
Appendix I
|
LifePoint Budget
|
Amount
|
|
Income Projection (Last year)
|
|
|
101 Tithes and Offerings (Contribution Income)
|
$71,750.00
|
|
102 Captial Giving Campaign
|
$65,000.00
|
|
North America and World Missions
|
|
|
201 Missions
|
$1,950.00
|
|
202 Church Planting
|
$1,950.00
|
|
203 Multiplication
|
$0.00
|
|
204 Savings
|
$6,500.00
|
|
Ministry Expenses
|
|
|
Administration (300-309)
|
|
|
300 Church Supplies (Direct Mail, Newspaper, Etc.)
|
$1,800.00
|
|
301 Advertising (Direct Mail, Newspaper, Etc.)
|
$600.00
|
|
310 Training
|
$0.00
|
|
Connections (310-319)
|
|
|
311 Hospitality/Fellowship Meals
|
$1,200.00
|
|
312 Community Events (Dinners, Drama, etc.)
|
$1,200.00
|
|
313 Social Events (Singles Night, Couples Night, etc.)
|
$1,200.00
|
|
320 Training
|
$0.00
|
|
Outreach (320-329)
|
|
|
321 Contact Cards (Printing and Postage)
|
$900.00
|
|
322 Outreach Tracking
|
$60.00
|
|
323 Bibles
|
$900.00
|
|
330 Training
|
$0.00
|
|
Small Groups (330-339)
|
|
|
331 Bible Study Materials
|
$480.00
|
|
333 Small Group Materials
|
$480.00
|
|
334 Small Group Supplies
|
$480.00
|
|
335 Small Group Outreach
|
$1,800.00
|
|
340 Training
|
$3,000.00
|
|
Training and Technology (340-349)
|
|
|
341 Adult Training Materials
|
$500.00
|
|
342 Internet/Web page
|
$500.00
|
|
343 Office/Computer Equipment Lease
|
$250.00
|
|
344 Computer Software
|
$0.00
|
|
345 Computer Upgrades
|
$0.00
|
|
346 Cell / Landline Telephone
|
$1,200.00
|
|
347 Training
|
$0.00
|
|
LifePoint Budget
|
Amount
|
|
Worship (350-359)
|
|
|
351 Drama
|
$1,800.00
|
|
352 Praise Band
|
$1,800.00
|
|
353 Creative Ministry
|
$1,800.00
|
|
360 Training
|
$600.00
|
|
Engineering (360-369)
|
|
|
361Meeting Place Rental
|
$48,000.00
|
|
362 Utilities
|
$19,200.00
|
|
363 Insurances: Liability
|
$1,800.00
|
|
364 Legal Fees
|
$0.00
|
|
365 Contingency
|
$0.00
|
|
370 Training
|
$0.00
|
|
Youth (370-379)
|
|
|
371 Teens Training Materials
|
$2,000.00
|
|
372 Children’s Youth II (Books, Crafts, etc.) Materials
|
$2,000.00
|
|
373 Children’s Youth I (Books, Crafts, etc.) Materials
|
$2,000.00
|
|
380 Training
|
$0.00
|
|
Church Staff
|
|
|
Pastoral (400-499)
|
|
|
401 Pastor Salary
|
$3,000.00
|
|
402 Pastor Housing & Utilities
|
$24,000.00
|
|
403 Pastor Benefits (Health)
|
$0.00
|
|
404 Pastor Benefits (Annuity)
|
$0.00
|
|
405 Pastor Travel
|
$1,800.00
|
|
|
|
|
Staff Positions (500-599)
|
|
|
501 Staff Position
|
$0.00
|
|
502 Payroll/Workmen’s Comp/Assistant
|
$0.00
|
|
Total Projected Expenses
|
$136,750.00
|
|
Average Weekly Offering Needed
|
$2,629.81
|
|
Amount Remaining
|
$0.00
|
