Best Financial Tools for Church Planters: Online Bookkeeping

In my continuing series on Best Financial Tools for Church Planters I am focusing on online book keeping. There are a lot of different options for church's to track finances and I am far from an expert in that regard. I do, however, have experience at managing finances for a church plant and speaking to other church planters who have had similar responsibilities.

The most popular option for bookkeeping has been Quickbooks Online. Below are some reasons this is a good choice for a church planter.

• You can access your books from any computer at any time. 
• There is more accountability because numerous users can access the books
• You will no longer need to run files back and forth to your bookkeeper or accountant
• You can take advantage of all the powerful features Quickbooks offers like syncing with your bank, managing payroll, printing checks, etc...
• You can synchronize your account categories with expense tracking programs like Expensify, which was featured in the last post. 

Below is a recent video review that reviews Quickbooks Online in more detail.

New EFCA Mission and Vision

Over the last few days the Evangelical Free Church of America unveiled a new mission and vision statement. The mission statement was minimally tweaked (transformational for healthy) and the vision is something new.

THE MISSION STATEMENT

The EFCA exists to glorify God by multiplying transformational churches among all people. 

THE VISION STATEMENT

We are praying that God would grant us one million disciplemakers impacting one hundred million people with the gospel along with one hundred million people with the gospel along with one hundred Acts 19 locations globally where the gospel is transforming whole cities and regions rather than simply a neighborhood. 

What little I've heard about the Acts 19 strategy involves an effort of ReachGlobal (the global missions arm) to saturate key global cities with a focused infusion of people and resources for the sake of generating city-wide movements that trigger kingdom expansion in entire regions. It will be interesting to see where this all leads in the days and years to come.

Beasts, Yet Cowards

Thanks to Joe Thorn for this great summary post of last weeks Acts 29 Lead Pastor's retreat. I was equally moved and convicted by these words Matt shared.

During the final message of the retreat, Matt Chandler made a statement regarding our evangelistic and gospel presence in the community as pastors. These words were burned into my heart as soon as he spoke them, and they have been echoing in me ever since. Matt said, "A beast in the pulpit, but a coward in the neighborhood is not a win!"

It is generally easier to be courageous on Sunday mornings with the people of God, yet cowardly among the lost during the rest of the week. Gospel boldness is almost effortless among those who already affirm it, but it can be far more difficult when we must stand before others and herald the good news they find foolish. "A beast in the pulpit, but a coward in the neighborhood is not a win." Truth. Let me also say it this way, "Woe is me if I am bold among the people of God, but timid among the lost."

(HT: Joe Thorn)

Don't Waste Your Holiday

Wow, this is good. How not to waste the 4th of July....

So don’t cheapen this Independence Day by simply making it about burgers and beer. Dare to discuss the realities of sacrifice, self-denial and honor. Plant seeds about the cost of freedom in the hearts of your sons and daughters. Consider how you might use the opportunity to help your children think about the grace we enjoy as a country. Pray for those who do not enjoy the gift of freedom. How can this day serve as a conversation starter with those you celebrate with? Help your family to dream a little bigger and expect a little more.

(HT: Josh Patterson) 

Healthy Churches Reproduce

Some good food for thought from the book Viral Churches,

The healthiest churches are those who reproduce, according to a national research project called FACT2008. Among Protestant congregations surveyed, those whose leadership spent the most time recruiting and training other leaders were the healthiest. Similar results came from leaders who promoted a clear vision and emphasized evangelism. The massive survey factored in results from more than 2,000 randomly selected Protestant congregations.

From the book Viral Churches by Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird.

Acts 29 Conference

I won't be blogging next week due to the Act 29 lead pastor conference. Please check back the following week for the continuation in my series on Financial Tools for Church Planters as well as other posts relevant to church planting. Have a blessed week!

Best Financial Tools for Church Planters: Digital Tracking of Expenses

This is part two in my ongoing series of Best Financial Tools for Church Planters. 

To start, I want to clarify that I have not researched all the options out there for tracking spending electronically, but I am going to feature one product that has been revolutionary in our church planting experience. The system we've used at The Vine has not only blessed us in the early years of church planting, but would have been a helpful shift in the way expense tracking was handled in my previous church experiences as well.

 The product I am referring to is Expensify. For more detailed information on the product, go check out the website here. For a quick look at how we use the product, which is free for the first two users and $5 a month for each additional, read on.

To set-up your account, you have the ability to either customize spending categories in the program or to import those categories from your book keeping software like Quickbooks. Once the accounts are set-up, the users download the app onto their smartphones (droid or iPhone) and are ready to go. From that point forward when any purchase is made either on a church credit card (or personal card for reimbursement) the expense is entered into the app and a photo is taken of the receipt, which is then attached to the spending record. This means no more fat wallets or lost receipts, because they are all stored digitally in your Expensify account! In the featured image you can see what the expense form looks like on the iphone.

The last step for the employee is to file their monthly spending report by going online and pulling all the expenses into a report which is submitted by the click of a button to the book keeper for processing. And there you have it, an essential expense tracking tool for church planters!

What Does Global Church Planting Look Like?

Here's an example of what the Lord is doing in Ethiopia.


(HT: Vitamin Z)

You Need a Pastor and Church, Not Just a Podcast

A good word here from Geoff Ashley at The Village Church blog. So much is sacrificed when one neglects the "beauty and necessity of the local church." It's not easy, it takes work, but you can't be healthy without it. From Geoff...

This tendency, unfortunately, is not limited to the early church but now plagues American Christianity. Each week, scores of believers forsake the assembly of the saints and, instead, tune in to a televised, streamed or podcast sermon. While radio offered the first taste of listening to a sermon within the comforts of the home, modern technology affords the opportunity to listen on the road, in the gym or on a mountain. These benefits are incredible blessings that should be used for our edification, but they are no substitute for the local church.

 (HT: Village Church)

25 Things She Learned from Church Planting

Christine Hoover, church planters wife and author of the book The Church Planting Wife featured the top 25 things she learned from church planting on the Gospel Coalition Blog. Below are a few of the ones I resonated with, for the rest go here.

• Hospitality is essential.
• Church planting teaches two things more than any other: that God is faithful and that we must learn how to depend on that faithful God.
• The Word is living and active. When we let God speak through his Word, he changes people. Every church plant must gather earnestly around the Word and the Christ to which it points.
• Most people, especially outsiders, don't know what it means when you say you're church planting. And they think you're a little crazy.
• The calling to church plant must be sure since you'll need to return to it again and again in the face of discouragement, defeat, and uncertainty.
• The gospel is everything: it sustains when discouragement comes (and it always does), it keeps a church planter and his wife in their city (because there will be times when they want to give up and leave), it compels its ministers forward (and sometimes it's the only motivation left), and it changes lives (which makes it all worth it).
• Slow and steady growth is healthy growth. Explosive growth can be fragile growth.
• Church plants should never be started by someone disgruntled or unable to sit under authority at his former church. Church plants cannot be rebuttals to another pastor's methods and ideas.
• They must be built on a clear call from God.
• There is unimaginable joy and reward in sacrifice and service.

The Vast and Endless Sea

I was moved reading this quote from Antoine de Saint-Expury this week:

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.

An important reminder as we scramble to find success in good methods and leadership ability. The most helpful means for mission advance is to help people see a clear vision and yearn for that which is greater than themselves. What is our "vast and endless sea"? It is found in the glories of Christ, the invisible God, the firstborn of creation, the one through whom all things were created, who made peace by the blood of the cross. (Col 1:15-20)

Best Financial Tools For Church Planters: A Financial Oversight Strategy

This is part 1 in my series on the Best Financial Tools for Church Planters. This week we'll explore the need for a financial oversight team (i.e. people who help you in the oversight of finances)

Every church planter needs to have either a sponsoring church, denomination, or an external financial oversight team (or a combination of the three) that is helping them in the management of church finances. One of my first priorities within my district of the EFCA will be to clearly delineate the methods by which finances can and should be managed in various church planting contexts. Here are a few ways in which external financial teams can be established:

Sponsoring Church: At The Vine, we have made the commitment to provide administrative and book keeping services for all of our direct church plants for a minimum of two years. This is proving to be such a blessing as we prepare to launch Redeemer City Church within the next year. Church planters can be quickly overwhelmed by the minutia of church management. By having an existing church provide the financial oversight, a planter is free to focus on the mission of establishing a core and building relationships with those who need Christ in their city.

Denomination: I am still learning how this process has been practiced in our own district, but am aware that church planters in a denomination are often invited to manage their funds through their regional office. The oversight for this model includes office staff and those over church planting within the district. Some of the financial tools available from denominations include seed money for initial equipment needs, zero-interest loans, accounting services, and employee benefits.

External Financial Team: Most church plants do not have the established trust or necessary skills within their core team to manage finances internally. This is why, when we planted The Vine, we established an external financial accountability team made up of former church treasurers at Parkview Church, the church I transitioned out of when becoming a planter. My only concern with this model is that it's too easy for the responsibilities of management to fall back on the planter. When this occurs there is a lack of accountability for the planter and also a greater risk that the planter will become overwhelmed with the details of money management.

If you know of other models or have questions or comments, please leave them in the comments section below.

Pastor vs. Planter

When we (the planting team) planted The Vine we never really distinguished ourselves between being a planter or a pastor. We were simply pastors who were planting. We were also never a church plant or a church. We were simply a young church being planted. In this post Darryl cautions us regarding this tension both in our role and location as planters.

Many of us can come across like planting is where it's at, or that planting in an urban context is the thing. Planting is important, but we sometimes unwittingly give the impression that pastoring an established church, especially outside of the city, is second-best. That's unfortunate. Both planting and pastoring are important. While cities are important, so are the suburbs and so are the rural places.

 (HT: Dashhouse)

Best Financial Tools for Church Planters (And Pastors)

Every week over the next few months I am going to feature a different "financial tool" that can be a great help to church planters as they lead and establish a new church. Here's a sneak peak at some of the categories I'll be covering. Though these are some of the most helpful areas I could think of, feel free to share your own tools in the comment section or suggest topics I may have forgotten. In the mean time, stay tuned as I work through each of these areas in more detail through upcoming posts.

• A Financial Oversight Strategy
• Digital Tracking of Expenses
• Online Book Keeping 
• Online Giving
• Digital Filing System
• Shared Spreadsheets
• Payroll Services
• A Good Lawyer
• A Good Book Keeper
• A Good Personal Budget System 

Resurrecting the Blog

Over the course of the next month I will be taking on a new role with the Forest Lakes District of the Evangelical Free Church of America as the Director of Church Multiplication. My role as co-lead Pastor at The Vine Church will continue, but I will be shutting down my photography studio in order to accommodate the new role. In line with this change, I will be resurrecting Deo Gloria as a place where I will share information as a resource to church planters and pastors. Though I'll be spending my first few months with the district getting my feet wet, I would expect a somewhat regular stream of information flowing from this blog as I focus more efforts on studying and communicating resources for planters and pastors.

The Hard Work Behind Creativity

This is a very encouraging video for those who long to see their creative vision come to life. Stick with it, never stop learning, growing, creating. I can so relate to this as a photographer.


Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

How Love for God Increases All Other Love

Great C.S. Lewis quote on how love for God increases earthly love.

When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. Insofar as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving towards the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.

(HT: JT)

The Jury System

As I prepare to serve on a jury tomorrow at the Dane County Courthouse, I reflect on the following thought provoking quote by G.K. Chesterton.

"Whenever our civilization wants a library to be catalogued, or a solar system to be discovered, or any other trifle of this kind, it uses its specialists. But when it wishes anything done which is really serious, it collects twelve ordinary men standing around. Jesus did exactly this."

Racism and the Gospel

John Piper's new book Bloodlines deals with racism in light of the Gospel. Here is a fantastic 20 minute documentary giving some background on John's racist childhood and how the Gospel changed him and his view of race forever. I'm excited about the significance of this book and the potential influence it can have in God's church.


Bloodlines Documentary with John Piper from Crossway on Vimeo.

Pop or Soda?

A hilarious look at what people call soft drinks in various parts of the US. (HT: Boing)