Ministers and retirement

Right from the beginning I have to confess that I am not a big fan of retirement. I've retired from two different jobs, and I'm still working at least part time. My wife tells me retirement just doesn't seem to stick with me. Frankly, I would probably go back to full-time work tomorrow if I found the right job. However, at some point, if we live long enough, retirement will come into the picture and it's important that we are financially prepared.

The church I pastored had never paid into a pastor's retirement fund. Their average pastoral tenure before me was 12 months as they had a succession of seminary students serve as pastor. I stayed there 20 years. After being there for several years I asked the finance committee if they would consider enrolling me in our denomination's retirement plan instead of giving me a raise that year. They agreed and made that part of their budget proposal.

This led to the first major conflict in the church since I had been the pastor. Since the church had never done this before a handful didn't want to do it now. At the time, to enroll in that program required the church to pay 16 percent of the pastor's salary into the fund. Some argued that was too big of a raise. There was a lot of "intense fellowship" around the topic, but in the end the church voted to enroll me in our retirement fund. The good news is that we lost no one over this issue, and despite the stated concerns of some, it did not lead to the church suffering any kind of financial stress.

Over the years I have met a number of pastors who have nothing going into retirement. Some have opted out of social security but are not putting anything towards retirement. Like many Americans ministers are not taking seriously the need to financially prepare for retirement.

According to one study, one out of three Americans have less than $5,000 saved for retirement. One out of five have nothing set aside for retirement. One third of Baby Boomers, those now approaching retirement age, have between $0-25,000 in retirement funds. Obviously, preparing for the future takes a back seat to immediate gratification for many people.

No doubt there are many reasons why some pastors are not setting money aside for retirement. Many enter the ministry with a huge amount of student debt that must be paid. Starting and raising a family can make it hard for anyone to put money into a retirement fund that won't be needed for 30-40 years. Many ministers are not well paid, and there just isn't enough money left over to put into retirement. Another problem is that if a church is not part of a denomination there is not a denominational retirement fund into which a church can pay towards the minister's retirement. Of course, even if such a fund is available to a church that doesn't mean they want to pay into it. Smaller churches, especially, may use their size to argue that they cannot afford to pay anything towards the pastor's retirement.

A few years ago I talked with a minister in his 50s who had nothing set aside for retirement. He was serving in a nondenominational church and was understandably concerned about the future. Not too many years before that the retirement fund for the denomination in which I serve had opened up their services to ministers in any denomination. I explained this to the minister and gave him the phone number of our area's representative. Long story short...he is now enrolled in a retirement fund. He won't have as much money in his account as he would have if he had done this when he was 30, but at least he'll have something to draw from in retirement.

If your church is not paying anything towards your eventual retirement, this is a conversation you need to have with your leadership. As in yesterday's post which addressed continuing education, you may need to ask someone to lead this conversation for you. From personal experience I can vouch for the difficulty you may have in asking your church to pay towards your retirement. It was not an easy conversation I had with our church when it was first raised, but it was an important conversation. It was important not only to me but for future ministers in that church who would not have to fight that battle.

Scripture makes it very clear that we have an obligation to provide for our families. That also includes after we retire. One of the things I pointed out to those opposed to the church paying into my retirement was that every one of them had a pension plan where they worked. I then asked why they were opposed to me having the same opportunity to have one. Make sure you can retire with dignity and that your family will be financially secure when you are no longer able to earn a paycheck.

Ministers and retirement

I've occasionally heard ministers say that they do not find retirement mentioned in the Bible so they have no intention of retiring. That's fine, but eventually even the most dedicated minister will find that his or her energy level isn't what it used to be. They will need to slow down which may preclude them from serving in ministry. Perhaps an illness will sideline them. I once knew a man who loved the ministry but a stroke made it impossible for him to continue preaching. There are any number of factors that might force a minister into retirement.

Some might respond that they are going to trust God to take care of them and their families. I believe that He will, but how exactly will He do that? Will He drop groceries off at your front door or make your mortgage and utility payments from His debit card? Or, has He given you the wisdom and ability to plan today for your eventual retirement? I think it is most likely the latter.

Before I go any further into this planning it is important to mention one other thing I saw happen too many times as a judicatory minister. I encountered a number of ministers who had done nothing to prepare financially for retirement and had to keep working. While I appreciated their willingness, this wasn't always the best thing for the churches they were serving. In more than one case, the minister had remained far longer than he had been effective, and the church was too gracious to say anything to him. The church's decline matched that of their pastor. That is a very unfair thing to do to a church.

In today's post the planning I will address is the financial one. I recently talked with a pastor in his mid-50s who had nothing set aside for retirement. He was not a member of a denomination that offered a retirement package, and neither he nor his church had budgeted anything to go into a retirement account. Unfortunately, you can multiply his situation by the thousands.

Dave Ramsey recommends that after paying off your debts and setting up a six-month emergency fund you begin putting 15 percent of your income into a retirement account. Your first reaction to that might be that it's not possible. Well, thousands of people have proven that it is possible. It's only impossible if a person insists on living on more than he or she makes. If you've never read his book The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness I encourage you to do so. It will explain the steps you can take to make this possible.

Many denominations offer a retirement plan that the church can pay into and the minister can add to. The denomination in which I serve has such a plan. Now that I've reached retirement age I only wish I had enrolled in it sooner and paid more into it. Our plan recently opened up to persons outside our denomination which is great news for ministers serving in non-denominational churches.

Scripture is clear that we are responsible to provide for our families. That would certainly include making sure that we can continue to provide for them in retirement. Regardless of your age or income I would encourage you to start today looking into how you can best plan financially for your retirement.

Financial Peace University

I am excited that the church where I am serving as Transitional Pastor will soon offer Financial Peace University (FPU). FPU was developed by Dave Ramsey as a way to teach personal finance from a biblical perspective. This program has been taught in tens of thousands of churches since its inception resulting in thousands of families getting control of their finances for the first time in their lives.

Since arriving at the church last summer I've occasionally mentioned that I would like someone to coordinate this class. Recently, one individual came to me saying she was willing to do so. We are currently accepting registrations and hoping for at least 10 families in our first class.

One reason often given for the poor giving in many churches is that the people are overwhelmed with personal debt. I've been there myself, and it can make it hard to give to the church as one would like. Proverbs 22:7 is certainly true when it says that "the borrower is slave to the lender." FPU teaches a method for getting out of debt and staying out of debt. There is great freedom when one has no debt.

Not only is FPU a way to teach the people in our church about personal finance, it is a way to reach out to the community. We saw how the recession of 2008 destroyed many people financially. Many lost their homes, their cars, their retirements, and their careers. Many have still not recovered and continue to struggle financially. FPU seems to me to be a great way to reach out to those in the community who might have little interest in God but great interest in learning how to better control their finances. As they see how the Bible speaks to their financial questions, they may become open to what it says about other matters including their need for God.

Over the past few years I've followed the principles Ramsey teaches in my own personal finance. It's made a huge difference, and I can only wish I had learned them much earlier in my life. I don't claim that I do everything exactly like he teaches, but I certainly try to do so most of the time.

If you live in the Madison, Indiana area and would like to attend this nine-week program, contact me. If you live elsewhere you will find an FPU class near you. You can go to Ramsey's website to find the closest class to where you live.

I am not being paid anything for promoting FPU. I just think it is a positive way to teach our church members about personal finance and a way to reach out to the non-churched in our communities to help them see how relevant the Bible really is to their daily lives.

The pastor and debt

One of the struggles many pastors face involves their personal finances. It is not uncommon for a pastor to finish his or her seminary education with a student loan debt of $40,000-60,000. Many churches now struggle with paying for their pastor's insurance, and many are requiring the pastor carry a higher deductible. A trip or two to the hospital or the ER can add significant dollars to the minister's debt load. Add to this an auto loan, rent or mortgage payments, and a few credit cards, and soon the pastor finds that there isn't enough money to pay all the bills and provide the basics for the family.

Financial pressure is often the reason that pastors decide to leave the ministry. They simply cannot pay their bills with the salary their churches are paying. Others may not leave the ministry, but they are constantly seeking a church that offers more salary and benefits. This is not a healthy situation for the pastor or the churches.  Too often, the pastor just remains in his or her present church sinking further and further in debt. This is not only a major distraction to effective ministry, it also adds considerable tension in the family.

The best solution is to avoid the debt in the first place. I've written elsewhere about the problem of pastors going into student loan debt which you can read here.  There are ways to get your education without incurring student loan debt. That may involve fewer parties and more hours working. It may require taking longer to earn your degrees by taking only the hours you can afford each semester. But, when you graduate you won't be tied down to enormous sums of student loan debt.

We often base our purchases on wants rather than needs, and with the easy availability of credit it becomes easy to satisfy those wants. Seldom do you see the price of a new car advertised. They are selling the low monthly payments. Once someone gets new car fever it is hard to see the impact those low monthly payments are going to have on your finances for the next six to seven years.

"If you get our store credit card you can save 20 percent on your purchases today." You'll hear this almost any time you buy something from a major retailer. Are they so kind-hearted that they want to save you money on today's purchases? No. They know that people spend more money when they use a credit card than when they spend cash. Not only will the customers who use their credit card spend more, they will pay them a high interest rate for the privilege.

Many reading this post are already in debt and wondering how they will ever pay off their loans. A few years ago I began listening to podcasts from Dave Ramsey. His approach to financial independence isn't appreciated by everyone, but I believe it is based on sound biblical and financial principles. He provides clear, simple steps for getting out of debt, building up an emergency fund, and saving for future needs and retirement. In addition to explaining these principles to those who call into his radio show he describes them in his book The The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness. My one regret is that I did not have this information years ago. I could have avoided a lot of financial mistakes.

More married couples argue about financial matters than any other issue. When families are drowning in debt it creates incredible tension in the marriage. Pastors who are struggling with financial matters are distracted in their ministries. The pastors, their families, and their churches all pay a price when the pastor struggles to meet financial obligations.

If you find yourself in such a situation I encourage you to invest in this book. Just the fact that you begin to have a plan for getting out of debt can relieve some of the pressure you are facing. As you begin to take the "Baby Steps" Ramsey teaches in the book you will find that you are now in control of your finances. In time, you will reach the place where your debt is gone and you are making wiser decisions when it comes to your finances. For the next minute just sit there thinking what that would be like....Now, what are you going to do about it?

Should a Christian be wealthy?

While reading some of the blogs I follow I came across a post entitled "Should Christians Be Wealthy?" I did not read the article. There are two points of view on this question that many hold, and I disagree with both so I moved on to the next post.

One view takes the approach of the Prosperity Gospel that claims if you have enough faith you can create great riches. Pray in certain ways, use the right words, and God is obligated to open up the windows of heaven and pour out riches upon you. I stopped listening to those teaching that when I questioned why they never took that message to Bangladesh or some other third-world country. Surely those folks would like to know the magic formula to become wealthy. It seems those teaching this philosophy preferred to remain in the states where people could afford to buy their books and tapes.

The other view sees wealth as something evil. In this view one can only become wealthy if someone else is becoming poorer. People holding this view believe that wealthy people must be punished with increased taxes in order to spread the wealth. As a bivocational minister I am not wealthy, but I strongly disagree with this view.

People who take risks have the right to benefit when those risks produce results. An entrepreneur who starts a small business that becomes successful should not be punished for that success. The government is ready to increase his or her taxes if the business succeeds, but does nothing if it fails. Besides, what is gained by punishing success? No poor person ever gave me a job so I'm thankful that people have succeeded and businesses have grown so that they needed to employ more people.

There is a third view on Christians and wealth that I find more balanced. I believe the Bible does teach principles that will lead to a Christian (and non-Christian for that matter) to enjoy financial success. One of the best resources I've found that addresses this is Rabbi Daniel Lapin's book Thou Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making Money. Rabbi Lapin explains that one of the reasons the Jewish people have often been so successful is that they follow Biblical principles that promote wealth. Referring to the Old Testament and the Torah, he presents ten fundamental "commandments" that relate to both money and business.

One of these commandments is that people should believe in the dignity and morality of business assuming they are conducting their business in a moral and ethical manner. No one should apologize for making a profit if they are offering a product or service that benefits others. No one should apologize for doing a good job and being rewarded financially for doing so, nor should they be attacked by others for being successful.

Another commandment addresses tithing. Rabbi Lapin says that for thousands of years Jewish people have seen the connection between giving and increased wealth. We do not give in order to receive, but it seems that givers do receive far more than they give which enables them to give even more. Some of the most generous people I know are wealthy Christians who understand they are merely stewards of all they possess.

Rabbi Lapin goes into great detail explaining the principles and reasoning behind each commandment. I found the book helpful as both a minister and an entrepreneur and learned things I had never seen taught elsewhere.

I think you will find this a very interesting and inspiring book. I enjoyed the insights the Rabbi shared regarding some of the teachings out of the Torah as well as the Jewish understanding of some Old Testament stories. You don't have to preach a prosperity gospel in order to teach your congregation sound Biblical principles about wealth and money.

Talking to your church about finances

Most of the churches that I work with share a common expectation when it comes to the pastor's salary and benefit package. When the finance committee begins to discuss it and when the budget for the coming year is about to be discussed in a business meeting, the pastor and family are expected to leave the room.  For some reason, adult Christians can discuss anything in front of the pastor except his or her salary.

In some churches, the pastor is not allowed to request anything regarding salary or benefits. Other churches specify which board or committee the pastor is to approach when making such requests. But, when the final package is being discussed, the pastor is not allowed to participate in that discussion. I consider that to be unfortunate.

Pastors need to be able to talk to people in the church about their finances. Their situations change which means that their salary package may need to change as well.  Sometimes it's not a matter of needing more money; their situation might be addressed by changing the designation of some of the money the pastor receives.  For instance, early in my pastorate I wanted to move closer to the church.  In order to do that I asked that the church designate part of my salary as housing allowance to make it possible for us to buy a home. The amount of money I was being paid did not change, but that change in designation meant I was paying less taxes making more money available to purchase a home. Incidentally, every pastor who does not live in a parsonage should receive a housing allowance.

Some churches have no idea how their pastors are struggling financially. I know of several pastors carrying a huge amount of student loan debt but does not want anyone in the church to know it.  Others are struggling due to medical expenses or some other financial challenges. How many pastors leave the ministry for better paying jobs just to pay their bills? If you are tempted to criticize a pastor for doing this, chances are you've never been harassed by bill collectors and struggling to provide for your family.

Churches and pastors need to do a better job of talking about the pastor's finances. There needs to be much more open and honest dialogue about what the pastor needs and what the church can provide. If such discussion is not permitted in a church this may be a sign that the church is not healthy and has some deep trust issues that need to be explored. If a church insists on keeping all financial discussions secret from the pastor and the majority of the church family, it is fair to wonder what other secrets exist in the church. As I wrote recently, a church is only as healthy as the secrets it keeps.

If such discussions have not occurred before, it may be helpful to invite a denominational leader or consultant to come and lead the discussion. An outside ear and voice can sometimes help reduce the anxiety that such discussions can create.

However you do it, make plans now to begin having open and honest discussions between the pastor and church leaders about the financial needs of the pastor and his or her family. Both the pastor and the church will benefit from such discussions.

The danger of building church facilities with debt

Yesterday was an interesting day. Earlier I had a conversation with a lay leader of a church whose church is struggling with numerous issues. As a result, their attendance and giving are both down and has been this way for several months. The church is without a pastor, but their giving level is barely meeting their budget without having to pay a pastor salary and benefits. There are several reasons for this, but a major reason is the church has a large debt on an addition they built a few years ago. When their attendance was strong they were actually paying ahead on their debt, but now they would struggle making their regular payment and pay a pastor.

When I finished speaking with this individual I thought of another church that decided a few years ago to relocate. That decision was not without controversy and some people left the church when the decision was finalized. I feel certain that some believed that a new church facility would attract new people, the "build it and they will come" mindset. Unfortunately, that did not happen, and the church has struggled financially since moving.

About an hour later I was driving and listening to a Dave Ramsey podcast that had been downloaded on my I-Pad. Each day someone comes on the program to do a "debt-free scream." It's almost always a family who has followed Ramsey's plan and has gotten out of debt. However, this time the caller was the director of a church camp.

He shared how the camp board and others decided that they needed to pay off their mortgage to free up money for ministry. They challenged the churches in their denomination to support that decision. They were able to raise the money in less than one year to pay off their mortgage and become debt free. The director was delighted at how much more ministry they could now do without this debt hanging over their heads. It was quite a contrast to the two churches I had earlier been thinking about.

There are many good reasons for a church to build new facilities and even to relocate. I'm not sure there are any good reasons for a church to go into debt to accomplish that. We always enter into debt when things are going well, and we seem to forget that churches also have times when things are not going so well. In the good times we may not have any problems making our payments, but each payment is less money we have available for ministry. When times are tough, we may struggle keeping current on our payments, and in those times we often find we really have to cut back just to stay afloat financially. The things that we usually cut back are ministries, staff salaries, and mission support.

Some may argue that they are stepping out in faith when they borrow money to build. Such people reason that God will help see them through if times get tough. I'm not sure that is faith or presumption. If we can trust God to provide the money to pay off our debt, why can't we trust Him to provide the money up front and avoid debt?

When I was pastoring our small church we decided to build a new fellowship hall. We had outgrown the old fellowship hall, and we felt we could increase our ability to do ministry with a new facility. We spent months talking and praying about building this addition before finally making the decision to move forward. The only problem was that our architect estimated the cost of this building would be about $250,000. That was a lot of money for a church that averaged around 55 people.

During the time we were discussing the building we had raised about $30,000 towards the new facility. After we voted to move forward we had a Commitment Sunday and raised another $52,000 at that one service. We decided to begin work immediately. The building committee asked where I suggested we borrow the remainder of the money. I said we should let God finance it. We believed He had given us the vision to build this, and I felt we should trust Him to provide the necessary funds. I challenged our church to see what God would do.

Several months later the new fellowship hall was completed debt-free. Our treasurer told me that money came from places I would not believe. There was so much money left over that the church had all new furniture put in the kitchen and dining areas.

Proverbs 22:7 says, "The borrower is servant to the lender." This applies to churches the same as it does to individuals. Debt can be a heavy burden and can severely limit what a church is able to do. If God is leading a church to do something, He can certainly provide the means to allow it to happen. It may take a little longer than we would like, but that's because our timing and God's timing isn't always the same. But, when the project is done debt-free we are free to go about serving others without having to worry if we'll have the money to make our payments.

Ministers and taxes

A pastor called asking a question about his 1099.  I let him finish his question and then asked if the church had given him a 1099.  They had, and I had the unfortunate responsibility to explain to him that it is my understanding of the law that he must be given a W-2 to submit to the IRS.  This is a conversation I have just about every year about this time.  I am not a tax attorney nor am I an accountant, but it is my understanding that the IRS requires that ministers be given a W-2 and not a 1099.  Some churches still have not got that message.

Our conversation worsened when he began asking about his housing allowance.  I asked if his housing allowance was written down anywhere.  He responded that it was just a verbal agreement that so much of his salary would be considered housing allowance.  Sadly, I had to explain to him that a housing allowance must be designated in advance and recorded either in the clerk's report or by being a line item in the budget.  Since neither had been done I told this pastor that in all likelihood he would not receive a housing allowance for 2013 and would have to pay income tax on his entire salary.

These are laws that have been on the books for decades, but many churches and pastors still are not aware of how they work.  It is critical that both churches and clergy learn these laws because the last thing anyone wants is the IRS investigating possible misconduct in how the pastors were paid and how those earnings were reported.

Many years ago the church I pastored became aware of the requirement that their pastor be given a W-2.  Our treasurer was a kind farmer who had kept the financial records of the church for several years, but when we began to discuss the importance of following the IRS regulations, he resigned because he did not feel he could learn those regulations.  Fortunately, a very efficient individual accepted the position and went to a local CPA to ask about how to fill out a W-2 and what laws we needed to be especially careful about.  She never had any problem after that first year of getting me a very complete W-2.  If your financial person is squeamish about issuing a W-2 and other reporting requirements I would highly recommend he or she talk with an accountant who is knowledgeable about church and clergy taxes.

One other area I find a lot of smaller churches make mistakes in their pastoral compensation is in their reimbursement policy.  Too many churches still want to have an agreement with the pastor that a certain amount of his or her salary is considered as reimbursement for such things as mileage.  Any reimbursement policy that does not actually reimburse the minister for out-of-pocket expenses will result in that money being considered income by the IRS.  For instance, a church cannot state that the pastor's salary includes $500.00 for gasoline each month to reimburse the pastor for travel on behalf of the church.  No!  No!  No!  The pastor must actually turn in a mileage report and be reimbursed for the miles driven or that $500.00 is considered to be taxable income by the IRS.

I will repeat what I said earlier.  I am not an attorney nor an accountant, but these are the rules as I understand them.  Please check with one if you have any doubts or questions about what I'm posting in this article.   If anyone knows where I am wrong, please let us all know because it is important that churches understand and follow the tax laws.  It just prevents so many problems down the road.

Mistakes churches make when making their budget

This is the time of year many churches are setting their budgets for the upcoming year.  Many of these churches make some common mistakes that affect their ministries.  My experience has been that these mistakes occur in all size churches but are most prevalent in smaller and mid-size churches.  It may be too late to redo your 2014 budget, but it is not too early for church leadership to begin to discuss how to improve the process for next year and avoid these mistakes.
The first mistake these churches make is to simply go through their budget line items, add a little to each one to cover anticipated increases, and present the budget to the church for approval.  This is a time to discuss how effective these items have been and if any of them need to be eliminated or changed.  The finance committee does not usually have the authority to make such changes, but they can discuss with church leaders their concerns and recommendations.  In a perfect budgeting system, the leaders of the various ministries would present their budget requests to the finance committee after having already examined the programs and ministries for possible changes.  However, I know how it really works in smaller churches, and any such recommendations are more likely to come from the finance committee in most churches.  Regardless of where this occurs, prior to setting a budget for the upcoming year is the perfect time to evaluate every thing that is happening in the church.  Possible changes can be identified and the budget set to reflect those changes.

A second mistake many churches make is closely tied to the first one.  They set a budget without the church having any sense of vision for ministry.  What does God want to do in and through your church in the coming year?  Until you can answer that how can you set any kind of realistic budget?  The majority of smaller churches I know operate year in and year out without any vision for ministry.  They open their doors each Sunday hoping something good will happen and close them following their services wondering why it didn't.  They have no vision, no goals that would help them achieve that vision, and no purpose beyond coming together each week.  They are merely drifting from week to week, and their budget reflects that drift.  A budget should reflect the ministry plan for a church, and it does.  What it reflects for many churches is that they have no plan for ministry.  Before your church develops another budget it should have a clear sense of God's vision for the church and a plan for how you will achieve that vision.  Many churches will find it helpful to invite a denominational leader, a consultant, or a coach to come and help them discern that vision.

The third mistake often made is that a budget is made without any idea of what the anticipated income will be.  Many churches assume their income will be rather flat and will often base it on what was given during the past year.  That is one way to almost guarantee your income will be the same as last year.  If people are not being challenged to give more why should they?  Without any kind of stewardship training people will often just do what they've been doing.  Depending on whom you read, the average giving of Christians in the US is reported to be around 2 percent of their income.  That is a far cry from a tithe.  Most Christians in the US can do better than they are doing when it comes to their giving, but if they are not challenged to give more and are not taught sound stewardship principles they are unlikely to do so.  I recently served as an outside speaker for a church that did a very intentional stewardship campaign, and slightly over half of the pledge cards that were turned in indicated they were increasing their giving for 2014 over 2013.  That is a good start, and I expect if that church continues to use this campaign over the next few years they will see a significant increase in their income.  To set a budget using last year's giving levels is too safe and demonstrates a lack of faith on the part of the church and a very low bar of expectations for the congregation.

A fourth mistake often found is that most budgets are focused on the inner workings of the church.  For smaller churches an extremely high percentage of their income is often spent on salaries, building upkeep, and the things that the current congregation needs.  In a way, this is all tied into the previous mistakes.  Without a vision, there is no real plan for ministry to those outside the congregation.  Nothing is being done to increase the giving levels of the members.  Whatever money comes in is spent on keeping the doors open and the congregation satisfied, and little is left for outreach and ministry to the unchurched in the community.  These churches may claim they want to grow, but their budget says otherwise because without the ability to do ministry outside the church little growth is likely.  This mistake will continue to hamper the growth of the church until the first three mistakes are addressed, but now is the time to begin correcting them for a better budget and more ministry in 2015.

What I'm reading

People sometimes ask me what books I'm reading, so occasionally I like to mention the books I've recently read as well as the ones I'm currently reading.  Some of these were read on the Kindle app on my I-Pad and I found them at a greatly reduced price.  For the most part I still prefer reading real books, but when the price is right I have no problem downloading them on Kindle.  I enjoyed these books and learned a lot from them.  I think you might as well.

One of the most important things a leader needs is credibility.  Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner was a great read as it clearly demonstrated the need for credibility for anyone who wishes to be a leader and how to obtain and maintain that credibility.  Although my book is filled with highlighted sections, this one paragraph was worth the cost of the book.  "It is the credibility of the leadership that determines whether people will volunteer a little more of their time, talent, energy, experience, intelligence, creativity, and support in order to achieve significant improvement levels.  Managers can threaten people with the loss of jobs if they don't get with the program, but threats, power, and position do not earn commitment.  They earn compliance.  And compliance produces adequacy - not greatness.  Only credibility earns commitment.  And only commitment will get people to work beyond their job descriptions and to their fullest capacity so that businesses, communities, and economies can be greatly regenerated."  The same could be said for churches!

Get Off Your Donkey!: Help Somebody and Help Yourself by Reggie McNeal was a fun book to read.  McNeal bases this book on the story of the Good Samaritan and calls the church to get involved in ministering to the people in our communities instead of focusing so much of our attention on ourselves.  He insists that the church is not the major mission of God.  His mission is "the redemptive restoration of everything that sin has tarnished and broken."  That should also be the church's mission.  However, McNeal does sound a warning to church leaders that if they begin to shift the ministry of their church to those outside the church they should expect significant pushback from the religious crowd.  This book was a good reminder of what the church must be about if we want to significantly impact our communities.

One of my favorite reads so far this year has been The Ascent of a Leader: How Ordinary Relationships Develop Extraordinary Character and Influence by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, and Ken McElrath.  Leadership is impacted by the character of the leader and the relationships he or she has.  I knew I would enjoy this book when on page 9 I read this, "Sometimes the deeper issues of a leader's life can have the same effect on her organization as removing the rudder from a ship: the leader and the organization may move very fast on the surface, but in no particular direction.  It is amazing how such drifting can be covered up by focusing on numbers, reorganizing reporting structures, and creating new programs."  A few pages later the authors point out that "too many leaders spend their energies trying to appear more consistent in a superficial way, rather than becoming more consistent in a heartfelt, genuine way.  They share that there are two ladders leaders can climb.  The first ladder is the Capacity Ladder.  It is based entirely on a leader's title and skill level.  It can only take a leader (and his or her organization) so far.  While this ladder is important and needed, a second ladder, the Character Ladder, must also be climbed if the leader wants to ascend to a higher level of leadership and take his or her organization to a higher level as well.  This book will make you think.

I initially wanted to read Thou Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making Money by Rabbi Daniel Lapin because it is one of the books Dave Ramsey highly recommends.  I found the book to be a fascinating look at why the Jewish people are often very successful in whatever they pursue.  Rabbi Lapin is an Orthodox Jew who has done much research into the qualities and principles that has led to that success.  Interestingly enough, most of these are things that historically people believed in but have abandoned in more recent times.  Here I'm talking about such principles as sacrificing present pleasures for future benefits, respecting the value of education,  believing in the dignity and morality of business, networking, treating people fairly and with respect, understanding the value of money, and a host of others.  The book was an interesting look into the traditions of teaching of the Jewish people and one that I plan to read again next year.

As part of my devotional reading this year I read through the New Testament again.  I just finished and, as always, found some more nuggets of truth I had overlooked in previous readings.  Reading through the Bible or just the New Testament during the year is a discipline I do often, and I'm always blessed when I do it.

These are just a few of the better books I've read so far in 2013.  Currently, I am reading Prodigal Christianity: 10 Signposts into the Missional Frontier (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series) by David Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw, Gospel Coach: Shepherding Leaders to Glorify God by Scott Thomas and Tom Wood, and Resilient Ministry: What Pastors Told Us About Surviving and Thriving by Bob Burns, Tasha Chapman, and Donald Guthrie.  Maybe I'll review them next time.

Ministers and the pressures of retirement

Later this month I will turn 65 years of age.  My retirement age for drawing full Social Security is 66.  I really doubt that I will retire at 66, but I've got a lot to think about as I approach the time when I will retire from the ministry.  Although many people look forward to retirement, it can be one of the most stressful times in the life of a minister.  Some of the questions that make it so stressful are:

• Will I have enough money to retire?  Not all denominations offer their clergy a pension program, and even if the pastor has a pension program that does not mean the minister and/or the church has contributed much to the account.  If the minister has lived in church-provided housing he or she has not had the opportunity to build escrow in a home so that money is not available.  Sometimes with advancing age there are increased medical bills that can eat into a savings account very quickly.  When all these, and more, issues are factored in it is easy to see that this is a major question for any minister considering retirement.
• What will I do?  One can only play golf or fish for so long.  I believe each of us are wired to be productive, and I think that is especially true for those of us in ministry.  Most people entered ministry to make a difference in people's lives, and that mindset doesn't suddenly change because we reach some magic number that entitles us to retire.  Some ministers do supply preaching or interim ministries after retiring; others want to do something other than ministry-related activities.  The important thing is to begin seeking an answer to this question before retiring.
• How will my health be after retirement?  Health issues can become a problem as we get older, but there are some things we can do to stay as healthy as possible.  One is to remain active.  I've known a few people who just quit after they retired, and most of them didn't live very long.  Making sure you get adequate exercise, eating properly, and having regular medical check-ups are all important to remain healthy after you retire.
• Where will you live?  If the minister has lived in a parsonage, he or she will have to find a new place to live after they retire.  Sometimes the minister wants to remain in the community where he or she now lives.  Others want to move closer to children and grandchildren, but such a move will require them to make new friends, find new medical care providers, and do a lot of other things they may not prefer to do in retirement.
• How will I relate to former church members?  This will be a major issue if the minister remains in the current community.  According to the Code of Ethics our denomination requests our ministers to sign, we are not to maintain professional relationships with former members.  When I left the church I served for twenty years, even though we remained in the same community, I explained to the congregation that I would not return to perform their weddings and funerals.  When some problems arose in the church and friends of mine began to leave the church, I was heartbroken, but I could not step in and address the issues that caused them to leave.  Ministers must address this question whether they retire or move to another church, but it is one that must be addressed and explained to the congregation.
• Where will I worship?  Very seldom is it proper for a minister to continue to worship in the same church from which he or she retired.  In a smaller community there may not be another church of the same denomination which will mean the retired minister may have to travel some distance to a church where he or she can worship or find a church of a different denomination in that community.
• How will I stay mentally sharp?  Most ministers spend a large amount of time reading and studying which helps them stay mentally sharp.  Dementia and Alzheimer's disease are concerns for anyone approaching retirement age, and although nothing can guarantee they won't affect someone, it is known that remaining active and using one's mind does lessen the chance of having these problems.  I know a retired minister in his nineties who began learning a new language.  He not only learned a new language but remained mentally sharp throughout his life.
• How will I deal with growing older?  I have to admit I am not thrilled to turn 65.  There are things I can't do today that I used to do, and I miss doing those things.  Aging has brought some limitations, some of which are hard to accept.  But, there are things I can do today that I couldn't do when I was younger.  I enjoy writing books and leading workshops based on my experiences in ministry, and I couldn't do those things thirty years ago.  My wife and I enjoy traveling to places we didn't have the time and money to visit when we were younger.  Rather than focus on the things you can't do, spend time finding new things you can do today you couldn't do as a younger person.

Growing older and retiring is not for sissies!  There are a lot of questions you need to answer before you reach retirement age to reduce the stress often associated with retirement.  For more assistance in dealing with this, and many other stresses associated with ministry, I encourage you to get my book The Healthy Pastor: Easing the Pressures of Ministry.

It's time for the half-time review

It is hard to believe that the year is already half over.  Although it may not be time to begin thinking about doing your Christmas shopping, it is time to review where you have been during the first half of the year and where you plan to go in the remaining months that make up 2013.  The place to do that is by reviewing your goals for this year.  If you created goals using the format I shared early this year or late in 2012 you should have had a number of Key Result Areas (KRAs) for each goal.  These are the things that, when accomplished, help move you closer to achieving your goal.  How many of the KRAs have you completed for each of your goals?  Are you ahead or behind where you thought you would be for this goal?  Why?  These are the kinds of questions you should be asking yourself for each goal you establiehd for 2013.

This is also the time of the year when you may realize you need to revise or even completely change some of your goals.  Things change, and one of the marks of an adaptive leader is to know when to change some of your plans or goals to adapt to the changes occuring around you.  I've seen churches change their budgets mid-year as they realized their finances had changed for the better or for the bad.  Personally, I think it is fine to change some of your goals mid-year.  Maybe something that seemed to be a priority is now seen as an option, and other things have become more pressing.

I can give an example.  My work load changed greatly as we entered the month of May.  One of our staff members retired and was not replaced.  I became responsible for most of the churches he worked with for our region.  I went from having 77 churches that I was responsible to assist to having 130 churches.  The geographic area I cover virtually doubled in size as well.  I need to change some of my goals and add a couple of new ones because of these changes.  Some of the things I used to do with our churches I may not be able to do now.  I need to focus on some of the most critical issues facing our churches and spend less time on maintenance activities.  I'm not doing that because I want to but because the changes that have taken place in our region force me to determine new boundaries for how I will invest my time in the churches for which I am responsible.

I hope you set goals at the start of the year for a variety of items in most people's lives.  Your relationship with God must be a priority, and I pray you've set some goals and identified KRAs to help you achieve those goals that will help grow your relationship with Him.  Your family should also be a priority in your life, and you should have set some goals to strengthen your relationship with members of your family.  Obviously, if you are the leader of a congregation you should have some goals that will help you provide the best possible leadership for your congregation.  One critical area that too many clergy neglect is their own self-care.  Every leader should have goals in place to help him or her practice good self-care.  I hope you also have goals around finances, health, relationships, and anything else you believe is a priority for you, your family, and your ministry.

Now that the final summer holiday is behind us and the pace of our church activites begins to slow down until the fall it is a great time to begin reviewing your goals for this year.  Rejoice over the short-term goals that you may have already achieved.  Take a second or third look at some of the other goals and determine where you are as far as implementing them.  Do they seem as important to you now as they did when you wrote them down?  Determine whether or not to remove them as goals for this year or how you might modify them.  You may even decide to add a new goal to the mix in order to address a challenge or an opportunity you've been given since the year began.  These are your goals, so make them work for you.  By taking a mid-year review and making whatever adjustments you decide need to be made, they will work for you.

Pastors and finances

Four years ago our region was blessed with a Lilly grant designed to assist our pastors with financial needs.  Since we began we have been able to assist pastors with several hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt.  Much of this was to pay for medical expenses that were not covered by insurance.  We've paid off thousands of dollars of student loan debt.  We were able to help a pastor who lost his library and office equipment in a fire replace his books and equipment.  A number of pastors with automobile problems have been helped get them repaired.  I could go on and on telling amazing stories of pastors whose lives and ministries have been changed due to this grant.  Lilly believed that if pastors did not have to worry so much about bills they could be more effective pastors, and I believe their theory is correct.

This has been an eye opening experience for many of us in the region.  Going to school part time I was able to cash flow my education.  I did not know until we began doing this that the average seminary graduate leaves school with $40,000-50,000 in student loan debt.  I've personally talked to one who had over $60,000 in student loan debt.  I've been blessed as a bivocational minister to have excellent insurance through my other employer and didn't realize some of the medical debt some of our pastors were carrying.

I've also been amazed at how difficult it is for pastors to talk to their churches about their debt.  This grant requires that every dollar our region gives must be matched, usually by the church the pastor serves.  I know many pastors who should be applying for assistance but won't because they do not want their church to know of their financial plight.  As many as we've helped we know we haven't scratched the surface due to the fear or pride that prevents the pastors from admitting they have needs.  In some cases, the pastor's concerns are justified due to the size of the church and its inability to provide those matching funds.  Fortunately, we do have other avenues we can use to find matching funds.  But, in too many cases the pastors do not want to admit their needs because of pride.  This pride places continued stress on both the pastor and his or her family and is unfortunate.

Most judicatories do not have the opportunity to help their pastors as we do in our state thanks to the generosity of Lilly, but that doesn't mean the need isn't there.  In fact, our experience shows just how great a need does exist.  Many pastors are drowning in debt, not always the result of their spending habits.  Some of these will leave the ministry to seek careers that offer larger salaries in order to pay their bills.  Others will continue to struggle financially which will impact their ministry effectiveness.

Here is a way for churches to step in and help their pastors.  I know only too well how many churches, especially smaller ones, like to poor-mouth.  Although they claim to struggle financially, I also know many that have large sums of money in savings or on CDs.  What a blessing they could be if they would help their pastor with some of his or her financial needs.  October is Pastor Appreciation Month, and I can think of no better way to show your pastor how much you appreciate him or her than to help ease his or her financial burdens.

Church leaders may be thinking that their pastor doesn't have any financial challenges, but you won't know until you discuss this with the pastor.  Believe me, many of them are hiding major financial difficulties from their congregations.  You may be reluctant to discuss this with your pastor thinking it's none of your business, but if you are talking to him or her because you want to help then it is your business.  Your church may not be able to pay off the sums of money our region has been able to pay with our grant, but if you paid off even one bill it might relieve a lot of stress.  I can remember a time in our lives when if we had just one less bill it would have made a tremendous difference.

Another thing our grant enables us to do is to send our pastors to receive financial counseling.  There are pastors who are seminary graduates who can't balance a checkbook.  Some have adequate income but have never learned how to prepare a budget or manage their money.  When we find a pastor who would benefit from financial counseling we send that person to some people we have identified throughout our region as being especially competent.  Your church could do the same for your pastor.  In fact, most pastors I know would benefit from some level of financial counseling that might range from how to balance a checkbook to investing and planning for retirement.  Here's another way you could demonstrate your appreciation for your pastor in October.  I know I would prefer something like that to a Wal-Mart gift card!

Pastors are people called by God to serve God's people.  That doesn't mean they don't have financial challenges like many others.  Their cars break down, their children may need braces, they go to the emergency rooms, they misuse credit cards, and the list goes on.  As their financial challenges increase so do their stress levels.  Few pastors receive large salaries, and if they get behind financially it's very difficult for them to catch up.  How great it would be if their churches would begin to invest in the future of their pastors by helping financially when they have unexpected needs.

Planning for retirement

Let me say from the outset that I am not a financial guru and that some of what I will recommend in this post I have not done in my life.  My thoughts here are from one who learned late how important it is to plan well for retirement.  I write this because I meet too many pastors who are nearing retirement age and realize they are not prepared either financially or emotionally for retirement.  Preparing ourselves for retirement is simply one more act of stewardship.

A few of you will immediately think, "Nowhere in the Bible does it say anything about retirement.  Pastors should never retire.  Ministry is a call of God on a person's life so why should anyone who has been called by God even think about retirement?"  It all sounds so spiritual and holy, but that doesn't make it true.  Such comments ignore the fact that ministers can develop illnesses or be injured in a manner that forces them to retire.  I know one pastor who, in the course of about five years, had emergency heart surgery and a major back operation that left him in incredible pain.  He could only be on his feet about two hours a day before the pain became unmanageable and he became so weak he could hardly stand.  He was under 45 years of age when his health forced him to retire.  He is not alone, and it is nothing but arrogance that would cause any of us to think it couldn't happen to us.

The stresses of ministry can seem more overwhelming as we grow older.  We may find we have less tolerance for the chronic complainers (which may not be a bad thing!).  Evening meetings may make us want to stay in bed a little longer the next day.  I find that it is not just the older church members who dislike change; many older pastors I know do not get too excited about it either.  They have ministered in a certain way for much of their lives, and the thought of doing things differently do not appeal to them.  Although they may not have thought much about retirement when they were younger, it suddenly becomes a little more appealing to them as uncomfortable changes are forced upon them.

So, what can we do to prepare ourselves for retirement?  The first thing is to make sure we will be prepared financially to retire.  For years financial advisers have suggested that we not count on Social Security to be there when we retire.  That's still good advice.  If SS is still around when you get ready to retire then that money will be a bonus, but the best strategy is to develop a retirement financial strategy that does not include Social Security.  Many financial people recommend that a person has ten times the amount the person thinks he or she will need per year for retirement.  If that money is invested in a good stock fund that averages 10 percent a year, the retired person can live on the income and never touch the principal.  So, if you believe you will need $50,000 a year to live on you would need at least $500,000.00 in investments earning 10 percent a year.  Otherwise, you run the risk of outliving your money.

That means that pastors need to begin early in their ministries putting money into retirement accounts.  Many denominations have retirement plans available to their clergypersons.  It's important that ministers take advantage of these plans.  Many larger churches include paying into their minister's retirement accounts as part of their overall package.  Many smaller churches do not.  One of the biggest battles we had in my twenty year pastorate in the church I served occurred when our Finance Committee recommended that the church begin paying into our denomination's retirement program.  Some of the folks in our small church really struggled with that, and the business meeting where it was discussed was not a pleasant time, but in the end the church did begin funding my retirement account and no one left the church over it.

Bivocational ministers often have another opportunity to build up retirement savings, and that is through their other employer.  Most larger companies, and many smaller ones as well, provides 401-K or IRA retirement accounts.  Many of them will match your contributions to those accounts.  With some exceptions, many of these use pre-tax dollars so you are using some of the money you would be paying Uncle Sam to help fund your retirement.  It is important that you contribute the maximum to these funds.  When I was working in the factory I did not do that, and it ended up costing me a LOT of money that I could have earned over the years if I had contributed the maximum.

If you're not doing anything to prepare for your retirement, I would urge you to contact a financial advisor or a judicatory leader in your denomination and find out how you can begin doing that.  You'll be surprised how quickly the years will roll by.  One day you will be thinking about retirement, and at that time it will be too late to prepare for it.  Now is the time to get ready.  To help you think about getting your financial house in order and preparing for retirement I want to recommend Dave Ramsey's book The Total Money Makeover, in my opinion the best personal financial planning book available today.

In tomorrow's post I'll address preparing emotionally for retirement.