Week 1 - Tuesday: Church Budget

My practicum is at God's Grace Ministries United Methodist Church, located behind the President's House. Unfortunately my pastor and practicum supervisor is out of town until the 20th, so I couldn't get the information from her. Rather, I got the information needed from her husband, Don Spence. I believe he is an accountant. I talked to him after church on the 10th of January; he briefly explained how to figure it out (did not have it the budget with him at the moment). I only figured out for the End of the Year and 2008's Budget. The 2009 Budget was not yet approved.

I'll bring the Budget to Class, since I don't know how to post a Excel Chart on here. But this is the break down of where the money goes from largest sum to the smallest.

57.3% Ministers and Staff
25.9% Facilities
10.2% Denomination Support and Missions
6.60% Programs

Three Observations:
1. It takes a lot to plan a budget, and a lot of patience.
2. Speculating a budget for the following year takes a lot of work. You need to know what you spent in the past and then predict how much you'll spend in the coming year, etc.
3. The majority of the money that is spent on the budget goes to the Ministers and Staff for various reasons and for the upkeep, insurence, etc. for the facilities. (about 80% in my church's case).