How to Establish Financial Policies for Your Church

Written by Keith Hamilton

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Church Financial Policies Model (14-page PDF) opens with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader
Church Financial Policies Model (16-page RTF) should open in any Word Processor

Since the early church, leaders have had the responsibility of handling the money that believers give for the work of God's Kingdom. In Acts 4:37 Luke tells us about the disciples, "Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet." (KJV)

The financial responsibility of the church is to be a wise steward of the resources God has entrusted to this fellowship. The church is accountable to its membership to make sure the resources of the church are handled with the highest level of trust and integrity as possible. Ultimately, the church is responsible to God for the stewardship of its funds.

This is the reason I believe it is so important for your church to adopt a set of Church Financial Policies and why I want to share a model that you may use to develop your own.

What is the purpose of Church Financial Policies?
Church Financial Policies are tools to help your church do the following:

Comply with increasing federal and state government guidelines in operating nonprofit organizations.
Avoid church conflicts by providing well-written and understandable church policies on financial matters.
Establish a clear Biblical basis in handling the financial resources God has provided a congregation.

Management Essentials for Christian Ministries

What about adoption and amendments?
Church financial policies should not be included in the church’s constitution or by-laws.

The church financial policies should be adopted by a simple majority vote at any regularly scheduled church business conference. Likewise, the church financial policies can be amended, deleted, or added by a simple majority vote at any regularly scheduled business conference.

What are some Guidelines for writing them?
Church financial policies should be written clearly and concisely. The policies should be direct and to the point. A copy of the church financial policies should be kept in the church office at all times. To facilitate the amendment of policies, each financial policy should be recorded on a separate sheet of paper that is kept in a loose-leaf notebook. Also, the church should not adopt policies the church does not intend to follow.

Sample Church Financial Policies:
The following material contains sample church financial policies to assist a church in developing its own financial policies. Churches should not assume it must adopt the following material as a legal requirement for its church. Each financial policy must be developed after careful consideration of the implementation of the church’s own setting and ministry. For instance, while it is a good accounting practice to have two signatures on checks, this might not be reasonable or acceptable in each church setting.

Church Financial Policies Model (14-page PDF) opens with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader
Church Financial Policies Model (16-page RTF) should open in any Word Processor

About Dr. Hamilton

Keith Hamilton, D.Ed.Min, CFP, CRPC is with the Georgia Baptist Convention. He has written several publications on establishing church designated funds, managing your household finances, and protecting your church and ministry from identity theft. Check out www.churchfinancialservices.org for more help. Other articles by Keith...