Effective Church Finances: Fund-Raising and Budgeting for Church Leaders [Hardcover]

Kennon L. Callahan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 1997

This step-by-step guide to healthy habits of church finances will help church leaders focus their best creativity, leadership, and energy on advancing their mission. Written for committee members, key leaders, pastors, and staffs, this is a detailed account of budgeting and fund-raising, complete with charts and questionnaires.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The companion volume to Giving and Stewardship--a complete guide to budgeting and fundraising that explores: developing the church budget, fundraising for the budget, setting goals, and growing the giving from year to year. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

"The congregations who do the best in church finances have a rich, full, abiding compassion for mission. They are motivated by a theology of service, not a theology of survival. Their compelling, driving spirit is one of giving, serving, loving mission."—Kennon Callahan, Effective Church Finances"The more you develop healthy habits of effective church finances, the more likely you are to advance your mission. The two go hand in hand. They help one another. The more successful you are in one, the more successful you will be in the other."—Kennon Callahan, Effective Church Finances"Money follows mission, not the reverse. This is a shorthand way of saying that the stronger the congregation's relational characteristics, the easier it is to raise money. The stronger the congregation?s mission, visitation, worship, groupings, leadership, and decision making, the stronger the giving." —Kennon Callahan, Giving and Stewardship in an Effective ChurchCongregations who practice effective finances have a stronger mission, help more people, and are able to raise more money, according to Kennon Callahan. The more effective they are with church finances, the less time they must invest in money matters and the more time they have to devote to their real mission. The stronger the congregation's mission, the stronger the giving.With depth and insight uncharacteristic of books in this field, Effective Church Finances offers church leaders a comprehensive guide to setting and achieving financial goals through well-planned budgeting and fund-raising. Complete with charts and questionnaires, this book shares practical suggestions, insights, and wisdom that have been tested and proven during the author's many years of consulting in thousands of churches. Written for committee members, key leaders, pastors, and church staff, this detailed study explores** developing the church budget—how effective church finances advance mission, how to set a four-year plan, how t

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (August 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787938696
• ISBN-13: 978-0787938697
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #345,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kennon L. Callahan, B.A., M.Div., S.T.M., Ph.D. : researcher, professor, and pastor : is one of today's most sought-after church consultants and speakers. Author of many books, he is best known for his groundbreaking Twelve Keys to an Effective Church, which has formed the basis for the widely acclaimed Mission Growth Movement.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A missional approach to giving/stewardship/INVESTMENT, May 22, 2002

By 

Andrew Edwin Jenkins (Birmingham, AL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Effective Church Finances: Fund-Raising and Budgeting for Church Leaders (Hardcover)

Callahan takes a great view of finances in the Church. He doesn't balk at the idea that ministry takes money. But, He always presents the case in terms of people instead of paper, mission instead of mortar, and investment instead of costs...

This book promotes the idea of seeing "giving" as investement in God's mission, which is for the sake of reaching people. And, Callahan suggests that there is a greater "cost" than giving-- that is the "cost" of what we lose when we don't invest in the kingdom-- the cost of rebellious children who are not taught, the cost of marriages that are not healed, the cost of not a community not knowing God. Incredible-- it always goes back to the mission and people-- and how we can invest in the Kingdom.

Chapter 1 is among the best in this book, and details how "mission" actually builds the finances of the church (not that a church does the mission for the finances, but finances to come as a result). More finances provide for a greater investment in mission, which results in more finances, which results in an even greater investment... it's cyclical. And, often, our financial problems in the church MAY result from our missional perspective. That's what I've gathered from the book, and I'm starting to agree with it.

The middle of this book bogs a little, although it does have some practical helpson stewardship campaigns, etc. If you're a church administrator, or the treasurer, chairman of a finance committee, ministry team, etc... you might want to read this one. If you do not directly over see the finances (the nuts and bolts) try reading Callahan's other book on church finances, "Giving and Stewardship in an Effective Church," for it will appeal more to your missional theology (and much of what you find in "Effective Church Finances" is simply a rehash of the other book, some chapters even being copied verbatim).

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Especially helpful book for leaders of giving campaigns., June 10, 1998

By 

Dan Hotchkiss "Dan Hotchkiss" (Middleboro, Mass.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Effective Church Finances: Fund-Raising and Budgeting for Church Leaders (Hardcover)

This insightful guide explores developing the church budget, fund-raising for the budget, setting goals for the congregation, and "growing in giving" from year to year. Callahan's pithy style and original blending of practical and philosophical makes him especially helpful to leaders of giving campaigns. There is not a wasted word in any of Callahan's books, and this is no exception.

Dan Hotchkiss, senior consultant for the Alban Institute