The church is a religious place for Christians and one of the most visited places on the earth. It is a place where people from all walks of life can worship to God and express their faith. Not only religious services but also a lot more other kind of services are carried out in the church such as daily and weekly services, donations, memberships, and various other activities. Every activity involves loss or gain of money. Church finances needs to be effectively managed for successful implementation of programmes.
There are various church financial services such as:
• Investments
• Donations
• Loans
• Disaster Relief
• Trusteeship
• Insurance
These church financial services are aimed at providing professional Insurance services, relevant trusteeship services and financial assistance of the Christian brethren association. For further information regarding church financial services, click here for details.
Investments
There are various types of investments customized to suit the needs of everyone. These are designed for investors who are willing to promote the charitable purposes.
Donations
A church requires money in order to run all its function smoothly. And it receives money in different forms. One major source is through donations. There are three types of donations that the church receives-
The unrestricted donation: This type of donation can be used by the church without any restriction imposed by the donor and without any requests. It is the most beneficial as the church has the full authority over the money and they can spend it according to their needs.
Temporary restricted donation: This type is when a donor donates a specific sum of money and requests for the money to be used on specific purposes or items of necessities required by the church.
Permanently restricted donation: This is the funds which cannot be used by the church. These donations are stored in the bank and money that grows out that is available to the church for use. This kind of donation is useful for donors to invest on the church for long haul.
Loans
The foundation is able to lend loans to the church organizations within it. Churches may borrow for various reasons: like moving to a more proper location, renovation purposes, buying a house for a pastor and other such things. Loans are usually secured by a first mortgage over the property being purchased.
Disaster Relief
There is usually a Tax Deductible Recipient Status associated with the Disaster Relief Fund. It is made available to those in need during times of national disaster and state disasters and in cases of emergency. Donations can be made anytime to this fund. When disaster strikes money from these donations it is distributed to individuals and the churches within the organization.
Trusteeship
The foundation acts as the trustee for many Christian brethren churches. The foundation is not involved in the daily management of the church activities, neither the running of the church. It looks over the usage, management and maintenance of property.
Insurance
The foundation has established a National Insurance program and risk advisory service which provides attractive premiums and a more expanded network and advisory support.
So these are some main church services which involve finances and mandatory for the administration of churches.