What Pastors And Church Leaders Need To Know About Killing Debt

INJOY Stewardship Solutions (ISS) is conducting a FREE webinar on December 7th to help church leaders deal with debt retirement issues.  Simply click the image above to join the 300+ church leaders who have already signed up.

Pastors and church leaders have been misled by capital campaign companies about church debt.  Currently at ISS over 80% of our church partners are actively involved in paying off some amount of debt.

And here’s the lie that I heard when I was on a church staff – people will not respond to debt like they will a new building.  Our partnerships are demonstrating that this perception is simply not accurate.

First, we need to establish the 4 Rules Of Debt Retirement Campaigns as a baseline;

1. Americans are very comfortable with debt.
2. Americans are extremely comfortable with someone else’s debt.
3. Americans do not like paying off debt.
4. Americans really do not like paying off someone else’s debt.

A critical communicative mistake church leaders often make is saying, “Look at how much money we’re putting towards interest.”  Church leaders unknowingly are asking people in their congregations who are struggling to pay their own interest to now sacrifice and pay theirs.  If I was attending these churches, I would not wholeheartedly participate in this campaign and neither would you.   

However, successful church leaders do not make debt retirement campaigns about debt.  Successful church leaders understand that every dollar that goes to debt is a dollar not going towards ministry and human life change. 

Allow me to demonstrate.  Let’s say your church has $10,000 per month going towards its mortgage.  An effective communication strategy begins by asking, “If our church had $10,000 per month that could be put towards ministry, human life change and the relief of suffering, what would we do with it?” Think long and hard about that question.  Do you have a vision for that if asked? 

Would it go to new staff, serving the poor, building a hospital in Haiti, or launching a new campus to engage an unreached sector of your community?  What is NOT getting done at your church that God wants done because of your debt?  How does this make you feel as a ministry leader?  Does it come up at every meeting?  Is it keeping you awake at night?

All capital campaigns are driven by urgency and a compelling need.  Your interest payment is not compelling to anyone in your congregation.  So what would you do with the funds?  How compelling and vital would those initiatives be?

Pastors and church leaders, do not make debt retirement about debt.  Make it about the vital need to change human life with the freed up resources.  If you do this, you will see your church rally around a compelling vision for temporal and eternal life change.  And you will also see your debt quickly eradicated as well.

Once again, to sign up and join the webinar click here.

To get future posts on leadership sent directly to you, please take advantage of the many subscription options on this site.