I worry about young pastors because no one goes to seminary aspiring to become a CEO. But this is exactly what happens because in church environments, we put people in charge who do the speaking. As Jeff Henderson says, “Leadership comes with a microphone.” But many pastors are woefully unprepared for the business side of ministry.
My friends at MAG Bookkeeping recently wrote a post for the readers of this site. They have a deep passion to protect pastors and their message is one worth hearing. Check out their thoughts below.
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No one goes to seminary to become a CEO. But guess what – if you are a pastor, you are joining the ranks of only two career paths (entrepreneurs and pastors) who immediately step into the role of CEO of an organization their first day on the job.
And we are willing to bet you weren’t planning on that.
We talk with pastors every day who followed God’s call into ministry because they wanted to reach people for Jesus. And we believe, as they do, reaching people through the local church is the most important thing in the world. But the number of pastors we talk to who are not prepared for the leadership roles they are assuming is really troubling. These are really smart, capable, passionate leaders who have spent years studying the Word of God, ancient languages, world religions, leadership, exegesis – and once they join a church staff they have essentially become the CEO of a multi-million dollar business. Often, they are doing this without any formalized business training.
The Bible has a lot to say about money and how to manage it according to God’s principles. And nothing has the potential to wreck a movement of God like the mismanagement of money. If you’re a senior church leader, we cannot encourage you enough to look at the financial responsibilities you have in your position and make sure you are properly stewarding them. And if you are not, there are plenty of places to find the help and guidance that you need. MAG Bookkeeping is one of those places – we’d love to talk with you about finding the resources and trusted partners you need to make sure you’re stewarding your church’s resources well.
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