Unspoken Fundamentals

Many things may go unspoken in Churches -- one of them being a Church's fundamental approach to its finances. Most basically, there are two approaches. The first is to say: "This is how things should be financially," and to work the finances to the plan. The second is to say: "This is how things are financially," and to adapt the plan to the finances. The first is the mature approach. The second may represent an abdication of responsibility by the Church, and often goes along with comments e.g. "The minister should recruit more members" or "We just can't afford to pay him / her medical aid." OBSERVATION: Of course, there will be some overlap: to some extent, one needs to take account of how things are and of how they should be -- and then, faith will enter the picture, too. Last week I picked up this envelope (pictured) in a Baptist Church. This is obviously the first approach.