Board of Management

Paperwork, sales and funding options

Sales are good: Herb Suderman, Board of Management chair

“Bless Reggie McNeal,” said Herb Suderman, chair of the Board of Management. “I wanted to talk about paperwork, but I’m going to talk about sales.”

Suderman was referring to a story speaker McNeal had told the evening before about a salesman who got so bogged down with his weakness – paperwork – that his sales, which were his strength, suffered severely.

The paperwork of the Conference showed there was “a slight deficit” in operations: $156,000 (support of $1,594,000 instead of $1,700,000). This was due largely to a decline in church support, as well as some unexpected costs in board travel and staffing transitions.

“Sales,” however, have been strong. Total funds under investment through the Conference increased from $55 to $85 million in the past two years. (One of the Stewardship department’s upcoming investments, Suderman reported, will be a new – “nice but modest” – building in Winnipeg for Conference offices.) Because of sales strength, the Board decided to cover this year’s operational deficit from the monies generated by Stewardship deposits.

“We have the money,” Suderman said. He raised the question, however, about the responsibility of churches.

“It is certainly time for us to be in better dialogue with our owners, the churches, about this ministry and seek to determine what ongoing value and commitment there is to our shared work,” the written Board report stated.

Funding the Conference was probed further in a Board of Management breakout. Three people had been asked to make a case for a different funding option.

One option is project based funding, which has the advantage of addressing the felt needs of givers to be involved with their gifts. The disadvantage is that it requires more marketing to establish relationships. And, some ministries are more “marketable” than others.

Another funding option is the tithing concept, where churches pay a percentage of their annual budgets to support Conference ministries. This was presented as “the simplest and easiest way.”

A third debater represented the current way of doing things, with a per member norm requested from churches. He stressed that motivation and commitment are more important than which model is used.

Some two dozen delegates attending the breakout discussed these options, as well as the larger question of churches that do not contribute any, or adequate, support. It was noted that churches face many competing requests for support. “The primary issue is that communication hasn’t been sufficient,” one delegate said. “We’ve assumed loyalty,” said another. Many churches, it was lamented, do not see the Conference as mission.

Suggestions offered were: clearer and better information, a unified approach to fundraising by Conference ministries, communication directed to treasurers and the relevant local leaders, and more opportunity for congregations to “see” ministries and leaders.

Treasurer John Wiebe answered a question about the funding impact of payroll services available to churches from the Conference. All fees are waived, he said, if churches are full supporters.

Those attending the breakout seemed to favour some combination of the church tithing model and the current system.

In the final plenary session, delegates approved budgets of $1,750,000 and $1,800,000 respectively for the next two years, with the per-member normative giving amount remaining at $79. John Wiebe was reappointed as Conference treasurer, and Lloyd Reimer was appointed as a half-time stewardship representative in B.C.

A recommendation that churches contribute a $15 per member norm to MB Biblical Seminary (not $17 as in the convention booklet) also passed.

—dd

MB Stewardship Ministries has produced a guide to the basic principles of managing financial resources. Designed for individual or group study use, it is intended to help individuals “avoid financial entrapment” and to set goals that reflect Christian stewardship and planning. Available free of charge. (Contact the Stewardship representatives in your area.)