X. Covenant Giving and Reporting
A. Annual Information Updates From Local Congregations | B. Covenant Budget Explanation

 

B. Covenant Budget Explanation

Information especially helpful for church board members, the budget committee, and local church financial officers.

Introduction:
This material will help those seeking to understand how The Evangelical Covenant Church funds its various ministries.

Presentation:
Using the graphic called "Giving To our common Mission," here is a section-by-section explanation of the protocols and priorities concerning how gifts in support of Covenant ministries are received and distributed:

1. Covenant Coordinated Budget

The Covenant Coordinated Budget is adopted annually by the delegates representing local Covenant churches at the Covenant Annual Meeting. The unified budget provides a support system that sets the priorities of mission outreach through the various Covenant departments of ministry.

2. Budget/Budget Specific

There are two ways that gifts can be given to support the unified budget:

3. Budget

All giving is essentially designated giving in that gifts will be applied to those areas of ministry as you direct. General gifts given to the budget will be distributed to support all ministry departments included in the Coordinated Budget, using the percentage allocation approved by the Covenant Annual Meeting. These general gifts assist the Covenant in carrying out all ministry priorities essential to carrying out work efficiently and effectively.

4. Budget Specific

Churches may designate a portion of their support to the Covenant Coordinated Budget as a budget specific gift to provide support for a specific missionary, a church planting project, or some other ministry included in the budget. Some churches have discovered that this helps their members have a better vision of our united mission by personalizing some of their gifts with a specific focus for prayer, support and personal follow-up.

It is important to understand, however, that a budget specific gift does not increase the overall department budgets beyond the approved percentage of distribution. The Covenant operates on a unified budget system to insure that all ministries can move forward in a coordinated way. All budget specific gifts are distributed as the donor designates.

As noted in 2, listed in section 8 at the bottom of the chart, it is helpful to our unified system to receive no more than 50% of church gifts as budget specific. This gives your leaders flexibility to facilitate our common mission by providing resources to cover things like electricity and computers that are necessary to operate our ministries efficiently but are not often viewed by givers as exciting ministry options for which to provide budget specific support.

In the Covenant, we have experienced that the best approach to a balanced, effective and coordinated mission program at home and abroad is through the support of this unified budget approach that also provides for personalized support of specific ministries. (See the article, "The Funding of Mission: Designated or Unified? - by James P. Johnson - available through the Resource Center 1-800-338-IDEA)