Nooooooo! It's Budget Time!

It is that time of the year that most of us in a technical ministry dread.  At least I know that I do.  It is time to propose a budget for next year.  That budget proposal will be submitted to the stewardship committee or board of directors or the staff.  We will be asked a bunch of questions about that budget.  Most of the people asking the questions will not have any idea what we are talking about.  That budget will be slashed to a maintaining budget in which there will be no room for any of the significant changes (equipment purchases) that need to be made.  Once again most of the budget will have to be reserved for the year for the “just in case” emergency that arises from time to time.  Does this sound familiar to you?  I believe that this is the case in most churches across this nation that uses some kind of media in their worship services.  How do we effectively communicate the needs of media or technical ministry?  If you have a board or staff led church then I think that task is much simpler than the committee run church.  With a board or with staff you have a much easier time educating and showing and relaying the needs.  I know in my own personal experience that the staff is usually sold because they have first hand knowledge of just how much goes into providing quality in audio, video and lighting.  But how do you effectively communicate and educate an entire church?  I mean every year you have a new stewardship committee that you start all over with.  I’m afraid that I don’t have the answer to educating an entire church but I do take every opportunity to be open about what the media ministry team does and how much time it takes and what all goes into building the media program for a service.  I also open up training to anyone in the church that is interested in audio, video and lighting.  I guess you could say that I’m chipping away at it one member at a time.  
I believe that the only other way to educate your members is to invite professionals and experts to your church to speak on the issue of using media and technology.  This year we are starting a worship conference for our area with key note speaker and worship leader Travis Cottrell.  One of our break-out sessions will be about using media in worship.  We have invited Mark Rodenhauser of Digital Lighthouse Media to share what the Lord has laid on his heart about using media for God’s glory.  I hope in years to come to invite others such as Anthony Coppedge, Brad Herring and/or Kent Morris who have been instrumental in teaching me how to be more effective in what God has called me to do in a technical ministry.

Now when talking about a budget of course you are talking about how the church is going to spend the money that God has entrusted to us.  To tell you the truth I hate talking about money.  I have never been comfortable asking for money especially for ministry or myself.  I guess I have seen too many examples of money being abused and never want to give the impression that I’m greedy or do not take stewardship seriously.  Unfortunately the reality in a media or technical ministry is you get what you pay for.  I could easily rattle off $25,000 of equipment that could be purchased and used effectively in the church but in the overall operating budget of a church is that feasible?  Not in most churches.  So what is the magic percentage of the total budget that media and/or technical ministries should occupy?  I really don’t believe that you can give a concrete answer on that question.  I believe it depends on the needs of your media and technical ministries.  Your needs should be based on the overall vision of your church.  What are the goals of the church?  Who are you trying to reach?  What is the style of your worship?  You must be clear on the vision of your church to understand what you need in media to help accomplish that vision.  
You ultimately leave it in the hands of those who will develop the budget.  This is a job that I do not envy.  I ask for you to pray for those who will be developing and presenting your budget.  I can tell you right now that they are under pressure from everyone.  Pray that your whole church will be good stewards of the time, money and resources that God gives you to use.

I most certainly have a lot to learn.  I know equipment but it is the intangible things in which I must gain knowledge to become effective in ministry.  Like leading a team, teaching others, budgeting and issues about pay and becoming full time.  I will continue to learn and seek God’s will for answers to all of these.  What more can I do?  


I’ve been prompted to post on these subjects once again by what I have read posted by Anthony Coppedge on his blog.  Please check out A New Change for Anthony Coppedge and Poll: Church Technology Budgets.