The mission of the Existence Finance Committee is to strategically and proactively lead the church’s finances to maximize Kingdom impact.

Why do churches need a finance committee?

Existence Church’s congregation expects total integrity in the church’s financial processes. The congregation also expects excellence and lack of confusion in the receipt and bookkeeping processes. The essential value of the committee will be that church personnel are imminently trustworthy; the role of the committee is to validate the trust in their financial transactions.

Stewardship responsibility primarily rests on the senior pastor. If a senior pastor is gifted in leading, exhortation, preaching and teaching, and in vision casting, there is a real possibility that the senior pastor is not able to focus on doing all of the “trench work” that has to be done if a church is to operate in financial excellence on a continuing basis. For the “trench work,” the senior pastor needs non-staffers who excel in accounting and finance functions to serve in a finance committee capacity on a long-term basis.

What does an effective finance committee do?

The Finance Committee provides financial direction for the congregation and regularly reports to the church leadership and to the congregation. We will recommend an annual budget to support the mission and ministry of the church as well as develop plans for the annual funding program to ensure that the financial needs of the church are met. The committee will also provide financial communications, both sharing and inviting information that nurtures growth in giving and generosity.

What can you expect of the finance committee?

The committee will be focused on furthering the Kingdom. The committee has been chosen based on their maturity in Christ as well as their professional backgrounds in finance and accounting. The Finance Committee will meet every other month or at a minimum, on a quarterly basis. At the beginning of the church’s fiscal year, the committee will review and set the upcoming fiscal year’s budget. While the church’s leadership is focused on furthering the Kingdom and making impact in people’s lives, the Finance Committee’s main focus is to steward the tithes of Existence to drive the greatest Kingdom impact. During the fiscal year, recurring meetings will be focused on reviewing the church’s actual spending as compared to the annual budget to ensure that any areas of overruns are identified in a timely manner or any reallocations of the budget are made if necessary.

On a quarterly basis, the committee will provide to the congregation a giving and spending update. On a monthly basis, the committee will send out a newsletter with an inspirational article around giving.

Luke 16:13, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

There is no greater investment than in the Kingdom!

The Bible overwhelmingly warns against the lust of money. The Worship of Money is inherently a rival to God in our lives. It can naturally prevents us from being “rich” toward God. As Jesus summarized in Luke 16:13, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Money can be dangerous. If we hold on to it, we will turn to it for security or the good life. So Jesus gives us the option of investing it in many different ways. Invest wisely, shrewdly, but with risk, with an eye towards reaping returns. In Luke 19, Jesus tells the parable of the pounds. The master has entrusted his money to a few servants. And he is looking for servants who will invest it shrewdly. But shrewdly means accepting risk — because the greater the risk, the greater the potential reward; rewards most of those who took biggest risk with the greatest return, and condemns those who took the safest route, who simply hoarded it. Jesus, the King, is looking for stewards who will not just hold on to their money, but invest shrewdly and riskily to reap a huge return in people, in the Kingdom.

What does it mean to invest in people in shrewd and risky ways? One of the greatest examples is of Paul and the Philippians. When no one else saw the importance or value God brought to the Kingdom through Paul, the Philippians did. Not only through financial support, but through consistent mutual communication and concern. The strategic partnership paid off handsomely as giving money and part of themselves allowed Paul to witness to the ends of the earth.

There is no greater investment than in the Kingdom, through the many ways God has allowed you to bless others. Always keep in mind there is an eternal nature to what we do so look for things have impact not simply in this life.

As an encouragement

As we detailed earlier in the year all the support from the church in 2012 brought great success with:

• More than 50 baptisms
• Nearly 100 salvations in the church
• 6 full time staff members and 7 part time
• 17 interns
• Two mission trips
• 166 people involved in Life Groups and
• 280 people serving the church

Get to know your Finance Committee:

Jason Burns
Profession: CEO, Profits4Purpose
Attended Existence since: 2003
Vision for the Finance Committee: To ensure Existence Church is financial obedient and
maximizing our collective resources to impact our community for Christ.

Ed Cox
Profession: Corporate Development
Attended Existence since: 2009
Vision for the Finance Committee: To support the church and its leadership by bringing additional experience,
structure and hopefully support as the church continues to successfully grow

Amanda Neal
Profession: CPA and Assurance Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Attended Existence since: 2006
Vision for the Finance Committee: To set precedence for Existence to be a financially responsible and
accountable church, focused on furthering the Kingdom.

Derek Tye
Profession: Accounting/Bookkeeping Consultant for Small Businesses
Attended Existence since: 2010
Vision for the Finance Committee: To ensure that Existences’ finances are planned and managed in a way that
hold to the vision and goals of the church