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Questions You Must Answer as You Begin the New Year

1/16/2018

God has blessed us to see the dawn of a new year. Many people around the world use this time to make New Year’s Resolutions, most of which will be broken before the month has ended. But, what about your Church? Are there some things that you need to address as the Pastor and/or Church Leader for how your Church maintains its business requirements. Pastors and Church Leaders need to understand that Church is only Spiritual when you are conducting a worship or prayer service. The remaining time it is a business and must be operated as such.

We have put together some questions that all Pastors and Church Leaders must address immediately in this New Year.

Church/Board Minutes?

The law only requires a Church to have one Board/Church meeting per year. However, many Churches resort to a Monthly or Quarterly Board Meeting schedule. Regardless of whether you have only the one meeting or you have several meetings, accurate Board/Church meeting minutes must be recorded and maintained in the Church’s Corporate Minute Book.

Apart from the Bible and your Church Bylaws, Corporate Minutes are the next most important documents you should have on file. These minutes are a form of proof that your ministry/Church is operating legally and in compliance.

Salary Compensation Agreements?

Salary must be requested at the beginning of each year. This is especially true for any housing allowance requests. Only 12 items are approved for a legal housing allowance.

These requests must be in writing and approved by the Board at the Annual Board Meeting.

Since there is much more to it than just the Pastor requesting half of his salary as housing allowance, a proper compensation package should be compiled and accepted by the Board. We suggest that Church Leaders contact us as to how to properly compensate a Pastor and the Pastoral team. You may do so by calling 800-225-5849 and ask to speak with Mr. Tim Haney.

Does Your Church/Ministry Have a Plan to Save Money

A church with obligations should have at least six months of reserve in its bank account. According to one study, if the Church has significant long-term debt it should have at least one year cash reserve. The sad news is that many Churches do not even have a one month reserve.

The reason every Church needs a reserve has nothing to do with lack of faith, but everything to do with reality. People die, people lose their jobs, donors leave your Church for silly reasons, etc. One good Church split and your Church is in bankruptcy.

But, what about those Churches that do have a sufficient reserve? Where do you keep the money? Is it kept in the Church checking or savings account? Please understand that in the event of a lawsuit against your Church it is reasonable to expect that all of the Church assets, including any bank accounts, would be frozen. What good is it to have money if you do not have access to it?

To protect against this, we suggest that your Church establish a 501(c)(2) Holding Corporation which could shelter assets from legal action.

How Will the Church/Ministry Handle Contributions

According to a Harvard University Study, 50% of Churches in the USA have embezzlement taking place. This is an unacceptable statistic. First of all it is God’s money, but thieves are everywhere.

If your Church does not have a written policy as to how to handle and count the tithes and offering, your Church is out of compliance. The IRS has provided specific guidelines as to how Churches should handle donations. These can be found in The IRS Charitable Contributions Publication 1771. God expects and demands that we be good stewards of His Money.

Have You Cast the Vision for the Coming Year and Is It Big Enough

Any organism that is not growing is dying. The same is true for the Church. Many Pastors have a vision for their Church and it is usually bigger than the Church budget and unfortunately that vision ends up becoming a nightmare.

Money should never be an issue for a Church, but with only 11% of the Church giving tithes and offerings, it takes everything a Church can do just to survive. Don’t let this year be another year of vision stalemate.

We know how to get millions of dollars to your Church so that you can effectively do the ministry to which God has called you. Let us show you the secret as to how not to be held hostage to the anemic weekly tithes and offerings.

How We Can Help

Chitwood & Chitwood has been the best friend of Churches across America for 80 years. We are the ultimate Church Management and Structure organization in the nation.

At our weekly seminars we teach Pastors and Church Leaders how to properly structure and manage their Ministries to ensure they are compliant with all legal requirements and that the Church/Ministry operates smoothly for ministry purposes. It would be in the best interest of every Pastor and Church Leader to attend the next Church Management Conference nearest you. For a list of conference dates and locations visit us at www.cmtc.org or call 800-344-0076.

We look forward to meeting you.

By Dr. Michael Chitwood

Removing Stress from Ministry

1/12/2018

It is a proven fact that Pastoring/Leading a Church can be very stressful. According to some reports, Pastors have the fourth highest suicide attempt rate in the USA. A question we should all ask ourselves is, “Why?”

Shouldn’t Ministry Be A “Piece of Cake”

If God called the individual into ministry and anointed them for the task, what could possibly be so stressful about it? That is the idea entertained by many who have never been involved in Ministry.

If all the Pastor had to do was preach two or three sermons per week, one could possibly hold to a view that ministry is the easiest occupation in the world. However, even if all the Pastor did was preach, according to one report from the Mayo Clinic, preaching a 45 minute message while under the anointing invokes as much toll on the human body as ten hours of hard physical labor.

Much More to Ministry than Preaching

Preaching is the least of a Pastor’s concerns—Bible College or Seminary trains a Pastor for that task. What the Bible College or Seminary does not do is train the new Pastor to step into the position of CEO of a major corporation. Yet, that is exactly what happens when someone accepts the role of Pastor.

Board meetings must be conducted; the Pastor must ensure that annual Board Minutes are recorded and maintained. There are legal and Internal Revenue Service issues which must be addressed in any given year. And if that is not enough, the Pastor must be a consoler, counselor, and financial advisor, while continuing to keep peace among a vast array of human personalities which attend his or her Church.

With this in mind, I felt it would be rewarding for the Pastor and Church Leaders if we could provide them with a few simple steps which would help make ministry less stressful.

Church Legal Structure

According to statistics from former Chief of the Non-Profit Division of the IRS, a large majority of Churches in America are not on a solid, legal foundation. This alone, is enough to push any Pastor into the need for anxiety or anti-depressant medication.

Questions which every Pastor and Church Leader should ask are:

- Is your Church legally incorporated in your state and is the incorporation up to date and in good standing?

- Does your Church have a legal set of bylaws which could withstand any court challenges?

- Are you maintaining complete, professional, and accurate records, including financial?

- What type of policy and procedures manual do you have in place?

- Does your Church have a legal 501(c)(3) with a Letter of Determination from the IRS?

Ensuring the above mentioned are in place and up to date will protect your Church from possible legal challenges as well as ensuring that donations made to your Church will be legally tax deductible for the donor.

What About Financial Accountability

Do you have written procedures as to how money is to be counted? Are Conflict of Interest Policies in effect for your Church, Board Members, and those counting the money?

Does your Church have a written Reimbursement Policy as outlined by Section 62? If not and your Church is reimbursing anyone, the amount of that reimbursement must be counted as income to the individual and is taxable and he or she must receive a 1099.

Invest in Your Church’s Future

In the fast pace world in which we live, things don’t change daily, but hourly. A Pastor and Church Leaders will only add to stress in their lives if they do not retain someone who can keep abreast of all the changes as they are happening. This is where we enter the picture.

Chitwood & Chitwood has 80 years of experience assisting Churches with compliance and Management issues. The best investment that your Church can make for its future is to enroll the Pastor and all Church Leaders into a one day Ultimate Church Structure and Compliance Conference. At this CMTC conference you will learn:

- How to Properly Structure your Church
- How to Maintain Appropriate Financial Accountability
- How to Protect your Church Against Possible Legal Action
- How to Properly Set Compensation for Pastor, Musicians, and other Church Employees
- How to Not Limit Your Ministry to the Weekly Tithes and Offerings
- And Much, Much More

To register, visit us online at www.cmtc.org or call 800-344-0076. This will be the best investment you can make this year. We look forward to meeting you and helping you remove the stress from ministry.

By Dr. Michael Chitwood

Be Careful of the Advice You Choose to Heed

1/9/2018

People, all over the world, shop for bargains. Christians and the Church are no different. One of the reasons Christians and Churches do it, is to be good stewards of God’s money. However, when it comes to the advice you receive as to how your Church should be managed, cheap advice is very expensive.

Everyone wants to be an expert on a multiplicity of topics. This is no different on the topic of Church Management. Although many claim to be an authority, the information they share is bogus and could create serious harm for the Church, Pastor, and Church Leaders.

Some Bogus Info

One group which claimed to be an expert told Pastors that they could claim all housing and no salary. Though this is appealing to Pastors because of tax benefits, it will result in huge penalties when that Pastor or Church is audited.

Another, so-called expert is telling Churches and Pastors that the IRS will not get in their business and that they should never worry about intrusion from the Internal Revenue Service.

These two are just a couple which are offering wrong advice to Pastors and Churches.

Pastor, Church Leader, would you allow someone in your pulpit to preach to your congregation without knowing they are spiritually qualified to minister? Of course not. Why would you allow someone to guide you and tend to your Church Management needs who does not have a proven success record?

Chitwood & Chitwood will not use fear tactics, but we will tell you the truth. If the truth frightens you it is because your House is not in compliance.

Why You Can Trust Us

Chitwood & Chitwood has been the Number One Church Management Group in the nation for more than 79 years—spanning 3 generations. We not only are the ultimate expert as it relates to Church Management, we are the only one who litigates, free of charge, any issues generated by the IRS while we are providing you with oversight and Church Management.

In more than 79 years serving Churches and Ministers in the USA, we have never lost a case for those whom we have represented from the beginning. Our legal and accounting staff stays abreast of all IRS issues as they are generated from Washington, D.C.

When your Church, Pastor, and Church Leaders are represented by Chitwood & Chitwood, you can sleep at night with the assurance that the Ultimate Church Firm in America has your back.

It is in the best interest of every Pastor, and Church Leader to attend the nearest Ultimate Church Management and Structure Conference quickly. At our conferences, Pastors and Church Leaders are offered one-on-one onsite consultation as to what would best meet the needs of their Church. Because of the new regulations that will prove to be detrimental to anyone who is not in compliance, it is imperative you attend NOW!

To register, go to www.cmtc.org or call 800-344-0076 now to reserve your spot at the next conference. This will be the best few hours you have ever invested in ministry. We look forward to seeing you there.

Questions You Must Answer as You Begin the New Year

Church/Board Minutes?

Salary Compensation Agreements?

Does Your Church/Ministry Have a Plan to Save Money​

How Will the Church/Ministry Handle Contributions

Have You Cast the Vision for the Coming Year and Is It Big Enough

How We Can Help

By Dr. Michael Chitwood

Removing Stress from Ministry

Shouldn’t Ministry Be A “Piece of Cake”

Much More to Ministry than Preaching

Church Legal Structure​

What About Financial Accountability

Invest in Your Church’s Future​

By Dr. Michael Chitwood

Be Careful of the Advice You Choose to Heed

Some Bogus Info

Why You Can Trust Us

​By Dr. Michael Chitwood

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Does Your Church/Ministry Have a Plan to Save Money

Church Legal Structure

Invest in Your Church’s Future

By Dr. Michael Chitwood