FINANCIAL LITERACY FOR CLERGY
Recently I have heard about a course that is making the rounds of churches that focuses on helping members reflect on their finances from a faith perspective. I don’t know whether the course is any good or not. What it did make me think of was the importance of financial literacy for our clergy. The majority of clergy do not receive a generous salary and I would guess that most of them also are not skilled in managing what they do receive. Add to that that their spouse often lacks good financial literacy as well and you have the formula for marital tension.
I would suggest that the Presbytery could make a major contribution to the health of their pastors by offering some financial literacy seminars.
USE YOUR RESOURCES
They could acquire some good resources from the Board of Pensions. However, I would not stop there. There are some lay people in the presbytery who would be honored to work with people who know the particularities of pastoral expenses in designing such seminars. I mention the partnership because there are some unique aspects to pastoral finances that need to be part of such seminars. What you are doing is providing an opportunity for some people to use their gifts for the upbuilding of the community. My guess is that an additional benefit from finding some of those talents among some of the lay people of the Presbytery is that those very people will also gain a new appreciation for the larger church and may make other valuable contributions as well.
A SEMINAR STRUCTURE
There are several parts to such seminars that should be addressed over time. A first would be some basic budget techniques and financial management suggestions. Included in that would be a thorough exploration of what can be done with “pre-tax” dollars that will benefit the clergy while not costing the church any additional money.
Second, there should be a session on wise investment, explaining the various options and their risks and possibilities. Included in that should be the whole field of ethical investment and the various types of funds that focus on that. Most clergy have never lived in an atmosphere where they learned about how to invest and what are wise and foolish moves to make.
Third, there should be a thorough session on wills and such issues as insurance and longtime care. I would suggest finding someone who could provide a form that people could fill out that would provide the basic information for completing a will and then have a follow up where they could meet with some willing lawyers to complete the process.
