Church Ownership

[NotforSale]

I've been a pastor for 16 years. We came to our current city in 1998, starting services in our Home (Home Missions). We purchased 2 1/2 acres and built a small Church on the land about a year after we came here.

I incorporated our Church, applied for Non-Profit status, and today our Church and land are paid for. For years I was unable to draw an income, and without my Tithe and offering, we couldn't have paid the Church bills or even built the church. After approximately 5 years, we had some problems and the congregation was down to about 5 people, which is normal for most works getting off the ground (at least in our area).

Today, we have the longest standing congregation that we've ever had, I am able to draw a small income, and the Church belongs to the people, not me. I didn't become a pastor to make money or to buy land and build my own Kingdom. What happens after I retire or leave is entirely up to those who are still there when I am no longer the pastor.

I will say this; the problem I’ve had is making sure I have good, solid people in place that are planning to stick around so they can deal with the tough decisions that will inevitably come. Having Trustees or Board members that don’t have a burden or that have a short-timers attitude, those are the people I avoid using in leadership because they might be gone tomorrow. This has happened to me in the past, where people left me high and dry, and anyone who has built a church knows exactly what I’m talking about.

The sad thing about this whole ordeal is this; churches use up men, or pastors, not making sure that they are ready for retirement. Pastors usually give until they have nothing left, and unfortunately they wind up at the end of their life with nothing. Because some have not worked outside of the ministry, they have no Social Security or retirement benefits.

We just had a District Meeting, and the DS warned all of the pastors that the UPCI has not done a good job of preparing men for this transition. So, some have sold property or liquidated church assets to save them from a financial collapse. I feel that this is partly the churches fault, as the church is ultimately the people and the people should be concerned about the future of the man who is giving them his heart and soul.

For the sake of myself and the people here, I work full time, don’t live in a Parsonage (I own my own home), have never opted out of Social Security, and I have a nice investment in my business that will help me when that day comes.