December 7, 2016
Large or small, churches and ministries are often easy prey for would-be thieves, especially as church holidays, like Christmas, approach and weekly offerings increase as more people return to worship and other ministry activities. Ministry leaders can boost their ability to keep thieves away from their contributions and property by taking just a few precautions—not only during the holidays, but also throughout the year.
Protecting offerings and collections
Start by establishing financial controls to prevent theft and embezzlement:
Safeguarding valuables
If you haven't already done so, create or update a personal property inventory so you have a current record and appropriate insurance protection for your equipment, financial records, and other valuables.
Securing your building
Make sure your security measures are up to date and those responsible for security know what to do in the event they discover a theft or encounter one in progress.
Be mindful of the risks that giving imposes on your ministry's operation. Make every effort to protect you ministry from thieves, especially during the holidays when increased giving and added ministry activities are often the norm.
There are a lot of hats worn in any growing ministry – and we want to serve every one of them.
With the holiday season right around the corner, it’s wise for ministries to evaluate their fire safety plan. Whether your ministry is hosting a holiday party, prepping treats for charity, or running a community kitchen, make sure you’re well-prepared with these tips.
The holidays present unique opportunities and challenges for churches that aren’t typical during other times of the year. A lot of the ministries that I work with are seeing steady increases in attendance and are praying for a significant jump in Christmas service participation this year.
In this article, Brad Brown from Plan A Wealth Management gives a wonderful insight into why ministries might consider choosing a 403(B)(9) retirement plan.
As school is back in session, it’s important to make sure your school is equipped with the correct safety procedures. Thinking about your school’s physical security as a series of layers can help you find gaps in your plan. Transportation and volunteers are just two important aspects of your school safety plan to think about.
If there is one thing I have learned over the last decade while working private security and as a sworn peace officer, the more critical the incident, the more likely change will come out of it. Much like a pendulum, an incident occurs, and everyone cries for change.
Updating the lighting in your worship center with LED can offer significant energy savings while improving overall lighting performance.
We are so excited to welcome the newest member of the American Church Group of Colorado team, Lyndsie Glowinski.
Churches are increasingly becoming targets for cyber criminals. The most common attack is by sending “phishing” emails where the perpetrator poses as someone familiar to the ministry staff (like a senior pastor, deacon, elder, or someone trustworthy) and requests some sort of response.
Anyone who turns on the news, flips through a magazine, or browses the web can see that American society and culture are experiencing rapid transitions. Some ministries have valid concerns that issues surrounding societal shifts may expose them to negative publicity, governmental scrutiny, or litigation.
The questions become: when and how can ministries operate within their deeply held religious beliefs when they may conflict with others’ rights?