Stuff You have to know (but didn’t realize it) – Part 1

Bob FranquizChurch

We started Calvary Fellowship almost 10 years ago. I was admittedly naive and idealistic. I had my Bible and a guitar and I thought that's all I needed to build a church that reached lots of people. 

What I learned was that there were a lot of things that had nothing to do with Bible study or worship that are necessary to lead a strong, healthy church. 

So I figured I'd talk about a few over the next week or so. 

#1 – You have to know how to read a P/L report & Balance Sheet. 

I'm no CPA, but if you're going to lead your congregation well, then you have to know how God has provided for the church. You can certainly lean on the wisdom of others, but you're going to have to learn to read a P/L report and balance sheet. 

A P/L (profit and loss) report simply tells you how much came in and how much went out. It tells you how dollars came in (giving) and how left went out (ministry activity). You can't lead well if you don't can't manage the cash flow of the church. That's why the P/L is so important. 

A balance sheet tells you the assets of the corporation. It tells you the debt you carry, the assets you have, how much of those assets are tied up in land, equipment, etc… and how much of it is cash of hand. 

This is another important thing to know because you aren't going to be able to buy a building or even get a church credit card if the balance sheet is lean. 

Part of leading well as a Pastor is making wise financial decisions. These 2 reports will help you in that endeavor.