Finally, church revenues can be broken down by date.  When are your cows fat and when are they lean?  Tithing patterns for some dates are predictable.  For example, Easter Sunday and the week of December 31 are fat cows with plenty of money rolling in.  But, on the other hand, in the summer the cows are pretty sleek.  Most churches are aware of these trends and have provided for these business cycles in their budgets.

             But others are not quite so obvious.  For instance, few churches look closely at their revenues when the senior pastor is not in the pulpit.  In a perfect world this should make no difference but the fact is that when the Cat’s away, the mice will play.  Regardless of planning and pleading, the tithes fall off when the pastor is away, especially for periods of longer duration. 

            Knowing this can help the church in future planning.  For example, the church can create an emergency cash reserve, or review its insurance policies to protect itself in the case of extended illness or unexpected death of the senior pastor.  This information would also be useful in determining the true cost of granting a sabbatical to the pastor.  A starting point would be to list out the church’s tithes per week for the last several years, spotting weeks when the tithes dipped below average, and conducting an investigation to see if the causes of the dip can be determined

Verne Hargrave is the Church and Ministry partner at PSK LLP and author of the book, Weeds in the Garden.