Role
“The committee on finance identifies, perfects, and manages the finance system for the congregation. The finance system is the process of raising, managing, and dispersing the finances so that the mission and vision of the congregation can be achieved” (Guidelines for the Committee on Finance).
Relationships
– Reports to the Administrative Council. Submits an annual budget to the Ad Council for review and adoption, and administers all funds received according to instructions from the Ad Council.
– Guides the treasurer(s) and financial secretary in their work.
– Oversees use of funds by all other teams to ensure that they stay within budget.
Responsibilities
1) Establish written financial policies to document the internal controls of the church. These should be reviewed for adequacy and effectiveness annually by the committee on finance and submitted as a report to the Charge Conference.
2) Make provision for an annual independent evaluation of the financial statements by external accountants.
3) Ensure that designated contributions are promptly forwarded according to the intent of the donor and not used for any other purposes.
4) Provide an annual budget. We are asking our committee on finance to approve a finance system that provides an administrative infrastructure for the whole church, while empowering each worshiping community to make its own decisions regarding ministry needs. Any income and expenses that can be assigned to a particular campus/community will be. See detail below.
5) Provide financial communication to the whole church. This financial communication will include quarterly contribution statements and reports on the state of the church’s finances and budget.
6) Approve any requests for special offerings collected during worship services.
We believe stewardship is primarily an issue of discipleship and should be handled in each context as such.
This set of responsibilities empowers local worship communities for decisions about how program ministry and staff money are spent. It allows the committee on finance to focus on creating and maintaining proper financial policies and providing financial communication to the church.
