The Cell Church Budget and God’s Provision

by | May 5, 2011 | Uncategorized | 1 comment

mario

by Mario Vega

The largest investment made in a cell church is the pastors’ salaries. In a fully formed cell structure, like our own, in which we have many zone and district pastors, the percentage of the budget spent on salaries can be significant.

However, it is important to note that cell churches only gradually add more salaries as the growth increases. In other words, as the church grows, the number of pastors and their salaries will also increase accordingly. No one should think that the hiring of pastors precedes church growth. On the contrary, it is the growth which demands the recruitment of new pastors.

This means that the cell model is economically sustainable. As growth demands the hiring of a new pastor, it is already providing the means (growth of new members) to pay his salary. It is the increase of new members which demands one more pastor, but at the same time those members are already prepared to provide the financial support to cover the payment of the new position.

Other expenses such as materials, offices, facilities etc., are really minor and some of them are made only once in the life of the church. For these expenses, a church just has to go one step at a time. There is no need to worry about the budget of a developing church because you make investments one step at a time.

As the chruch grows, more expenses will be needed, but God is always faithful to provide.

Translation into Korean: http://cafe.naver.com/ncdcell/1080

Comments?

Mario

Translation into Spanish:

Dios proveerá el presupuesto necesario.

La mayor inversión que se hace en una iglesia celular consiste en los salarios de los pastores. En una estructura completa con pastores de distritos y de zonas, el porcentaje del presupuesto que debe invertirse en salarios es considerable.

Pero es importante tener en cuenta que la estructura y su presupuesto no se imponen de una vez a ninguna iglesia. La estructura y el equipo pastoral va creciendo en la medida que la misma iglesia crece. No se debe pensar que la contratación de pastores precede el crecimiento. Todo lo contrario, es el crecimiento el que demanda la contratación de nuevos pastores.

Esto significa que el modelo es económicamente sostenible. Al mismo tiempo que el crecimiento demanda la contratación de un nuevo pastor, ya está proveyendo lo necesario para su salario. Es el incremento de nuevos miembros el que demanda un pastor más, pero al mismo tiempo esos miembros están ya preparados para proveer el soporte económico para cubrir el pago de la nueva plaza.

Los demás gastos como papelera, materiales, oficinas, locales, etc., son realmente menores y algunos de ellos se hacen una vez en la vida. Solamente hay que ir un paso a la vez. No hay que preocuparse pensando en el presupuesto de una iglesia desarrollada cuando apenas se necesita dar los primeros pasos que ni siquiera implicarán mayores inversiones. El tiempo dirá sus demandas y, entonces, Dios proveerá.

 

1 Comment

  1. Jim Wall

    I’d love to hear the range of responses to this question:

    What is the typical number of cells under a pastor’s charge before the pastor is salaried (instead of volunteering)?

    Reply

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Mario Vega

Mario Vega

Senior leader for Elim International, www.elim.org.sv

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