Finances

Following Rhoda’s post two weeks ago on joint rituals and last week’s aside celebrating Rhoda’s book signing event at St. John, Wheaton, IL, this week we turn to the most mundane, and potentially disruptive of topics: Money or Financing a Joint Catechumenate. I believe it helpful to preface this topic with Jesus’ words from Luke 16:13: “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Organizers of a joint catechumenate should embrace our Lord’s admonition: Too much anxiety over money could completely derail efforts toward a joint catechumenate. Whatever finances are committed to the joint catechumenate are committed for the sake of the kingdom of God. A congregation can’t serve two masters and love its financial resources, whatever they might be, more than the kingdom of the Lord.

So where might financial resources be needed for a joint catechumenate? At least three areas come to mind (with a potential fourth): Meals; Resources for the Catechumenate; and Paid Positions. Eating together, whether full meals or snacks, should be at the center of every catechumenal gathering. At what time of day the gathering is taking place will determine what kind of eating occurs: breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack. Who should bear the cost of those meals? Presumably the congregations in some way. Is it catered or prepared by members? Resources will be needed for the formation of the catechumens. These could vary from printed handouts to study booklets to gifts for the catechumens (such as Bibles or hymnals or catechisms or crosses) to baptismal robes. Who will pay for those? The individual congregations? The congregations jointly? Would the sponsors/mentors be asked to consider contributing to the gifts for their individual catechumens? Is the joint catechumenate going to consider any paid positions? While a called church worker, such as a DCE, might be possible, it is unlikely in many of the contexts we outlined at the beginning of this series: rural, urban, and small town. Paid lay positions would be a more likely possibility. A paid part-time lay director of the catechumenate? A financial manager for the catechumenate? Paid lay catechists? Paid primary musician for the catechumenate services? Pastoral staff from one of the congregations paid for their primary oversight of the catechumenate? There are many possibilities. The congregations would need to decide jointly what positions they need in their context to organize a competently and efficiently executed catechumenate. And they would need to decide what financial resources they could commit to these financial commitments. (A fourth area could be travel expenses between the congregations, either for a called or lay worker or for the pastors?)

These financial commitments ask the congregations to consider how they will all contribute to these commitments. Will each congregation support the costs in relationship to their catechumens with the costs coordinated on a yearly basis. Or will the congregations organize a common budget for the catechumenate, a budget external to all the individual congregations? The latter might be the least complicated and unwieldy. If the latter, how much will the congregations contribute toward that budget? Will it be the same every year regardless of how many catechumens each congregation has? Will all congregations commit uniformly to the budget, regardless of congregational size? If this is truly a joint catechumenate then it seems all the congregations need to share the financial burden equally. There needs to be trust between the pastors and congregations that this joint effort is an expression of fellowship in Christ across the congregations.  Any points of conflict need to be handled through confession and absolution.

All of these mundane matters need to be addressed clearly and with shared governance by the congregations before the start of the joint catechumenate. Only in that way will the financial resources of a joint catechumenate serve the one Master and His kingdom.

We’d love to hear your ideas by contacting us at Kent@FormingLutherans.org or Rhoda@FormingLutherans.org.

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Photo by Kent Burreson
Entrance Facade at Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris