FROM THE EDITOR
FAITH MEETS INNOVATION
“ AI” is on everyone’ s mind. So is the economy.
Accordingly, this issue features our first-ever“ Church Executive TM Annual Finance Summit” and“ Technologies That Drive a New Era in Church Leadership” Forum.
First up, on pages 14-18, a panel of experts in church lending, banking, accounting and financial technology discuss:
• Preparing to seek funding for a major building or renovation project
• Observable recent shifts in churches’ budgeting priorities
• Streamlining financial reporting and audits
• Financial transparency— and what that really looks like
• Making accounting more manageable by outsourcing
• What to know about interest rates right now
• How technology— especially AI— is streamlining finance and administration
In this recorded roundtable discussion, these experts shared some fantastic insights:
“ The mistake I’ m seeing lately is that institutions— including churches— are waiting to borrow money because they think [ interest ] rates will go down. I think that’ s a bad bet; I think the combination of all the uncertainty makes it unlikely. Add to that the fact that construction costs a year from now are also likely to be higher than they are today, and the cost of waiting really can get expensive.” churchexecutive. com Volume 24, Number 7
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— Jeremy Moore( BMO Commercial Bank)
“ When someone is sitting in the pastor or church administrator seat, they have to somehow balance the practical, financial side with the spiritual discipleship side. There are so many scriptures about finances in the Bible. Sometimes it’ s not what we want from people, it’ s what we want for them— helping them learn what it means to live a life of generosity.”
— Denise Craig( The Church Network)
“ One thing I see in the marketplace that’ s concerning— and I don’ t think it’ s the case with the other lenders on this call— is lenders allowing churches to allocate up to 40 % of their core giving to annual debt service. I think that’ s too much; we stop at 30 %. You want the building to serve the ministry, not the ministry serving the building.”
— Dan Mikes( Cass Commercial Bank)
“ What I’ d suggest is shock-testing your loan. How would an additional 1 % or 2 % increase in your loan rate affect your budget? Could you manage that increase? If not, how would you adjust your budget? … Knowing this early may allow your church to adjust accordingly.”
— David Lee( Thrivent Church Financing)
“ Bankers want reporting differently than church leadership or auditors, so we encourage church clients to do‘ mini audits’ all year so they’ re not stuck at year’ s-end looking for approvals and reconciliations for their auditors … [ T ] hen you won’ t have to go back and recalculate when [ lenders ] call and say,‘ What’ s in this number?’ With a click, you’ ve got that information.”
— Sandy McClure( Baker Tilly)
“ How much easier might it be to interact with your systems if … [ the finance team ] is building reports using your questions and prompts in your natural language, or just chatting to the system, verbally, about what’ s overdue right now in terms of invoices to vendor XYZ. You could be asking things like, What do I need to be concerned about regarding our cash flow over the next three weeks?”
— Michael Blanton( Sage)
Speaking of AI, it’ s the common denominator in all the articles within the first-ever“ Technologies That Drive a New Era in Church Leadership” Forum on pages 24-33.
EDITORIAL ADVISORY PANEL
Stephen Briggs Associate Pastor of Administration First Baptist Church | Hendersonville, NC
CLA
Denise Craig, CCA CEO The Church Network
Mike Klockenbrink Chief of Staff Lakeside Church | Folsom, CA
Dan Mikes Senior Relationship Mgr., Faith Based Banking Division Cass Commercial Bank | Des Peres, MO
John C. Mrazek III Executive Pastor Pathways Church | Denver, CO
Sam S. Rainer III Senior Pastor West Bradenton Baptist Church | Bradenton, FL
Mark Simmons Business Manager Christ Community Church | Milpitas, CA
GUEST EDITORS
Gregory S. Love Kimberlee D. Norris Co-founders & partners Love & Norris & MinistrySafe
A publication of:
As ever, we hope this issue is full of practical, immediately applicable strategies and solutions.
RaeAnn Slaybaugh Editor in Chief
TALK TO ME:
Email: rslaybaugh @ churchexecutive. com Facebook: Church Executive Magazine X: @ churchexecutive. com
Church Executive ™ Magazine is published by Power Trade Media, LLC, PO Box 82, Cave Creek, AZ 8532. Subscription rates for non-qualified subscribers, single issue prices and pricing for reprints of 100 or more are available from: info @ churchexecutive. com. All articles in Church Executive ™ Magazine are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written permission of the publisher. Copyright 2025 by Power Trade Media, LLC. No advertisement, sponsorship or description or reference to a product or service will be deemed an endorsement by Power Trade Media, LLC, and no warranty is made or implied. Information is obtained from sources the editors believe reliable, accurate and timely, but is not guaranteed, and Power Trade Media, LLC, is not responsible for errors or omissions. Opinions expressed in Church Executive ™ Magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher or sponsors or advertisers. Content addressing legal, tax and other technical issues is not intended as professional advice and cannot be relied on as such; readers should consult with their own professional advisors.
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