Many churches have reopened their doors to in-person gatherings. Unfortunately, many of those same churches have reported that attendance has not recovered as quickly as hoped. A possible byproduct of lower attendance reported by churches is that giving has gone down, leaving church boards with far fewer resources. As churches creep back toward full service and ministry, church leaders must reexamine expenses, priorities, and make a plan for financial recovery.

Earlier this year we shared the initial reasons why churches were concerned about reduced giving due to COVID-19 and how they handled it. Here, we look again at the challenges churches have faced and offer additional suggestions for handling a potential budget shortfall in 2020.

In the interest of your church members’ health and government restrictions during COVID-19, your church budget meetings will likely happen virtually. We’ve updated our previous blog regarding church budget meetings to reflect accommodations for meeting online.