I had a crazy thought today. What would Jesus say about direct bill? He might quote Luke 9:58..."Foxes have holes and birds of air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head" or Matthew 10:10..."You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain," and, "The laborer is worthy of his wages." Or Luke 2:59..."I must be about my Father's business?"Perhaps He would lift up the wisdom of the building a tower..."For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?"(Luke 14:28) I am not sure which of these passages Jesus might quote but this I know Christ loves the Church and He want us to be about "making disciples and transforming the world."
Our annual conference session in 2009 approved direct bill as the best way to move into the future funding our clergy health and pension benefits.Direct Bill is still a few months away but the "buzz" in conversation has been going on for months. Churches are now engaging direct bill conversations in the budget planning for 2011. I hear concern in the statements ..."how much?"..."how can we?"...and "I am not sure we can do it!" In hopes of calming anxiety about direct bill let me share some realities and perspective.
First of all direct bill has some realities. The first reality is churches will pay directly for their appointed clergy health and pension benefits each month. How much will this be? The final amounts will be mailed out in December. We do know generally health insurance will be around $650 a month. The pension amount is determined by taking the pastors salary and adding another 25 percent if he/she lives in parsonage. The annual pension amount is then determined by taking 16% of that combined figure. If the pastor has a housing allowance the entire housing allowance figure is added with salary... and then 16% percent of the combined total is determined for the annual pension benefit.
There is some good financial news as churches will notice a reduction in the conference missional apportionments. This reduction will help churches transition into direct bill. Every church will not have the same reductions because church budgets and pastors salaries are not all the same. If the final amounts to pay seem daunting I would encourage pastors and churches to not to be anxious about the future but rather ..."plan well and go forward trusting God."
Back to the question..."What would Jesus say About Direct Bill?" I have one more passage that seems very relevant. It comes from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. Jesus teaches..."Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life"
The teaching of Jesus..."do not worry" is good for all times and especially with all the unknowns of the coming of direct bill. Can we ever remember a time when there wasn't something to worry about? Has God not been faithful in the past? Are we not at our strongest when we trust God with the future? Our conference and churches have grown through many changes in the past when the future was uncertain. I am most assured that direct bill will be no different. Jesus loves the church and I am thinking He would not want us worried about institutional requirements but rather a world that needs saving! Let us be that Church focused on ministry and not our worries! We can with God's help not only get through this time but get through even stronger!
Shalom,
Philip
