Restructuring in the NEC - Interview with the President

Jeff Nicholson interviews NEC President, Pastor Ian Sweeney

The North England Conference has embarked on a programme of cost cutting in an effort to place its finances on a more secure foundation. The steps being taken are aimed at making budget savings in the region of 10%. It has been known that for some years, the Conference has been relying on the Gift Aid returns to balance its books; “This not a safe course of action for us to follow as government policies on this benefit to charitable organisations can change at any time, placing the work of the church in peril,” says NEC President, Ian Sweeney. “Further, with all pension funds in deficit due to the economic downturn and the cost of the NEC’s contributions increasing each year and with the proportions of tithe sharing to higher organisations increasing, the time has come for us to have a radical rethink on how we can more effectively manage our limited resources going forward. Following is an interview with NEC President, Pastor Ian Sweeney, addressing some of these issues.

JN- Pastor Sweeney, the North England Conference is presently involved in a process of restructuring and realignment, could you outline the reasons for this and how it is to be achieved?

IS- I would use the terms restructuring and realignment only in a financial sense. Our Conference is operating in such a way that all the funds that we receive are either spent or accounted for, leaving us in a position with no ability to save. This is not good for the long term health of the Conference as we would find ourselves in a situation where we would be unable to survive any unforeseen financial crises. It is crucial for every organisation, be it a family or Conference to have savings or working capital to ensure the survivability of the organisation should unforeseen crises arise and it is a consequence of this situation that unavoidable steps have to be taken to decrease our workforce. These steps, however painful, must be taken to ensure the long-term health and welfare of the NEC.

JN- You are saying that the Conference is facing financial challenges, how do you account for this as the NEC’s quarterly financial reports show that tithe returns have been increasing above the rate of inflation and membership growth has been outstanding over recent years? Is this situation a new occurrence because your administration has been profligate in its spending or has there been a long term structural problem?

IS- I am very happy to see the continued loyalty of our membership to the mission of the church as reflected in the growth in our Conference membership to 8724 and also their continued financial commitment shown in continued tithe growth. However, the bottom line is that as income and numbers of congregations have increased so also have wage costs and the other everyday operating expenses of the Conference. We praise God for the membership growth, and it would have been nice to have seen a corresponding parallel in financial growth.

I would definitely deny that as an administration we have been profligate in our spending, it is just that the costs of servicing our membership has increased faster than has our income. Our operation of ministries and special events like Camp Meetings and Conference Sessions all have seen costs escalating.

Over the years the Conference sought to address membership concerns that some pastors were serving too many congregations, plus there were the Conference’s attempts to break new ground in evangelism and recent church planting drives, which all placed greater pressure on the Conference to grow the work force. All these have had an accumulated effect on the balance sheet of the Conference, hence the need for this restructuring.

JN- You say the Conference needs to increase its liquidity and build its reserves, please explain what that means in layman’s terms and why remedying this is so important?

IS- The working capital is the lifeblood of an organisation by which it meets its day to day operational requirements. Reserves are your savings put aside for the “rainy day” or moment of crisis. When and if an emergency arises we need funds to draw upon to meet such unforeseen challenges. Presently let’s say the Conference is taking in £100 and expending £100, essentially living from hand to mouth. Should emergencies arise we would have no reserves to draw on to tide us over. By TED policy, we need working capital equivalent to 20% of our annual operating expenditure plus covering all our restricted funds (i.e. funds held in trust for local churches and other organisations.) This is not only a policy requirement but it is good financial management to do so. If we carried on operating in this manner a day may come when we would not have the cash needed to meet our salary bill and would lead to insolvency. In order to address this situation we need to be able to have surpluses budgeted in future years and this is only achievable by reduction in expenditure (our major being employee costs) to within what our current level of regular income (being tithe funds) can support. This also guarantees that we start building up reserves going forward, hence the need for redundancies.

JN- You said earlier that the salary and expenses bill is the major expenditure of the Conference and that the only way to balance expenditure is to cut the wage bill by trimming the workforce. What kind of numbers are you thinking about and how will that be reflected in the bottom line?

IS- We are seeking to reduce the annual wage bill by some 10% or £400,000.

JN- Pastor Sweeney, I can hear members saying, balancing the books might be fine but how can our Conference leadership be cutting ministerial staff that are needed to service the churches and help it achieve its primary purpose, that of preaching the everlasting gospel?

IS- This is the real dilemma of our present situation. At the recent General Conference session in Atlanta, I noted that the highest growth rates in our churches around the world are in the places where churches are less pastor dependent and where greater emphasis is given to the principles outlined in Ephesians 4.12. It is my profound belief that every member is entrusted with the responsibility of evangelism, and it is the duty of the pastor and other leaders to equip and train the church for ministry. Lay involvement is the only way the mission of the church - that of proclaiming the Three Angel’s Messages - is going to be achieved. That is how the early church began, with every member taking ownership of ministry where God had placed them and that is how it is still growing by leaps and bounds in areas where membership are still committed to true discipleship and personal evangelism, and that is certainly how the work is going to be completed.

The PEACE school of evangelism operating in Birmingham has secured over 100 Bible studies in their first month of operation by knocking on doors, all of which are presently being followed up. How many congregations over the last three years in our Conference can say that they have made 100 contacts on the doors? What is happening at the PEACE school if replicated across the NEC would result in phenomenal growth. The work of the gospel will be completed only when the wider church membership takes personal ownership of their church and becomes committed to personal evangelism.

JN- People’s families, lives and futures are being affected by the necessary hard decisions that the Conference Administration is taking. What programmes have you put in place to give pastoral and emotional support to the colleagues and their families that will be affected by this very painful situation?

IS- Structures have been put into place that all affected employees and their families are aware of and can turn to for support as required.

JN- Though the constituency will understand the necessity for this unprecedented action, churches love their pastors and might be distressed by what is happening. What word of encouragement do you have to give them in this situation?

IS- I would ask that the Church membership, along with the NEC officers, continue to support and encourage their pastors in prayers and visitation. This is God’s church and we have every confidence that God has led and that He will continue to lead. Biblical history teaches us that no matter how dark and challenging the path might have seemed in the past; the prophetic word was that we could look forward with confidence to better days ahead. I want those affected by this situation to know that it is my deep conviction that their calling is sure and that God’s purpose will still be realised in their lives; He still has a purpose for them, there will be better days in growth, ministry and evangelism. When things improve opportunities for reemployment will occur.

JN- Pastor Sweeney, this retrenchment of workers must be a very painful exercise for you to oversee. From your perspective, what steps must be taken by the Administration and the wider membership to ensure that the Conference never revisits a situation like this?

IS- At Conference Sessions we often hear the cry for more department heads or larger projects such as a Residential Home for our seniors. These things may be noble and good, but the question we must always ask going forward is; ‘can they really be afforded and sustained in the long term by the Conference?’ We must be careful not to overreach ourselves financially, even for seemingly noble ends. Another thing that Administrators must keep always in sight is a more realistic membership/employee ratio in the light of the tithe income. Looking at it in terms of membership input, it is now time for those of our membership not faithfully supporting the cause of God to ‘step up to the plate’ and become more involved in planned giving, thereby helping to put the finances of the Conference on a more secure footing over the long term. Pastors and other district leaders need to be more courageous in their duty of Stewardship education challenging their members to greater loyalty to the mission of the church both in personal evangelistic effort and financial support.

JN- Thank you Pastor Sweeney for speaking to us and do you have any final words you would like to give at this time?

IS- I would like to ask all our brothers and sisters to continue to hold up in prayer those who are being affected by this process of financial restructuring as well as this Conference. I would also like to thank those who have submitted suggestions and criticisms, for they have challenged us as leaders to re-evaluate our plans more carefully and to be more diligent in the discharge of our duties to God and the constituency.