First,
I am happy to say that even if gas hit $100 a gallon that the church would live on. At the same time the way we have structured the church – large corporate gatherings distant from many of those who attend…rising oil and gas prices can start to be reflected in the church in a number of ways.
1 – Increased need for a transportation ministry as people don’t want to drive as much
2 – Decreased numbers in parcohial schools as people have to stretch their money further and opt to put their children in public schools
3 – Decreases in giving – the priorities of the church begin to be reflected in what we choose to give our money to/spend our money on.
4 – Crunch on missionaries as the dollar has become devalued in many foreign currencies = same support yet basically receiving a cut in support as the dollar does not stretch as far or convert to as much foreign currency.
5 – Shifts in the budget – We start to see budgets shift as those ministries that spend money on gas have less to spend in other areas.
How have you seen the price of gas affect the church/ministry?
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#4 is going hard on Marcelo, my brother-in-law who is a church planter/evangelist in Brazil.
I think as long as we understand God’s economy, we will be set free from how the ways of the world works. Take for example in the area of giving/tithing. On the contrary, I think as a believer, we should maintain our tithing, if not more. Because we can never out give God. The more we give the more we receive. In fact, from my experience, God always multiple the tithe that i bring to Him. Many a times, the returns is at least ten folds return. But having said that, we do not give in order to expect a return. And always there are many ways that God gives to us. Such as a healthy body so that we do not spend money going to the doctors. God Bless 🙂
Visit my this page at my blog and listen to the sermon on THE PRINCIPLES OF TITHING https://sgdavid.wordpress.com/my-youtube/
God Bless You Richly!
I think if this “crisis” truly does become a crisis, we will see a change in the structure of the church. I think it will become more like what the earlier Christians had because they had to walk to meet together. Churches might be smaller, but will definitely be more close-knit, more like the families we all want our churches to be anyway. I think communities in general will change because more are walking, and if Christians do their jobs, their communities will become their church families.
Just a thought. 🙂