GAINESVILLE, Ga. (BP) — Zach Williams knows what it’s like to be a pastor when the finances are tight. He’s had those restless nights of trying to figure out how to meet church expenses. He’s heard a treasurer ask him to hold off on cashing his paycheck for a few more days.
“There have been many times that I’ve had to pray, ‘God, if you don’t do something, we won’t make it,’” Williams told The Christian Index. “And, of course, every single time He’s proven Himself faithful.”
At a mid-February deacons meeting, the subject turned to church finances. Flat Creek Baptist Church, the group acknowledged, was in good financial shape. In fact, it was better than good. At that point, Williams says he witnessed the most generous statement he’s ever heard.
“Our chairman of deacons, Royce Millwood, looked at everyone and said, ‘God has been so good to our church. We need to find ways to use this money for His glory and not hoard it for ourselves.’
“He said it, and we moved on,” Williams remembers. “But, the memory of it stayed with me.”
At that time, news of the coronavirus remained largely in China, although cases had begun appearing in the U.S. Still, it was hard to believe that the illness would squirm into every state of the country and halt day-to-day life as we know it.
And while churches have quickly adapted to online services and ministry while doing their best to adhere to recommendations on social distancing, everyone braces for a pronounced effect on giving.
Williams remembers the impact a hurricane, flood or blizzard could have on church tithes. “It would cripple us,” he says. “But you just had to figure out what you were going to do.
“When I heard churches could have their doors closed for eight weeks, I knew there would be some in danger of shutting down. My mind went to Acts 2:44-45 and how the early church gave to all those in need.”
Source: Baptist Press
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