A Financial Literacy, Management & Well-Being Resource
The COMPASS Academy resources inform and empower ministers in biblical financial leadership, stewardship, and well-being. Resources are organized into six categories.
Each category has several sub-topics. This page highlights four featured resources in each category.
Click on category titles for the full list of resources.
Personal Budgeting and Debt Management
- A free app that helps you manage your finances with budgeting and expense tracking - Mint links to your bank and credit card accounts so you see exactly what is happening with your money.
- Learn how to take control of your money. A biblically based course in basic personal finances (14 hours)
- A step by step how-to and multiple articles by Dave Ramsey about the fundamentals of budgeting (1 hour)
- Online tools for comparing repayment options for your student loans using your own data (1 hour)
Retirement Readiness
- See how $2,000 now can be worth more than $12,000 later (5 minutes)
- What you need to know about making catch-up contributions to your 403(b) retirement savings account
- The issues of retirement that you need to consider. (1 - 2 hours)
- Enrollment guide with FAQs, investment options, Beneficiary Designation Form, and Letter of Agreement Form
Training for Biblical Stewardship
- Resources available from Generous Church: Training videos, sermon illustrations, epapers, articles
- Sermons, bulletin inserts, PowerPoint slides, letters, and Bible lessons for a monthlong church-wide stewardship emphasis. (Need to create a free account. Time estimate should include preparation and delivery time.)
- This six-session program provides a Wesleyan approach to the topics of earning, spending, debt, savings, and giving, along with strategies to achieve a sustainable financial life. (Small group study should include study preparation time and small group meeting.)
- Dave Ramsey's churchwide stewardship movement
- A variety of resources including curriculum, videos, articles, preaching/teaching materials, and Excel worksheets (1 - 2 hours)
Communicating Finances as a Leader
- Stewardship Ministries' free stewardship toolkit that explores gaining and saving all we can in order to live more generously. (Time estimate should include preparation and delivery time.) Disponible en Español
- Brian Kluth's ebook for pastors and church leaders. (15 minutes)
- Video driven training on eight principles for preaching on money, stewardship and generosity
Local Church Finances
- An ECFA webinar-on-demand with Rollie Dimos, a certified fraud examiner and certified internal auditor, helping churches reduce the risk of fraud and increase financial accountability.
- The form that EVERY church board needs to fill out in order to contribute to the pastor's 403(b) retirement account
- P&B Memo #11 - Auto and Other Business Expense Reimbursements (10 minutes)
- A P&B video with everything you need to consider in structuring your pastor's compensation package (click below). (23:04)
Financial Glossary
- An independent examination of an organization’s records and accounts to make sure that they show a fair, accurate and legal reflection of the financial position of the company at the accounting date. Audits can be either internal or external.
- A plan of spending over a certain length of time, based on how much income a person(s) or organization anticipates having.
- Theft or misappropriation of funds placed in one's trust or belonging to one's employer.
- A designated portion of a pastor’s salary (officially designated in advance of payment) for the amount actually used to provide or rent a home not to exceed the fair market rental value of the home (including furnishings, utilities, garage, etc.).