At times of financial crisis, it is obvious churches and ministries need to focus on how to maintain revenues and reduce expenses as well as find resources to assist in administrative decision making. Here are 5 key areas you can begin working on today.

1. Facilities

The time is now to evaluate the church’s current usage of electricity, gas and water utilities. Program your thermostats, whether manual or a smart thermostat now. Or, go out and buy some that will work with your HVAC units. Schedule the thermostats to hold heating temperatures between 10 – 15C. Make sure lights are off where necessary. In fact, go through the church building now and evaluate what adjustments can be made for today as well as for the future. And be sure to check leaky taps and anything that requires a supply of water. Items that get used once a week may be sitting idly for the next number of weeks and may be susceptible to a full-blown water line or fixture break. Changes for utilities can save you money immediately.

2. Deferred payments & premiums

While we would love to receive forgiveness for loans or mortgages or other bills, the best we may get is likely a deferral. Be sure to talk to all your lenders to see what arrangements can be made to assist you in your monthly cash flow. Apart from eliminating extras, there may be reasons to investigate reductions in goods and services. For example, insurance coverage - however, that is not recommended. But why not contact agencies, landlords, suppliers and/or vendors to seek any type of relief in premiums or building/equipment lease payments.

3. Contracts

There may be contracts that have been entered into that provide for parties to be excused from their contractual obligations in the event of serious unforeseen circumstances such as COVID-19. Often referred to as “force majeure” clauses, they generally discharge a contracting party when an event, beyond the control of either party, makes performance impossible. Be sure to review the contract thoroughly to determine what, if any, terms exist to address a “force majeure”. In any event, open the lines of communication first to find an answer to potential financial implications for breaking a contract…and don’t hesitate to seek legal counsel if necessary.

4. Staffing

While each church and ministry would love to avoid making any kind of staffing adjustments, stewarding the resources of finances and people will inevitably place this topic in front of leadership. The federal government has created the Temporary Wage Subsidy Program which provides small employers (including religious charities like a church) a temporary wage subsidy for a period of three months (click here for more information). However, if layoffs are unavoidable, there are even options here to consider. Churches that are able to top-up Employment Insurance (EI) benefits for what they hope is a temporary layoff, should use a Supplemental Unemployment Benefit (SUB) plan to do so - click here to find out more details. Churches may also want to provide ongoing group insurance benefits during this time of layoff. To facilitate that, churches need to register with Service Canada. The federal and provincial governments are moving to provide financial measures as well as the processing of employment insurance claims if necessary. Here are the main website pages to begin to find further information for employers and employees:

• Canada (Federal) Coronavirus general link here

• Alberta (Provincial) Coronavirus general link here

• NWT (Territorial) Coronavirus general link here

5. Charities info

The Canada Revenue Agency’s Charities Directorate has made some adjustments in light of COVID-19. First of all, the deadline for all T3010 filings due between March 18th, 2020 and December 31st, 2020 have been extended to December 31st, 2020. The Charities Directorate call centre services are temporarily suspended up until and including Friday, April 3rd, 2020. Finally, the government has started moving all registered charity information inputting as well as payroll account functioning to online access only - it is important that all churches and ministries set up the CRA’s online Business Account now.

NOT LEGAL ADVICE. Information made available here is for information purposes only. It is not, and should not be taken as legal advice. You should not rely on, or take or fail to take any action based upon this information. Never disregard professional legal advice or delay in seeking legal advice because of something you have read here.

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