In 2023, Everence® awarded $10,675 in financial assistance grants to help pastors facing very real and heavy financial burdens.
The grants, offered through the Everence Pastoral Financial Wellness Program, provide financial assistance to pastors facing dire need – particularly those hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and who are serving small churches and/or congregations of color.
“Many small churches serving urban, immigrant or underserved communities were among the first congregations to return to in-person worship services and recover from pre-pandemic attendance levels,” said Madalyn Metzger, Everence Chief Marketing Officer and Pastoral Financial Wellness Program Director. “But the same can’t be said for their church giving and budgets, which are disproportionately impacted by the ongoing post-pandemic economic challenges.”
The Everence Pastoral Financial Wellness Program is made possible, in part, by funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. as part of their National Initiative to Address Economic Challenges Facing Pastoral Leaders. Since the Pastoral Financial Wellness Program’s inception in 2016, Everence has awarded 471 financial assistance grants totaling $2.1 million, to help pastors address immediate financial needs related to medical debt, credit card debt, educational loan assistance, or other financial concerns.
The program also offers financial education and wellness events to help pastors think through issues related to personal money management, clergy taxes, retirement readiness, cultivating generous congregations, and more. Since 2016, Everence has hosted 113 of these educational events, with more than 3,000 participants in total.
Additionally, the program offered subsidies toward the cost of a first-year Everence comprehensive financial plan. From 2016 through 2023, 321 pastors have taken advantage of this opportunity to work with an Everence financial professional to develop a plan to meet their short- and long-term financial stewardship goals.
“In their desire to focus on answering God’s call, pastors and church leaders too often give so much of their time and talents while also taking on overwhelming financial burdens,” Metzger continued. “The Pastoral Financial Wellness Program is a reminder that our covenant with God needs to include the care and tending of both our financial resources and ourselves, so that our church leaders and communities can experience transformative spiritual growth and vibrancy.”
For more information about the Everence Pastoral Financial Wellness Program, talk to your Everence stewardship consultant.
