Churchwide Budget

As a steward of the resources that God has provided, the ELCA organizes itself to make the most effective use of its resources to accomplish its mission. This organizational work includes the development of a churchwide budget.

The work of developing a budget for the ELCA churchwide organization is an interactive process involving the input, discernment and skills of a variety of leaders, officers of the ELCA and specific organizational structures with responsibilities for participation in the budgeting process. Ultimately, the purpose of this interactive process is to allocate financial resources that strengthen the ELCA’s participation in God’s mission in ways appropriate to the role of the ELCA churchwide organization.

The ELCA Church Council recommends the triennium budgets for consideration by the Churchwide Assembly, which meets every three years in August. Alongside the many responsibilities attended to during a Churchwide Assembly, one of its primary purposes is the approval of a current funding budget and an ELCA World Hunger budget for the upcoming period of three years. The Council has the authority to revise the spending agreement after periodic review of revised income estimates for the church.