Conference Warns Employees: “We are facing a shaky future”

1 April 2020  |

In a warm and appreciative letter, the president of the Kansas-Nebraska Conference warned employees that there may be sacrifices in the future for all employees. Elder Ron Carlson reassured them that the “Conference is in a relatively healthy financial position” and has “been intentional about building strong reserves,” but notes that

members are losing their jobs. This translates into less tithe and more difficulty paying tuition. We also know that church attendance is linked to giving. We want payroll at the end of April, May, June and onward to have the funds available to fully cover it. Yet, it may require some sacrifices to accomplish this.

The letter reassures employees that they won’t be sacrificed in favor of leaders:

Our promise to you, our dedicated pastors, teachers and office staff, is that if/when any reductions in pay/benefits are necessary to maintain our ministry workforce, those “cuts” will be shared proportionally by ALL of us. We hope it doesn’t come to that, but we are facing a shaky future which we’ve never dealt with before. If possible, we will consider shared sacrifice before making the difficult decision to let an employee go.

Kansas-Nebraska is one of many conferences that have warned employees that church employment may change because of the hit to the whole economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools are going to have a particularly difficult time collecting tuition without classroom instruction happening. Adventist colleges operating on thin margins are likely to be hit hard. And conference tithe funds will undoubtedly be affected by the economic decline resulting from an almost nationwide quarantine.

Is your conference or institution struggling? Let’s talk together about what’s happening to employees in various parts of the church. Click below.

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