5 Traps That Keep Churches From Getting Started
We’ve walked a lot of churches through the process of picking and starting a financial class.
Many had everything you’d think they’d need: a pastor who was on board, a volunteer ready to lead it, and even a budget set aside. Sounds good on paper—but what if I told you many of these churches never actually launched anything?
Here’s what this typically looks like: Someone finds a class they’re excited about. They mention it to a few people. Everyone nods. And then six months later, it’s still “something we should do sometime.”
So what’s different about the churches that actually do make progress?
After helping more than 100 churches successfully launch, we’ve found it comes down to a few specific traps they avoided—the ones that tend to kill good ideas before they ever get off the ground.
Trap #1: No clear owner
It’s not that anyone said no. It’s that no one said yes, and here’s when we’re doing it.
If you want this to actually happen, someone has to own it. That might be you. It might be someone else. But “everyone thinks it’s a good idea” is not a plan.
Trap #2: Wrong champion
This isn’t a knock on you—it’s just how churches work. Every church has people who are good at getting things adopted. They know the right conversations to have, the right order to have them, and who needs to be in the room when decisions get made.
If that’s you, great. If it’s not, the best thing you can do might be to find that person, get them excited about it, and hand it off.
A question worth asking: “Who typically gets new things adopted around here?” It’s probably not the lead pastor—they’re usually the last step, not the driver. It’s often a staff member, an elder, or a volunteer who just has a knack for moving things forward.
Trap #3: Too many stakeholders
The more people involved in a decision, the longer it takes. That’s just math. And with something like a financial class—where everyone has opinions about money, curriculum, timing, and budget—it’s easy for discussions to go in circles.
One thing that helps: don’t ask for permission to launch a church-wide program. Ask for permission to pilot it with a small group.
A church in Canada did exactly this: “This was one of those that we tried on the side. It wasn’t well publicized. We wanted to see how our people received it.” It’s a smaller ask with fewer stakeholders, which leads to faster decisions.
And once you have results and testimonials from real people in your congregation, the conversation changes. You’re not asking them to take a chance on something—you’re showing them what already worked.
Trap #4: Waiting for the right time
There will always be a reason to wait. The budget cycle. The building campaign. The pastoral transition. The holiday season. The summer slump.
Churches that get this done don’t wait for a perfect window. They pick a date that’s “good enough” and commit to it. One pastor told us, “We’re hoping to offer it again in the spring. It’s a little too soon to do it in winter, but we’ll wait till spring when people are really motivated—after they get their debt back from the holidays.”
Notice: he’s not waiting for perfect. He’s thinking a few months ahead and picking a realistic window. That’s the difference.
Trap #5: Comparing options forever
There are a lot of financial programs out there. You could spend months evaluating all of them. We’ve talked to people who did exactly that—and a year later, they still hadn’t run anything.
At some point, you have to pick one and go. A volunteer in California told us how she made the decision: “I did some research. I really liked what I saw. I watched the videos, read the book, and I was pretty convinced. So I pitched it to our pastors.” Research, decide, move. Done.
Perfect is the enemy of done. The best class is the one that actually happens.
The short version
If you want this to happen: find the right champion (maybe you, maybe not), start small if you need to, don’t wait for the perfect time, and don’t overthink the decision. The churches that actually run financial classes aren’t the ones with the best plan—they’re the ones who picked a date and told people about it.
If you’re stuck or want to talk through how to move this forward at your church, just reach out. We’re here and happy to help you think through it.
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