Did you know that the Pandemic Relief Bill passed by Congress includes provisions that local congregations can access? It does.

Church giving during a pandemic is a bit of a mystery. Every congregation is different. Every household within a congregation is different as well. For some people with reliable retirement incomes through pensions and social security, personal income may not be impacted much at all. For others, the closure of a business may mean significant changes and hardship. So, as you think about stewardship in your setting, be alert to the various situations in which people in your context find themselves.

At the same time, don’t assume that people can’t or won’t give. The experience we are having in our congregation is that people are using checks by mail and going online to give. We won’t know how much this impacts our giving over the next few months – it is still early in this process. But while it may be slowing, it definitely hasn’t stopped. People who love the and who can give are doing what they can to keep the church strong.

But there is provision in the Congressional Pandemic Relief Bill for small businesses to get loans/grants for up to 2.5 months of expenses related to payroll, benefits, utilities and mortgage payments. And congregations are eligible to apply for it just like other small businesses. Applications are taken through your local bank. You will need to document your payroll, benefits, utilities, and mortgage payments from March 2019 through March 2020. The monthly average for those costs can be the amount used as a base for the application. 2.5 the monthly average is the maximum amount most places can apply for. This money is then received as a loan through the bank and if the church maintains its staffing and payments through the pandemic and for a time afterward, the loan becomes a grant and the loan is repaid by the funding from the relief bill. That means that if your congregation maintains its staffing through this time, the money from the relief bill shifts from a loan to a grant.

Of course, the details are more than a blog can cover. But the bottom line is that if your congregation is in a situation where you are trying to keep paying your staff through this, the relief bill could be a resource to help you make that happen. The application process opens today (April 3^rd), so call your local bank and they can help you with the details in your locale.