“Jobless rate hits 9.4% in May.” That is the head line of an AP article that I just read in our Index Journal. Our unemployment rate is the highest it has been on 25 years! More than 14.5 million Americans are now out of work. Pretty sad news. However, the writer tried to bring a glimmer of hope by commenting that the rise in unemployment in May was less than expected. Only 345,000 jobs were lost compared to the expected number. Pretty sad when we have to look that hard for good news. Bottom line is that more families lost their income in the past month and many others still have not been able to find work.
Recently, I have heard I’ve heard a little more pessimism about coming out of the recession than what was being talked about a month or so ago. I was hearing that the recession may last until the 4th quater of this year or into the first half of 2010. Now I am hearing that it may take 2 or even 3 years to come out of it.
The question that comes to mind is “how will this affect the church?”. Here are a couple of my thoughts:
1. As people get laid off, even regular tithers will not be able to give at their current pace. ..budgets will be affected.
2. We have an opportunity to utilize the unemployed for volunteer work within the church. There may even be a shift from a formerly paid position to volunteers.
3. We must be watchful of our people who are still employed. Most often now, those who have jobs are working at the pace of one and a half to two people. This will affect marriages, relationship, availability and if we are not watchful, their spiritual life. It certainly could be a time for growth in all areas.
4. As far as the church spending and budget is concerned, we need to WATCH and ADJUST…more on that later.
I know we serve a God that is larger than our economy, our unemployment, our budgets, etc. It is time to trust HIM, watch and adjust.
