Holy Ghost Budgeting?!

I am currently working on the church budget for 2009. I have been involved in the church budget since the late '80s and it is never fun. It is weird that I don't consider myself a "numbers" guy since "numbers" is the main part of my job here at the church. I am a "words" guy. I love words and stories. However, I understand the importance of accurate numbers in the whole accounting/budgeting thing. Accountability and integrity are the non-negotiables of finances.

There are some who feel that budgeting "limits the Holy Spirit" in church life and resent any mechanism that would inhibit the ability to follow His leading. They are the ones who operate under the banner of "if we have the money we will do it". There are others who see the budget as paramount and value the process of planning over spontenaity. They are the ones who say, "if it is in the budget, we will do it. It it's not, we won't." I fall somewhere between those two points.

Budgets are a lot of work. If we are going to do all of the work, but then enter 2009 and disregard the budget in light of new directions in ministry, that is frustrating. It is also frustrating to be bound by a budget that will not allow a church to follow new opportunities that may be presented during the course of the year. So what is the solution? How do we plan ahead and remain flexible? Can we and should we budget without limiting the Holy Spirit? Is God limited by our plans? I'll talk about this for the next few days.