Teen ministry and children's ministry events are run on a break even basis. Once I have established how much the cost is going to be to run an event I inform the churches and the local congregational leadership then have to make a decision about whether an event is to be subsidised by the local ministry or not. Whilst I encourage the local ministry to subsidise the events whether they do or not and to what level is largely dependent on local budgets, available funds and congregational members' ability to pay. This is all of course directly related to how much contribution is given and the priorities of your local ministry.

In some cases I would expect certain events to be given a more generous subsidy than others as they either cost more to run or are targeted to what may be a more financially needy group. The teen camp for example costs £200 per head to run, the nature of the event requires a considerable volunteer workforce and transportation. I do not expect the volunteer workforce to pay for their places as they are giving up their free time (some even giving up holiday time) and they work very hard and much is expected of them when they are there. They are of course welcome to make a contribution should they so wish (such as towards accomodation, food, transport etc.) but this is entirely optional. The costs therefore have to be absorbed in the registration fee.

Once your local registration fee is published you can register directly via the website or using the hard copy form and your local administrator will be advised, who will in turn collect the registration fee from you. Once the event is over I send an invoice to the local congregation for all of the registered places that have come from that congregation and they pay the invoice to the central funds who in turn pay the invoices and expenses related to the event.

I recognise that this is perhaps not the ideal situation for the financial management of such events but in our current circumstances this is the best workable solution we have if we are to fulfill the desire to maintain cross congregational camps and activities.

I hope this is helpful. Feel free to call me or email if you wish to discuss this further or have any practical ideas about how this could be improved.

Barry