The ChurchTrac Blog
Clergy Housing Allowance 101
Your pastor might be losing thousands of dollars in take-home pay every year—and the IRS is perfectly happy to let you keep making this classic mistake. The clergy housing allowance is the most significant tax benefit available to ministers, yet it is ...
The #1 Pastor Payroll Mistake (It's FICA)
January 1st is often a hopeful moment for small churches. Payroll gets updated, numbers are changed, and things move forward. Unfortunately, this is also when one of the most common pastor payroll mistakes quietly happens. A well-meaning church treasure...
New Feature: Enhanced Messaging
Enhanced Messaging gives your church a dedicated toll-free number to send and receive texts and voice messages directly within ChurchTrac—no third-party integrations required. How Enhanced Messaging Works After providing basic information about your c...
Pastor Mileage Reimbursement 101 [Form Included]
Pastors log countless miles for ministry: hospital visits, counseling, meetings, conferences, and more. Because it’s so routine, mileage reimbursement is often overlooked or handled casually. Some churches add “extra pay” for gas or reimburse miles ...
How Often Should Churches Do Background Checks? (More Often Than You Think)
Background checks are one of those topics most churches mean to stay on top of, but in practice, they tend to slip quietly into the background until something forces the issue. The problem is this: background checks are not lifetime clearances. And when ...
Resurrection Power: 7 Powerful Easter Sermon Ideas
Preparing a moving sermon on the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a big responsibility. But crafting the perfect Resurrection Sunday message is still at the top of your list, even with everything else on your plate leading up to Easter. So I've put t...
The State of Church Attendance: Trends and Statistics [2026]
Church attendance in the U.S. is no longer collapsing, but it isn’t rebounding either. New surveys suggest religious service attendance has reached a stabilization point after years of decline accelerated by the pandemic. Below are the most important c...
5 Impactful Youth Sermon Ideas
Crafting impactful youth sermon ideas demands a blend of relevance and depth, addressing their questions, fears, and the challenges they face in today's world. That's no easy task! Here are 5 preaching topics for youth, complete with applicable bible scr...
1099 VS W2: A Guide For Churches
Churches depend on a wide range of people to carry out ministry: pastors, administrative staff, worship leaders, guest speakers, and outside service providers. Somewhere along the way, almost every church asks the same question: Should this person be paid...