WEBINAR: Financial Literacy for Congregational Leaders
Thu, Oct 01
|Event Link Coming Soon
On Thursday, October 1 from 7pm-8:30pm ET, The Northeast Fellowship will welcome Derek Henson from Pinnacle Services to present a free webinar to help pastors, treasurers, trustees, and other congregational leaders understand the basics of church finances.
Time & Location
Oct 01, 2026, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Event Link Coming Soon
About The Event
Welcome & framing (10 min)
Why this matters: protecting yourself and your congregation by knowing the numbers
Reading the Numbers (25 min)
How to read a financial statement, spot budget surprises, and understand the
different "buckets" of church money
Fiduciary oversight (25 min)
How to tell if cash flow is healthy, and what good financial oversight looks like
Fund structures & controls (15 min)
The difference between general funds, designated gifts, restricted funds, and
endowments
Q&A and resources (15 min)
Open discussion; handouts and simple tools to take home
RSVPs are appreciated but not required.
A recording of the webinar will be available for six months following. However, live attendance will allow for specific questions.
The webinar link will be posted here soon.
Derek Henson
Founder | Lead Consultant
Derek Henson founded Pinnacle Services and leads the firm's work with mainline Protestant congregations. He brings twenty years of experience serving churches as minister, staff member, and lay leader across traditions from Pentecostal to mainline Protestant, giving him insight into how different churches approach stewardship, governance, and change.
Derek's path has included roles with Partners for Sacred Places and congregations of varying sizes, polities, and contexts, giving him hands-on experience in facilities management, capital planning, community engagement, and fundraising. That path taught him that every congregation carries its own history, structure, and sense of call, and that his role is to ask the right questions, not to arrive with prescribed answers.
Derek holds a BA from the University of Valley Forge, an MA in Theology and Ministry from Brite Divinity School, and a certificate in nonprofit management. He believes strategy and faith can't be pulled apart, and that congregations deserve honest clarity about what's actually possible, without losing sight of who they're called to be.
Derek returned to rural western Maryland in 2024, where his ancestors have lived for generations. Locally, he's involved in historic preservation organizations, and values the area's easy access to the outdoors alongside its proximity to the Washington, DC metro area. His work is shaped by a commitment to helping congregations build the beloved community they're called to create.
For more about Derek and Pinnacle Services CLICK HERE.