What is PFHI?
The Alliance Pastoral Financial Health Initiative is a comprehensive support program created to serve licensed workers navigating financial challenges in ministry. Through direct financial assistance, personalized coaching, practical financial training, and in-depth resources that serve your ministry, this initiative equips leaders to reduce financial stress, regain confidence, and focus on what matters most—your calling and your people.
Financial Support
If you qualify, financial support is available through the Ministerial Excellence Fund to help address immediate personal needs and foster long-term stability for qualified official workers that apply under financial hardship or financial assistance categories.
Personalized Services
Applicants may receive one-on-one coaching from a trusted advisor who understands the unique financial challenges pastors and ministry leaders face.
Financial Training
After your application is reviewed, online courses may be provided for personal budgeting, debt reduction, investing, and retirement planning through our online education platform. In the future, we can offer regional in-person training for official workers and training for leadership boards and congregations.
Practical Resources
Stewardship training and other online tools to strengthen congregational financial health, accountability, and transparency can be provided based on your needs outlined on your application.
Designed for Impact
✓ Gain confidence and reduce financial stress in your daily life.
✓ Lead generously by growing healthy stewardship habits.
✓ Build trust through honest conversations with your leadership team.
✓ Prepare for long-term ministry with tools that help you thrive.
Given with Intention
Eligible Christian and Missionary Alliance licensed workers in the U.S. can apply for financial support up to $2,500. The funds can be used to help licensed workers pay for hardship situations including medical debt, credit card debt, overdue utilities, personal loans, student loan debt, or situations involving foreclosure.
In later phases of the program beyond 2026, funding will be made available to support vacation/retreat funds, emergency fund creation, and/or increase of retirement savings. The grant funds cannot be used for ministries in the church, church building repair, or other church-related expenses. The funds cannot be used for current educational expenses and/or tuition. Funds are to be used for the licensed worker’s personal financial needs, as described above. This is an ongoing initiative and will grow year-to-year, so please check back periodically for more specific updates.
Ready to participate?
Before applying, review the eligibility guidelines:
- I am a current licensed worker of The Christian and Missionary Alliance.
- My church is affiliated with and participating in The U.S. Christian and Missionary Alliance.
- My church has been affiliated for at least one year and has contributed to The Alliance for at least six months.
- My church has a recent giving record to the Great Commission Fund.
- I am not currently employed or contracted by the Alliance National Office.
- I am a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or an R1 Visa holder officially assigned to a church.
- I have been a licensed worker and have served at my current church for at least one year.
- I understand that multiple licensed workers from my church may apply for and receive this grant.
- In the case of licensed workers who are married, only one hardship or assistance application per household will be accepted at one time if the requests are for the same financial need.
- I understand that I may receive financial support (qualifying assistance or hardship cases) provided the second application is 12 months after the first award.
How to Apply
- Check your eligibility.
- Choose from among the following in the application:
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- Hardship and assistance applications may receive financial monetary support in addition to formative support, including financial training or a consultation. Completing the prescribed financial training steps is a condition of receiving monetary help and continuing eligibility.
- Education and coaching applications may receive access to financial courses or a coaching consultation.
Once you complete the application, you should receive a confirmation email. If you do not receive the email, please log in at the application site, click “my applications”, and check all sections. You may need to use the scroll feature to view all sections. Please review that everything is complete, then submit. The system will provide a confirmation email only when your application is fully submitted. In the event you have not received confirmation notification after following these steps to ensure completion, you may contact our team at [email protected]
Frequently Asked Questions
Hardship Requests
Designed for those experiencing significant and immediate financial difficulty, these applications require detailed financial information and documentation to verify the hardship. If the situation is deemed a true hardship by the decision team, support can be given to the applicant prior to completing the assigned financial tasks. However, completing the tasks within six months is necessary to maintain eligibility in the program.
Assistance Requests
Intended for specific financial needs, these applications involve multiple steps and require supporting information and documentation of the need. If financial assistance is awarded, applicants receive financial support after completing assigned financial literacy tasks.
Education Requests
Focused on building financial knowledge and long-term health, these applications are shorter and do not require financial documentation. Approved applicants receive access to financial education courses and may select the one that best fits their needs. This award does not include financial support in most cases. The Ministerial Excellence Fund provides access to the courses at no cost to the applicant. Available courses cover topics such as foundational stewardship, budgeting, retirement, investing, and addressing debts.
Coaching Requests
These are designed for personalized financial guidance. Like education requests, these do not require financial documentation. After approval, applicants may meet with a financial coach to discuss their goals and situation. The initiative provides access to a coaching consultation at no cost to the applicant. This award does not include financial support in most cases.
Financial hardship shows up in many ways. If you’ve fallen behind on medical bills, rent, car payments, or utilities; if you’re facing foreclosure, repossession, or collection calls; if you’ve had to postpone necessary medical or dental care for an extended time due to cost; if you’re behind on taxes; or if you have had to rely heavily on credit cards to get by, creating excessive debt, you may be experiencing financial hardship.
Hardship can occur not only in crisis moments but also when your income is unable to meet your basic needs for an extended period.
You may qualify to receive a financial assistance grant through PFHI if:
- you’re juggling which bills to pay first because you don’t have enough income to meet your needs;
- you’ve delayed taking a break or vacation for years due to lack of funds;
- rising costs like excessive HOA fees, significant rent hikes, or insurance premiums are straining your budget;
- car trouble or home repairs feel overwhelming; or
- you’ve experienced an unexpected job shift, ministry transition, or medical diagnosis that changed your financial reality.
The application process is simple, though there can be multiple steps. Based on your request type, the system will prompt you to provide specific information. In some cases, the PFHI office may request additional documents or explanations. You’ll be able to securely upload everything into your personal online folder. Hardship and assistance applications require you to provide all income and expense data as well as outline your existing debts. You also must provide documentation of your needs. Education and coaching applications do not require you to provide all your income data or any documentation.
Only the PFHI administrative team and the Ministry Excellence Fund Team will review your full application. Your district will be asked only to verify your licensed worker status and church name/position. All specific financial information is securely stored and kept confidential.
After your application is fully complete and submitted, you will receive an immediate confirmation email. The Ministry Excellence Fund Team reviews applications periodically, approximately once a month. You can expect to hear a decision within several weeks of submission, but sometimes it will take longer. You’ll receive a few status updates along the way. Some important communications are automated, so please check your spam folder to ensure you’re receiving all updates.
You may request up to $2,500 in financial support through a hardship or assistance application.
You may receive financial support (assistance or hardship) provided the second application is at least 12 months after the first award.
Yes! Each course is broken into short sessions filled with practical, biblical insight tailored to real-life challenges. With a unique access code given for each course assigned, you can move at your pace, building greater financial confidence one step at a time.
Yes. Our coaches are not only certified—they’re ministry-minded. In partnership with Orchard Alliance, PFHI provides coaching from people who understand the unique financial pressures of pastors and church workers. This option can be explored through an introductory conversation to discuss what coaching might look like for you.
Yes. All recipients are required to complete at least one online financial course—and sometimes more than one will be assigned, but the timing depends on the type of support you receive.
- If you’re approved for financial hardship, funds are disbursed first, and you’ll have six months to complete the course and upload your certificate to maintain eligibility.
- If you’re approved for financial assistance, you must complete the course(s) first. Once we receive your certificate of completion, the funds will be released.
Yes! Whether you’re struggling or doing well, a financial coach or our online courses can help you with practical tools, assist with wise planning, and guide you through key decisions for long-term stability. Choose a “Financial Education” or “Financial Coaching” application type.
This is a five-year program with plans to be sustained for another five years if funds become available. Financial support for qualified workers with different types of needs will be made available as the program grows these first five years, so continue to check back for updates.
Resources
Certain courses below are assigned to applicants based on their needs.
- God Owns it All
- Dealing with Debt
- Rethink Your Budget
- Investing for the Future: A Biblical Approach
- Retirement – A New Phase of Life
Program applicants, click “buy” to use your provided coupon code(s) to pay and enroll in the course(s).
Coming Soon
- Online Resource Library Contents
- Register for Regional Training
Contact Us
We’re here to help! If you would like more information or have questions, email us at [email protected] and a member of our team will get back to you.
This project is grant and donor funded and is supported by the Alliance Church Ministries team and Orchard Alliance.