About Us | Administrative Consulting Ministry

L earn about ACMin's history, AND see what others are saying about project experiences. ACMin is uniquely equipped to deal with the complex issues of missions finance, particularly missionary compensation and related topics. Past projects have ranged from some of the largest missions to some of the smallest. We are sensitive to a mission's culture and will work to cause minimum disruption to historical expectations.

About Jerry:

After receiving an Accounting degree from Wichita State University, Jerry Burgess joined the Big-Eight CPA Accounting firm of Coopers and Lybrand. Feeling a call to full-time ministry, he subsequently left the public accounting profession and attended The Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, MO. He is an ordained minister, as well as a Certified Public Accountant.  While attending seminary, he was invited to join the staff of the Assemblies of God National headquarters in Springfield. He served that organization for about 20 years, primarily as the Finance Director for Foreign Missions. While in that position, he was called upon to effect major change in the existing processing systems. He worked extensively with administration, donors, regulatory agencies, and individual missionaries to develop and implement finance and compensation-related policies and procedures.

Much of that extensive research, development, and experience has been brought to the table to benefit the larger missionary community. During that time, he also served the fellowship as a part time accounting instructor at Evangel University. For the next fourteen years, he served as a Missionary Compensation Consultant for ORC Worldwide and Mercer USA, assisting many missionary organizations in the revision and/or development of finance and compensation policies. He has recently begun to serve the missionary community through Administrative Consulting Ministry (ACMin). He has also served on the steering committee for the Missio Nexus Tax/Finance Seminar for many years.  The breadth of this experience uniquely qualifies him to speak to the fiscal issues facing the religious, non-profit community.

A few client comments about past consulting projects:

NOTE: We are consultants, not attorneys. We never intend to offer legal advice. Our opinions are carefully studied and are often subjected to legal review. Before advancing or agreeing to a risky practice, we will recommend the agency submit it to their legal counsel. Many positions adopted by agencies are often accompanied by some risk, and it is widely held that to be free from risk would render us ineffective in ministry.

Jerry was instrumental in helping us revamp our compensation policy to be in better compliance with IRS regulations. What we appreciated was how he first delved into our agency’s ethos and culture, then helped us shape a policy that balanced the need for change with maintaining our own unique identity in every way possible. In the process he has also been an invaluable counselor in a number of indirectly related areas, simply drawing on his years of experience and expertise.

We’ve also engaged Katie as Human Resources consultant, another area where we needed help to come into better compliance with government regulations, as well as more clearly establish our policies. She’s been invaluable as we had no one on staff with significant experience in the area.

Their expertise, combined with an obvious deep spiritual walk with the Lord, makes them a tremendous team in helping agencies like ours. We highly recommend both Jerry and Katie to help any agency improve their administrative structures and policies.
Dan Durbin, Finance Director of WEC International
When I asked my accountant questions about the interrelationship between human resources rules and the IRS guidelines for creating a supported missionary program, he told me the best guy in the country to talk to was Jerry Burgess. He was right. Jerry's knowledge of how to develop a plan that satisfied our missionaries, administrative staff, donors, and regulatory agencies made the end product—our policy handbook—so easy to work with. He guided us through the process in record time. The best thing though is Jerry’s willingness to do it at a cost that small organizations can afford. We couldn't have done it without him.
Rick Schenker, President of Ratio Christi
I was a new administrator of a young agency when I attended a seminar by Jerry Burgess on the components of a compensation plan. Our agency had not developed any policy or implementation approaching what Jerry described as required and essential. I hired him shortly after that seminar as a consultant to help me design a program. He traveled to our ministry headquarters, but our time was cut short due to a death in my family. By his own initiative, he generously continued to help me build what I needed by long distance; giving me the philosophical framework and the practical design feedback I needed before presenting our policy and implementation results to my board of directors. The board was impressed and immediately endorsed all that we had proposed.

The compensation plan has been extremely stable and has not required any further adjustments even as our agency has grown. Through the time since, I have looked forward to every chance to renew our friendship and to reaffirm my confidence that such an experienced and competent person is never further away than my telephone. I highly commend his services without the slightest hesitation.
Dr. Jim Roche, VP of Administration for Crossover Communications
When the World Mission Service Center of the Baptist Bible Fellowship International went through a major review and upgrade of our policies and procedures in the area of missionary compensation and reporting requirements, we hired Jerry Burgess as our consultant. His knowledge and experience in this area is outstanding. As he worked with us, making recommendations and guiding us through the complex maze of procedures, IRS regulations and best practices, he showed himself to be the right man for the job. Jerry is both an expert in his field and a wise adviser He showed himself capable of handling the most difficult tasks and was very personable in his interaction with everyone involved in our major project.

Jerry Burgess knows and understands the complex interaction of government regulations, Biblical mandates and organizational requirements faced by mission organizations. His mild mannered spirit helped us through some of the more stressful elements of putting into place new procedures that would keep us current with best practices so as to honor our God, stay compliant with government regulations, and serve our churches’ missionaries well.
Jon Konnerup, Mission Director for Baptist Bible Fellowship International
This past fall something happened that caused both the Executive Leadership Team and the Board to question the reliability of our financial system. Although it was not initially clear why it happened, what was very clear was that a loss of confidence was not healthy or good for the organization. After several calls someone suggested I call Jerry Burgess. I am glad I did.

Jerry spent two weeks in our office executing a Financial Procedures Review of our entire financial system. He stepped into a situation of high tension and immediately began to bring calm. Even his manner of working with leadership and staff became a blessing. His Procedures Review complimented our Annual Audit process. His final report included recommendations on equipping staff, improving systems, and verifying reporting. He made specific recommendations for ways we could strengthen our internal controls.

What Jerry did for us was extremely positive, not only for the Board and the Executive Leadership Team, but for all our staff involved in the day-to-day finances of the Mission.
Marc Kyle, Director of Operations at World Harvest Mission
Jerry Burgess and his wife Katie have provided very meaningful and useful advice to The Mission Society. First, about 5 years ago, they reviewed our Missionary Manual and made a large number of suggestions which either brought the Society in compliance with U.S. Labor Law and or were just solid, practical advice based on years of working for and advising mission-sending agencies. Then, Jerry has helped the Society with a number of very useful suggestions in how to navigate IRS regulations in expense management policies. And, most recently, Jerry has been instrumental in helping the Society move to a “needs-based” missionary salary administration, including the handling of cost-of-living differentials in various countries. Jerry is very easy and enjoyable to work with and his practical advice has been much appreciated.
Ivar Quindsland Vice President for Missionary Administration of The Mission Society