When Brian Nhira and his wife arrived in Nashville in 2018, they were searching for a church home. Five weeks into their move, they landed at Legacy Nashville — and it didn’t take long before they felt rooted there. Over two years of serving and investing, Brian and his family grew with the church, and in 2021 he officially joined staff. As Executive Pastor, he now helps steer both vision and operational rhythm.
Legacy Nashville is a church deeply anchored in mission and values. Their cause is, simply, “the Great Commission” — to make disciples locally and globally. Their core values emphasize that Jesus is our everything, the Bible is our bedrock, God’s presence is our passion, people are our heart, generosity is our joy, and more. Launching Legacy Academy in 2021 further expanded their reach into education, providing a Christ-centered schooling option for homeschool families.
This church budgeting & stewardship case study shows what happens when a church with strong vision and generous people leans into financial clarity and discipline.
The Struggle: Generosity Without Structured Stewardship
Legacy Nashville has always been a generous church. As Brian put it, “our church is extremely generous, extremely generous. And we’ve had an extremely generous church since I’ve been here.”
But generosity alone wasn’t enough to keep Legacy financially healthy. Without disciplined stewardship, planned budgets often slipped, and overspending became consistent. Financial benchmarks weren’t being met.
The church wasn’t in crisis. God’s provision was steady, and their existence was never in question. But leadership felt a conviction: if God’s people were giving faithfully, then Legacy needed to steward those gifts faithfully.
That conviction is what compelled them to seek help. As Brian described, the move wasn’t about survival but about alignment:
“We were compelled by a desire to steward our church’s finances in a way that we could all be proud of — and in a way that allowed every dollar to be on mission, as Parable says.”
This recognition became the turning point in Legacy Nashville’s church budgeting & stewardship case study. Generosity alone wasn’t enough without stewardship guiding it.
The Partnership: Building Frameworks with Intentionality
To address this challenge, Legacy Nashville partnered with Parable in mid-2024 to build clarity, structure, and accountability.
The first step was implementing a disciplined budgeting process that could align resources with the mission.
Ministries submitted “dream budgets,” envisioning what they ideally would spend. The initial drafts were pretty ambitious, above and beyond available resources. This sparked conversations about priorities, sustainability, and mission alignment.
For Pastor Brian, the process was also deeply educational. Coming from a background in business and music, managing finances for a church at this scale was new territory. He describes it as “being back in school,” absorbing new strategies and principles that would help him to steward Legacy’s resources with greater intentionality.
With the right support, Legacy was able to build systems that not only tracked finances but educated leadership and ministry teams in intentional stewardship.
The Breakthrough: Clarity, Alignment, and Velocity
The first budget cycle took a long time, and pushed leadership through difficult trade-offs. But by the second cycle, everything shifted: the process moved faster, decisions sharpened, and alignment increased.
Here are some of the key changes that made all the difference:
- Pre-budget retreats — Leadership cast vision, set priorities, and clarified mission before budgeting began.
- Ministry-level alignment — Each ministry’s budget became mission-driven, not just operational.
- Accountability structures — Leaders were held to what their budgets prescribed.
- Transparency — Elders and congregation were given clearer, more meaningful financial reporting.
The difference was dramatic. What had taken 3–4 months initially got reduced to about six weeks. The budget became a tool, not just a document.
With a newfound clarity, Legacy is now preparing its most ambitious end-of-year giving campaign, preparing a robust annual report for Vision Sunday, and optimizing the alignment between resources and mission.
Brian notes that giving above and beyond regular tithes has surged, evidence that when people see stewardship in action, faith responds.
Here again, this church budgeting & stewardship case study demonstrates that accountability multiplies generosity.
Mission & Values in Action
One of the most beautiful outcomes is that Legacy’s budget is no longer just a back-office task — it’s a spiritual discipline.
Ministries are no longer guessing what they need; they are planning according to priorities. Leadership embraces accountability, and the congregation witnesses stewardship in action.
Aligning resources with mission created a new rhythm of trust and participation. Leaders make confident decisions, and the congregation can see their giving at work in programs that matter most.
Every dollar is now a deliberate tool in fulfilling Legacy’s vision, showing the practical power of stewardship paired with generosity.
When mission and values drive finances, a church can go beyond survival. It can thrive, inspiring both leadership and congregation to live into God’s calling.
Lessons & Encouragement for Other Churches
Legacy Nashville’s journey offers guidance for other church leaders:
- You don’t need a crisis to act. Stewardship begins with a choice to do better.
- External expertise can accelerate learning and build sustainable processes.
- Begin with mission and values; budgets should follow.
- Accountability and transparency unlock generosity.
Brian encourages other pastors, “Take the next step. Ask for help. Let someone shepherd you.” That one step has allowed Legacy Nashville to steward resources faithfully, amplify generosity, and align every dollar with mission.
With vision, discipline, and guidance, financial stewardship can be both transformational and spiritually enriching for your entire church.
Ready to take the next step? Check out our budgeting services to find your church’s best fit.