I f your church has a building then your annual budget also includes a line item for utility expenses. You can't have one without the other. In the same way, it takes more than just providing a salary to have a minister. They should be provided by the church, and in a separate budget line from salary. Some churches give their minister and employees a set amount of money each month to cover automobile expenses.
Most businesses use an accountable reimbursement plan to provide for employee expenses.
This method works well with today's tax laws and is also available for use by churches. With this, the church budgets money to fund a reimbursement plan. The minister or employee turns in a record each month to the church logging all business miles driven and receipts for other ministry related expenses. The church then reimburses the employee for the expenses out of the reimbursement fund with no tax liability. Commuting expenses are not business expenses.