A Case Study: When Shortfalls Cloud the Big Picture

The Scenario

Mike Newson* and the rest of the leadership of Trinity Church were at a crossroads. It was January—midway through the fiscal year—and Trinity’s income projections weren’t looking any better. It seemed like cuts were inevitable. But the timing of this conundrum was especially awkward.

It was only back in October when Don Farfrae had stepped in as Trinity’s new senior pastor. The previous pastor had retired after a fruitful 18-year tenure. It was a seamless transition, with Don overlapping one month with his predecessor. The congregation was at peace—in fact, they were excited to welcome Don.

In November, Don launched a project to “refresh” Trinity’s mission. The church’s board would go through months’ worth of exercises, discussions, meetings, and retreats to evaluate the direction of the church. Mike, who was the executive pastor, was excited for the church to clarify and affirm its mission. So he, along with the rest of the board, was prepared to be patient and do this right; the process was expected to last a year and a half.

By January, however, the financial situation looked grim. The downward income trend they had seen for some time wasn’t improving. Out of the church’s $10.1-million budget, it appeared as though cuts in excess of $1 million could be necessary. This would probably include laying off as many as 20 full-time employees, as well as some part-timers.

As Mike and the rest of the board faced these numbers, they saw a new problem come to the fore. Cutting more than $1 million from the budget—no matter which staff or programs were affected—would significantly reshape the structure and focus of the church. And yet the church was only two months into their 18-month-long mission re-alignment. If the church made decisive changes now, would it short-circuit their long-term strategic discernment? No one on the board wanted that.

*Names have been changed for this case study.

A few board members suggested telling the congregation about the financial need and asking them to give more. They’re in denial, thought Mike. We’ve already been bringing this kind of need before the church. The congregation has already done all it can. Most of the other board members did believe that cuts were inevitable. And many of them felt like the cuts needed to happen right away, in spite of the mission re-alignment. After all, the longer the board waited, the more deeply Trinity would have to dip into its reserves.

But Mike saw it differently. “Look,” he said, “we can take a bush and prune it back one and a half million dollars, symmetrically—that’s what immediate cuts would be like. Or we can bring in an arborist and prune it wisely so that, even if it looks sparser at first, it will in the long run grow more healthily.”

Mike’s idea for wise pruning was to accelerate the mission re-alignment process so that the budget decisions could be integrated into it. Then the board could feel confident that these dramatic cuts would be more in line with the long-term direction of Trinity.

But, said the board members in favor of making cuts sooner, what good will our mission re-alignment be if we rush it? Why not make the cuts we have to make now, and then proceed deliberately with our mission re-alignment within the boundaries of our new reality?

Another challenge was the size of the board: 46 members. How could the leadership possibly accelerate a long-term, strategic process with such a large board? And the money was a ticking time bomb. Waiting even an extra few months could cost Trinity hundreds of thousands of dollars. For Mike and the rest of the church board, then, the decision wasn’t just what to cut; the decision was how and when they should decide what to cut.

Problems

• The church must cut more than $1 million from its $10 million budget.
• The leadership is only a couple months into its 18-month mission re-alignment.
• A deliberate process drains the budget; a rapid process shakes up the re-alignment.

Expert Perspectives

Mark Buchanan, lead pastor of New Life Church in Duncan, British Columbia:

The board is in a race against the clock. What makes things worse is the board’s own systemic barrier to progress—46 members! To resolve that issue alone requires more time than the board can afford.

Mike’s counsel about an arborist rather than a lumberjack approach to budget cuts is brilliant, but it’s a risky gamble: will his long-term approach resolve the short-term emergency? It’s like planting an orchard to feed starving masses. It’s a good idea, but doesn’t solve the immediate problem.

I would suspend the “refreshing” exercise, buy two to three months on the budget decision through a combination of lay-offs, program cuts, and one clear and candid appeal to the congregation, and then trim the board by at least half before resuming the “refreshing.” I would communicate all of this to the congregation and then, during the interim, appoint a team of staff and elders to hold a series of listening sessions with the congregation to solicit feedback and build trust.

Gary Fenton, senior pastor of Dawson Family of Faith in Birmingham, Alabama:

There are only two ways a church changes direction—either alter how the money is spent or alter who spends the money. Vision on paper is powerless, but vision is potent through personalities. This sounds like a great time to implement the new direction.

1. Review the new direction for the church. Usually vision and direction need tweaking within the first 18 months. This crisis provides that opportunity.

2. Make the big changes in the budget now and explain the changes in terms of direction rather economic downturn. Acknowledge that the economy did determine the timing, but the change was eventually going to be done.

3. If the direction-related cuts are not enough, then selectively make others that are downturn related; however, clearly indicate why the changes are being made.

John Koessler, professor and chair of the Pastoral Studies Department at Moody Bible Institute:

A great deal depends on how far along the church is in its mission re-alignment process. If Trinity’s leaders already have a clear sense of what their new mission looks like and have kept the congregation in the loop, this budget crisis may actually be an opportunity. It provides motivation for change and could be God’s way of confirming their direction. If, however, they are still in the early stages, integrating the one with the other will be detrimental.

Financial pressure will tempt the church’s leaders to address the “how” question before they have adequately answered the “what” and the “why.” If the church’s large board plays a critical role in congregational buy-in and implementation of these changes, rushing the process will be especially damaging. In view of these factors, although the church’s budgetary problems will inevitably provide a sense of urgency, the re-alignment and the budget decisions should be kept as separate as possible.

This article first appeared in "Budget Pinches," an electronic training resource from our sister site BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

Is Porn a Problem in Your Church Office?

An eye-opening national headline emerged last week, providing a timely sneak peek into our upcoming issue of Your Church magazine.

The inspector general for the Securities and Exchange Commission--the organization tasked with enforcing the laws and regulations that govern the country's stock and options exchanges--conducted 31 probes of employee internet use during the past 2 1/2 years. The overarching finding? Senior staff members of the SEC spent hours surfing pornographic websites on government-issued computers, according to a memo obtained first by ABC News.

Among the findings, according to an Associated Press story published Friday:

• One senior attorney spent up to 8 hours a day looking at porn. Upon running out of hard drive space, he burned files to CDs or DVDs;
• One accountant was blocked more than 16,000 times in a month by the SEC's internal filter, yet he still found ways around that filter using search engines;
• In all, the SEC discovered 2 cases in 2007, and 16 in 2008 (as many will recall, the country's financial woes began to emerge midway through 2007).

Unfortunately, this isn't the first government agency to share disturbing news like this. Last fall, the National Science Foundation's agency inspector revealed he had to shift time scheduled to combat grant fraud to instead crack down on porn use by staffers.

So, what's the connection to church leaders and staff members?

The pervasive nature of pornography sadly has opened doors to temptation during business hours (or after hours with company-, government-, or church-owned equipment). And that's a sobering reminder: The church office isn't immune, especially as technology increasingly becomes mobile, offering opportunities to connect online via mobile phones and laptops. Leaders must be aware of how church-owned equipment is used, not only to help protect the moral and spiritual well-being of pastors and staff, but also to minimize the potential for an incidence of sexual misconduct.

In 2001, our sister publication Leadership journal surveyed pastors and found that 4 in 10 struggled with online pornography.

In our upcoming Summer 2010 issue (which you can sign up to receive for free electronically in your inbox), one Kansas pastor tells us that many of the people who come through his recovery program for porn addiction are pastors. Statistics from Covenant Eyes, a Christian internet filtering service, include mention of a 2005 Computerworld article in which half of Fortune 500 companies dealt with at least 1 computer porn incident in the prior 12 months.

What to do?

Our 7-page package provides an overview of the technological tools available, including filtering and accountability software. It also provides guidance on the policies and practices that church staffs should put into place. And, lest we forget that porn use is a sin that involves real people who are broken and in need of redemption and care, we also include an excerpt from William Struthers' new book, Wired for Intimacy, regarding the power of confession, transparency, and personal accountability.

The Summer 2010 issue of Your Church is free and mails in mid-May. In the meantime, these other resources may help:

From Church Law & Tax Report:

- Can Churches Inspect Employees' Computers?

From ChurchSafety.com:

- Your Guide to Employee Handbooks
- Sexual Harassment in Your Church

Create an Earth-Safe Church

Going "green" is a popular expression in today's eco-minded culture. Ministries are not exempt from environmental responsibility. In fact, green practices can be a testament to good stewardship and an outreach opportunity.

Under Construction

Go with the flow. Incorporate natural features, such as hills and slopes, into any new building designs to minimize disturbance.

Choose local materials. Whenever possible use materials produced locally. The energy saved in transporting the materials can be used elsewhere.

A lot of options. Consider ways to divert parking lot runoff with green space and water-friendly plants. Use porous surface materials for any new parking structures.

A window of opportunity. Install energy-efficient windows that can open and close. Take advantage of natural ventilation.

Everyday Activities

Bright ideas. Use sensors that automatically turn lights on and off based on the activity levels detected.

Check the label. Watch out for materials like adhesives, sealants and paint. They can emit harmful chemicals as they dry and cure.

Consider a heat pump. A geothermal heat pump uses electricity to move heat from the building to the ground in summer and from the ground to the building in the winter. A heat pump can trim heating and cooling costs by 30 to 40 percent.

We've got you surrounded. Flank buildings with trees, plants, and grass to reduce heating and cooling costs. Properly placed landscaping can provide natural barriers to sunlight and energy-saving windbreaks.

This article originally appeared on ChurchSafety.com.

Lawsuits in the Church

By all accounts, America has become the most litigious society on the face of the earth. In the last decade, civil caseloads have increased by 33 percent, which is five times faster than the increase in our population. As a result, new case filings in state courts now exceed 16 million per year. This amounts to one court case for every 12 adults in the United States!

This surge in litigation is being driven by several factors. To begin with, a lawsuit is often seen as an easy path to instant wealth. In a recent survey, hundreds of Americans were asked how they might become independently wealthy. A generation ago, typical answers would have included, "build a successful business," "patent a valuable invention," or "inherit my uncle's estate." These answers hardly appeared on the recent survey. Instead, the two most common answers were, "win the lottery," or "win a big lawsuit." In other words, many people view an injury as a blessing, because it gives them a shot at a million-dollar lawsuit.

Another thing that drives litigation is the American preoccupation with individual rights. If we want something badly enough we begin to think that we have a legal right to it, whether it's a government entitlement or a particular job. And above all else, we think we have the right never to be inconvenienced or offended by others.

These attitudes are reflected in many of the ridiculous lawsuits being filed in our courts. For example, a poodle traveling in a pet cage was accidentally removed from an airplane in Tampa instead of its real destination, Miami. The error was soon discovered and the poodle was safely delivered to its owners only a few hours late. But the owners felt justified in suing the airline for $50,000 to relieve their "emotional suffering."

These kinds of lawsuits bring to light another factor in our litigation problem: the attorneys who are willing to advocate such absurd complaints. There are more than 1,1 million lawyers in America today. Although most of them are dedicated and conscientious professionals, there is far too many who will take almost any case in order to stay in business. Their low standards, combined with the greed and self-indulgence of certain clients, creates just the right mixture for a thoroughly clogged court system.

The Church's Failure

But there is a fourth significant factor that is often overlooked, which contributes to our country's problem with litigation: the failure of the church to carry out its God-given mission to teach people how to respond to conflict in a godly manner. In March 1982, former Chief Justice Warren Burger observed the following in an American Bar Association Journal article:

“One reason our courts have become overburdened is that Americans are increasingly turning to the courts for relief from a range of personal distresses and anxieties. Remedies for personal wrongs that once were considered the responsibilities of institutions other than the courts are now boldly asserted as legal "entitlements." The courts have been expected to fill the void created by the decline of church, family, and neighborhood unity.”

After serving as a full-time Christian conciliator for 28 years, I must agree with Justice Burger's indictment of the church. I have found very few churches that are providing systematic, biblical teaching on conflict resolution. Therefore, when disputes arise, Christians are often just as willing to file a lawsuit as are their unsaved neighbors. Worse yet, church leaders are all too willing to violate 1 Corinthians 6:1-8, as they also go to court to solve problems within the church.

I have personally witnessed these failures time after time. For example, when one church refused to pay its pastor extra compensation for the work he did to remodel his own study, he sued his church. Another pastor, who did not get a promotion he wanted, sued his denomination for age discrimination. A missionary couple who found life in the field to be too stressful not only abandoned their mission, but also sued their denomination for failing to prepare them properly for the mission field. In another case, the trustees of a church brought a lawsuit against their own elders because of a disagreement over church government.

In my opinion, the church's failure to educate its people on biblical conflict resolution has significantly contributed to the flood of lawsuits in this country. This failure has also left the church fully exposed to being sued by its own members. Lawsuits that would have been unthinkable a decade ago are now commonplace, as church members sue their own congregations for alleged breaches of confidentiality, for failing to prevent suicides, for discharging ineffective employees, or for exercising church discipline.

Even when churches win these cases, they usually pay an enormous price in legal costs, lost time and energy, and adverse media attention. And when a church loses, it may suffer damages awards in the millions of dollars, which can easily exceed insurance coverage and take away assets the congregation worked for decades to obtain. And in a surprising number of cases, the pastors and elders of a church have been found to be personally liable for damages awards, notwithstanding the church's status as a nonprofit corporation.

But there is an even higher price we pay for our failure to equip church members to respond to conflict biblically. Even when disputes among Christians do not result in a lawsuit, they often create divisions within a church, undermine vital ministries, and drain energy from our labors for Christ. Church families are also weakened by the inability to deal with conflict biblically, and all too many are eventually torn apart by divorce. Many church committees have never learned biblical ways to work through differences, so minor disputes easily distract them from their work.

On a larger scale, we allow insignificant doctrinal differences to break our fellowship and cooperative ministry with neighboring churches and denominations. So instead of slamming against the gates of hell as a solid, unified, and well-coordinated army of Christian churches, we are only able to sporadically tap against the enemy's fortress with weak, uncoordinated, and ineffective efforts.

In summary, we are not presenting the world with the kind of love and unity that demonstrates the reality of a loving Father and resurrected Savior (see John 13:34-35; 17:20-23). We are allowing unresolved conflict to rob us of our testimony, thereby giving the world yet another reason to blaspheme God and mock His church (see Romans 2:24).

That's the bad news.

The good news is that for a Christian it is never too late to start doing what's right. With God's help, every deficiency noted above can be remedied. Instead of being an occasion for failure, conflict can be turned into an opportunity to glorify God, to serve others, and to grow to be like Christ. In order to achieve these results, work must usually be done on two major fronts. First, we need to teach our members how to respond to conflict biblically as individuals. At the same time, most churches need to upgrade their policies and practices to protect themselves from devastating lawsuits. This process may be divided into six distinct steps.

Six Steps for Protecting Your Church

First, we need to teach biblical peacemaking principles and skills to the adults and children in our churches. This education can take place through sermons, Sunday school classes, and small-group Bible studies. With such training, the vast majority of conflicts within a church can be resolved between those who are involved in a dispute.

Second, church leaders should be inspired and equipped to serve as peacemaking shepherds who can guide their people through conflict in a gospel-centered way. Then, when a dispute cannot be resolved just between disputing members, these leaders may step in (as instructed by Matthew 18:12-16 and 1 Corinthians 6:1-8) to offer godly counsel, serve as mediators, or even provide an arbitrated decision.

Third, most churches need to recommit themselves to the ministry of church discipline. Then, if a member refuses to resolve a dispute in a biblical manner, the church will be prepared to intervene in a loving and redemptive way, as Jesus commands in Matthew 18:12-20, to promote repentance, reconciliation, and justice.

Fourth, most churches need to improve their membership policies, a process which usually includes rewriting bylaws and clarifying guidelines on church discipline. By carefully explaining membership privileges and responsibilities to people before they join a church, churches can secure informed consent to their conflict resolution practices, including church discipline. Such consent serves as the best legal protection against future complaints that a church violated a person's privacy or caused undue emotional distress while dealing with a conflict.

Fifth, all churches should make a greater effort to ensure that they are following certain basic legal practices. These practices include being properly incorporated, having appropriate insurance, using conciliation clauses in all agreements, using permission slips and release forms, and getting all important agreements in writing.

Finally, churches should implement policies to prevent the most common lawsuits that are brought against churches today. Custom-designed Relational Commitments developed by Peacemaker Ministries cover conflict resolution; policies on marriage, divorce, and remarriage; protecting children from abuse; confidentiality and counseling guidelines; and accountability and church discipline.

You do not need to develop these materials on your own. Drawing on our experience in working with hundreds of churches over the past twenty years, Peacemaker Ministries has developed two comprehensive resource sets that include all of the materials needed to implement these steps: The Leadership Opportunity and the Peacemaking Church Resource Set.

It will take a significant amount of time and effort to implement these steps. But facing a lawsuit is a hundred times more burdensome. Hundreds of churches, including my own, have implemented these steps and are unquestionably stronger because of it. Exposure to devastating legal liabilities has been dramatically reduced. (Only one church has reported a lawsuit related to these issues, which was eventually dropped.)

More importantly, members in these churches are now well-equipped to solve their personal and family conflicts, which means that the leaders have far less counseling and conciliation work to do. And when the leaders do need to get involved in a dispute, members are not surprised or offended: they know that such involvement is simply part of being involved in a church family. Members are also better prepared to deal with conflict in the work place and in their neighborhoods, which strengthens their Christian witness.

As our Lord promised, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." Members of “peacemaking churches” have experienced that blessing again and again, and thank God when others notice it and want to know how they too can experience it.

This article originally appeared in the April 1995 issue of New Horizons, a publication of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church denomination. The author updated it for TheYourChurchBlog.com.

Blending Business Wisdom with Spiritual Wisdom

"We need more structure in our decision making. Without that discipline, we'll never accomplish anything."

"We're a church, not a business. We need to rely on God. We can't operate like the corporate world."

Ever been on one side or the other of this argument? Or perhaps in the middle? The tensions are present in most churches in America today. As corporate "best practices" are applied to church life, church leaders struggle to make sense of it all.

When I worked in business, Built to Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras was one of a handful of keep-at-my-fingertips references. It identified factors that enabled organizations to achieve superior performance over the long haul. So it was with great anticipation that I went to a Leadership Network event where Collins was to speak. In his presentation, he described the research findings that led to his second book, Good to Great.

He emphasized the importance of getting "the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus." Collins discovered that strategic direction was less important than having the right leadership team. If you have the right people, they will help define the future direction of the organization. If they're in the wrong positions but have great potential and fit well, you can move them to a "different seat on the bus." But when someone is wrong for the organization, whether due to personality clashes or lack of ability, hanging onto that person can drag the entire enterprise down. Collins concluded that we should focus on senior staff as a top priority.

I nodded my head in agreement. Even though my job was in the marketplace at the time, I was also consulting with churches on pastoral leadership issues. I knew the tendency of many churches to make excuses rather than confront underperforming staff members. I remember thinking, Wouldn't the church be much more effective for the Kingdom if we got the wrong people off the bus?

Little did I know that within a year I would join a church staff and gain first-hand opportunities to test this and other business principles as a church leader. I did not foresee the challenges I would encounter.

As I made this career transition, I expanded my reading beyond the business realm, and one of the first books I read was Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala. It's hard to get whiplash from a book, but that's how it felt as I read the powerful story of Brooklyn Tabernacle. The whiplash did not come from the congregation's success, but from the simple, faith-filled approach to leadership that Cymbala described. He seemed to run counter to the leadership methods of corporate America, saying things like, "We don't need technicians and church programmers; we need God. He is not looking for smart people, because he's the smart one. All he wants are people simple enough to trust him."

As a person trained in business practices, I wished that I could dismiss Cymbala, but as I turned the last page, I was forced to face a powerful question: What does it mean to be an effective, biblical leader in a local congregation? It was no longer enough for me to say, "My leadership gift has been shaped in the marketplace, and now God wants me to use this gift in ministry." I needed to take a fresh look at leadership in the local church.

Since then, I've met many others who wrestle with this issue.

Continue reading the full version of this article on our sister site LeadershipJournal.net, where it first appeared, then join our conversation: Do corporate best-practices have a place in church leadership dynamics?

Create a Child Abuse Response Plan

(Editor’s Note: April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. We're digging deeper into the issue of "Reporting Child Abuse" with Richard Hammar during a special one-hour live webinar on April 14. Don’t miss out on this important learning opportunity for your church.)

No one likes to acknowledge that child sexual abuse is a reality. The trusting environment of the church makes it a prime target for abuse to occur. Recognizing the signs of child sexual abuse and responding quickly can make all the difference in the victim’s life. Learn how with a few tips from ChurchSafety.com.

Before It Happens
Know your facts. Understand that 27 percent of women and 16 percent of men claim to have been sexually abused as children. Recognize that abusers come from all walks of life.

Plan ahead. Have a written response plan ready and waiting in the event of an incident. Outline steps for dealing with warning signs of suspected abuse as well as direct allegations of abuse.

Establish a reporting chain. Institute a reporting chain so claims are quickly escalated to church leadership. Follow state child abuse reporting laws and error on the side of caution when it comes to reporting.

Be ready to believe. Prepare yourself to believe all abuse claims regardless of who the alleged perpetrator is. A very small percentage of abuse claims are false. Even if you suspect a false claim, acknowledge the victim’s feelings of pain are real and follow your response plan.

Know the signs. Familiarize yourself with the physical, behavioral and verbal signs of sexual abuse. Understand that victims will often protect their abuser.

After an Allegation
Protect the victim first. Take whatever steps necessary to make the victim safe upon becoming aware of an incident. Immediately remove any suspects from a position of working with minors.

Support the victim. Give the victim unconditional love and support. Victims often feel guilt, anger and shame. They may need additional counseling, but you can show them faith and God’s love.

Set boundaries. Be available for the victim, but set boundaries to avoid creating an unhealthy dependency. Show affection while ministering to the victim, but encourage the use of a larger support group such as a Bible study or prayer circle.

Minister to all. Consider the impact to the victim’s family, the suspected abuser, and his or her family. All parties will need ministering through this ordeal.

To learn more about responding to child sexual abuse, visit ChurchSafety.com.

Dealing with Sex Offenders Who Attend Church

(Editor’s note: Since this post first published, Christianity Today International completed "Sex Offenders in the Church," a comprehensive research project exploring the attitudes and beliefs among church leaders regarding integrating sex offenders into the faith community.)

Question posted through "Ask the Experts" on ChurchSafety.com:

There is a female, registered sex offender who wants to attend our Sunday services. We want her to attend, but what guidelines should we have in place to safeguard our children?

Answer by Richard Hammar:

When the senior pastor, or any member of the church board, is informed that a registered sex offender is attending the church, there are steps that can be taken to manage risk. These include the following:

1. Obtain a record of the sex offender's prior criminal convictions by conducting a national criminal records check. The church must be fully informed regarding the sex offender's criminal background.

2. If the sex offender is on probation, identify his or her probation officer and ascertain the conditions that have been imposed. In some cases, sex offenders are not even allowed to attend church. If the probation officer says that the offender is free to attend church, ask the officer if he or she would recommend that the offender be allowed to attend church, and if so, under what conditions. Obtain this information in writing, or, if that is not possible, make a detailed written account of the officer's response.

3. Condition the sex offender's right to attend church services and activities on his or her signing a "conditional attendance agreement" that imposes the following conditions:

• The sex offender will not work with minors in any capacity in the church.

• The sex offender will not transport minors to or from church, or any church activity.

• The sex offender will not attend any youth or children's functions while on church property, except for those involving his or her own child or children, and only if in the presence of a chaperone (see below).

• The sex offender will always be in the presence of a designated chaperone while on church property. This includes religious services, educational classes, activities, and restroom breaks. The chaperone will meet the sex offender at the entrance of the church, and accompany the sex offender on church premises until returned to his or her vehicle.

• A single violation of these conditions will result in an immediate termination of the sex offender's privilege to attend the church.

• The conditional attendance agreement option will not be available unless the church's insurer is informed and confirms that coverage will not be affected.

4. In some cases, exclusion of the offender from church is the only viable option. This option is advisable if (1) for any reason the conditional attendance option is not feasible or enforceable; or (2) if the offender's crimes are so frequent or heinous that exclusion is the only appropriate option; or (3) one or more of the offender's victims attends the church. This will be a judgment call made by the pastor and board.

5. It is often desirable to draft a short policy addressing the church's response to registered sex offenders attending the church, and have it adopted by the congregation during an annual or special business meeting. This would allow the membership to discuss this issue in a rational manner.

6. Seek legal counsel in formulating the church's response.

For additional information on handling registered sex offenders, see volume four in Richard Hammar's four-book set, Pastor, Church & Law (4th ed., 2008, Christianity Today International).

Re-thinking The Ways We Hire Church Staff

The single most powerful organizational step your church can take—at least on a human level—is to be organized around the gifts of the Spirit. That means that a church is to be led by people with leadership gifts, taught by people with teaching gifts, shepherded by people with shepherding gifts—the whole nine yards. And that vision is about to change my life.

I'll tell you how in a minute.

I serve as a senior pastor. But I'm not one of those multi-mega-gift guys. I can do about one thing right—and that's on a good day. Whatever gifts I have are primarily centered around communication. So I have been looking and praying for a partner who has great leadership gifts to do ministry with. I love the era in which we get to work. I think it is a time of great innovation in the church. There is something God-like and energizing about creating.

Ron Johnson, the guy who started the Apple stores, says his favorite phrase is "In the beginning … " Part of that innovation involves the people leading in a church. When I was growing up, a group of people forming a church would hire the 'minister' who would do the 'ministry.' But no one would ask what his (it was always a 'him') actual gifts were. The pastor's job description was so big that only Jesus could fulfill it. And I'm not sure even he would want it.

Increasingly churches are recognizing that shepherding and teaching and leading and administrating rarely come in the same package. We have to break old models of church leadership—not to go to new models, but to go back to an even older model—organization around gifts.

Continue reading the full version of this article on our sister site LeadershipJournal.net, where it first appeared.

Learning from Lean Staffs during Lean Times

With many congregations facing tighter budgets as they weather the worst economic recession in decades, a recent survey of U.S. church leaders shows that a small percentage of churches are able to continue doing ministry while keeping staffing costs—the single-biggest expense for nearly every church—well below national averages.

The “Lean Staffing” survey was conducted in January by Christianity Today International's Your Church magazine and Leadership journal, and Leadership Network. It was taken by 735 leaders of Protestant and evangelical churches.

The results show that 1 in 7 spends less than 35 percent of its annual budget on staffing costs. Historically, churches in recent years spend, on average, about 45 percent of their total budgets on staffing costs—and sometimes more.

The “Lean Staffing” study separated 539 respondents to generate the "lean staffing" comparison: 15 percent of that group spends less than 35 percent on staff, while the rest spend between 35 percent and 65 percent. The study used 35 percent or less as a benchmark since it represents a sizable decrease from national averages and it helps with statistical comparisons, said Warren Bird, director of research at Leadership Network.

Besides identifying churches that spend less on staffing, the study also found “lean-staffed” churches typically spend more on ministry efforts outside of their walls, Bird said.

“There are churches that seem to be healthy and outreach-minded that do, indeed, have a lower percentage of their budget going to staffing costs. It can be done,” Bird said. “That was very affirming.”

You can read the full article, which details the survey’s key findings, and you can read the full, 46-page report for free (note: free registration is required).

Also, you can listen to a 12-minute podcast between Warren Bird and me (note: free registration is required to download the podcast), and read Warren's blog post about the research (and the next steps to further research the topic).

Loss of a Church's Financial Records

Follow Richard on YouTube.com: http://www.youtube.com/richardrhammar

Learn more about Protecting Electronic Data at ChurchSafety.com.

Manage your church's finances year-round with The Essential Guide to Church Finance.