Laughter

Posted on March 12, 2011 Written by

Several years ago one of my former bosses told me during the interview process that he doesn’t get worried when he sees staff members talking in the halls of the church offices. He gets worried when he doesn’t hear them laughing.

There is a LOT of wisdom to that statement. Laughter is medically proven to be good medicine. It helps in all kinds of ways that I don’t understand and don’t need to know except it is is very healthy for the body. And the mind and the soul.

One of the things about laughter is that it means the staff feels comfortable with each other enough to make jokes, share funny stories, and tell self-embarrassing moments. If your staff is engaged in laughing with each other then odds are your staff is not whispering behind your back.

Perhaps the opposite of staff laughter is gossip. Gossip can be serious and vicious and filled with innuendo. Gossip is not good for an organization. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in the office grapevine and use it, but that is different than gossip, especially malicious gossip.

Encourage your staff to laugh. Find ways to make them laugh. Get them to tell stories on themselves (but never a story that embarrasses someone else). Listen to the halls of your office. If you don’t hear laughter on a regular (several times a day) basis, you need to worry and find ways to get your staff to laugh – together.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: church administration, church staff Tagged: ,

The Church At Play

Posted on December 11, 2010 Written by

I really wanted to address two separate but related issues: church staff and the church itself.

What I mean by “at play” is very simple – how do church staff (and members) do fun things together on company time. Here’s why: years ago I had a boss who said that the only time he gets worried about his staff is when he did not hear laughter in the halls of the church office. Laughter is an indication that the staff is having fun together and not taking life too seriously. If you don’t hear laughter, you’re going to hear gossip. Laughter is much better.

Most church staffs do church together. Nothing else. That is not healthy – they need intentional times when the church approves (and funds) the staff going out on the company clock to do something memorable together: bowling, watching a movie, painting pottery, playing golf (if you like chasing a little white ball) or frisbee golf, playing softball or flag football, going fishing or sailing, etc. You get the idea. Do something that does not involve church. That will the staff something to talk about for months (years?) to come that does not involve “talking shop.” Give your staff something else to remember – not just last week’s worship and Bible study. After all, church is very stressful – giving your staff permission to play will reduce the stress and give them good memories and a pleasant shared experience. You’ll never regret it.

That leads to the church at play. I know a couple of churches that intentionally shut down their doors on Sundays for the entire church to go on a retreat over Labor Day or Easter. It’s the same principle as above – give the church members something to remember, an experience to share that is out of the ordinary. Going through seminary I worked for a large hospital company – 7000 employees. Each year during the state fair, the company rented a large tent, provided free food (served by top management), and gave away free admission tickets to the state fair to all employees and their families. Many churches do a picnic once a year and that is very healthy.

Most churches know that fellowship is a key component of a healthy church. Most churches view fellowship as punch and cookies after a Sunday music function or the Wednesday supper. Sorry to burst your bubble, that is not fellowship – that is a church program (church programs are quickly becoming a “four-letter word” to me – more in another post). The best fellowship invovles getting away from the church buildings – do something out of the ordinary and out of the four walls of your church. Get out, go away, make memories, take pictures, and have FUN!

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: church staff, generosity, leadership, planning, young adults Tagged: , , , ,

Personnel as a Percentage of the Entire Budget

Posted on October 14, 2010 Written by

Every year the question comes up, “Is the personnel budget too big?” Some people actually mean, “Are we paying the staff too much?” and that is a question that hurts. In reality, it shows the ignorance of the person asking the question more than anything – they have no idea what their staff does. But more often than not, the intent of the original question is concern over the size of the staff (number of employees) and is that cost appropriate for our church. Here are some figures that I gathered from my local colleagues regarding their church’s 2011 personnel budgets:

  • 40.00%
  • 53.58% – does not include food service or custodial personnel
  • 48.00% – does not include custodians; church also pays $400,000 in debt service
  • 54.00%
  • 47.80%
  • 52.60%
  • 55.76%

From this data, you can tell the personnel team, inquiring church members, and curious onlookers that a range of 40%-60% is within the “normal” range. Feel free to use this info and share it with others – it might help you from those who feel the staff is paid too much or the staff is too big.

BUT, the real question is, “How much staff do we need to do what we want to do?” That is a completely different question and it is too deep to unpack here. However, I do want to wade in ankle-deep.

Most church staffs grow organically – that is, stafff members are added progressively every year or two as the church grows. This is the normal and customary route. Oh, we need someone to help the youth minister, hire a part-time middle school coordinator; our seniors are feeling neglected, hire a retired minister (he can use the income) to take care of the seniors; our current custodians aren’t cleaning the building well, hire another one.

Let me suggest a better method – strategic growth. Strategic growth is more painful in the short run but far more productive in the long run. Because of the time needed, cuts in staff that result from this, and the ensuing time needed to educate members and implement the new structure, I suggest that churches only do this at most every five years.

Strategic growth, in a nutshell, is when church leadership (ministry council, elders, etc.) looks at the “five-year plan” that every church should have. Simultaneously, the council gets a conservative estimate of income for each of the next five years. With those two pieces of info, the council decides what is the #1 goal for the next five years (that thing, without which, the church would cease to exist) and then funds that with staffing, programming, and building money. The council then decides what is #2 and funds it appropriately and so forth until the estimated money runs out.

When the council has run out of money to fund its strategic plan, all other items on the priority list are cut. That means that some staff will be cut, some buildings may not be built or may be renovated, and some programs and ministries will no longer be done. That is going to please some members and anger others – this is where the hurt and pain come in. You’re not going to please everyone, but you will please God as the church uses its resources (staffing, building, and members’ time for ministries) in a strategic method.

A lot more can be said about this but I think you get the idea of where to go from here. I do feel that if strategic staffing and programming is implemented, you’ll be able to look back and be amazed at how far how fast the church went.

So, next time someone asks, “How big is our personnel budget?” return the question with one of your own, “Are we spending personnel dollars in the right way?”

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: budget, church finances, church staff, leadership, strategy Tagged: , , , ,

Retirement – how much

Posted on February 26, 2010 Written by

How soon you are able to retire depends on how much you have invested in your retirement fund. Whether you want to retire depends on whether and when you want to retire.

Cut to the chase – how much do you need?

  • Take whatever you believe you need to live on and divide it by 5%. The thinking there is that if you have $2,000,000 saved up, you can tap 5% of that per year to get $100,000 to live on (presuming that is the figure you want/need). Figure out what the figure you need to live on, then divide by 5%.
  • Remember that the figure you need to retire is going to be different than what you need in 2010 dollars – both to the good and to the bad.
    • When you retire your taxes will be lower (if you retire at or after age 65).
    • When you retire, you will hopefully have paid off your house and not have a mortgage to pay.
    • When you retire, remember that inflation will increase the amount of 2010 dollars you’ve calculated you’ll need – project that out at the annual average inflation rate of 3% for the number of years left till you retire.

Okay, how much should you sock away each year? I’ve heard three different figures:

  • 10-15%
  • 14-18%
  • 15% of your own money plus whatever your employer puts in. This is what Dave Ramsey says. Dave also says that you shouldn’t count on Social Security and I agree with him. And what is the downside, if Social Security really does happen for you, guess what, you got some extra money!
  • Bottom line, put in 15% of your gross annual wages each year plus whatever your employer chips in.

If you can afford to put in more, do it. Put in as much as you can. After all, when you get your statement from your retirement fund, at some point I hope you’ll be able to go to your boss and tell him that you’re retiring and he can find someone else for your job – you’re new job is watching the waves come in on the beach!

If you can’t get to the 15% this year, then start and work your way up every year. When you get your pay raise, go straight to the Human Resources office or officer and increase your personal contribution to your retirement fund by 1%. After several years of doing that you’ll be at 15%. Yes, it will affect how much you can have now to spend but you will also not pay taxes on those monies you’re investing.
What funds to invest in? I’m not going to tell you. I’m pretty aggressive in my personal investing and so far it’s worked out well. I did bail on stocks at the early stages of the 2008 recession and got back in to equities in early 2009 so I dodged some (but not all) of that bullet. Rule of thumb, invest your age in fixed income and the rest in equities. I do about half my age but as I said, I’m fairly aggressive and I monitor it regularly.

Who to use? Any one of the big boys. I personally like Vanguard but that is a personal decision because years ago I was at a meeting in Philadelphia. During the lunch at a local church, I was served tea by the wife of the founder of Vanguard. I was so impressed that a woman worth hundreds of millions would willing serve tea and water to guests of her church – I just knew that said a lot about the company her husband founded. So, I use Vanguard but other companies such as Fidelity, T Rowe Price, and Tiaa-Cref are also very good.

As Dave Ramsay says, “Live now like no else so that later you can live like no one else” – meaning, you’ll be able to retire while they are still working!

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: church administration, church finances, church staff Tagged: , ,

Email to a Colleague at my Church

Posted on October 23, 2009 Written by

I thought I’d share an email to a fellow minister. My goal is to get ministers and members to think “outside the financial box” and think if new ways to get money for church needs, especially capital needs.

For a couple months I’ve heard you all getting info about new drop down backboards for the gym. The latest figures I have are costs in the $24K range which is way out of anyone’s budget and designated funds. That got me to thinking about asking the Upwards parents if they would be willing to make a gift or contribution to this project.

In my years as a church administrator, there have been countless times when people wanted to make a gift and asked me what are some pressing needs. My experience is that people want to give back to a ministry or the church that has blessed them or helped them. Unfortunately, the church too often feels that “we can only do it if we pay for it” or “that’s rude to ask people for money.” Both of those concepts are wrong – we shortchange people when we don’t give them the opportunity to give. People want to return the favor, we just need to be open to it, especially to be open to new ways of paying for the church’s needs. Having been in church business for my entire life, I can see a distinct pattern downward in the typical way of funding church – the offering plate is drying up.

I’ve been in multiple conversations with members of the church’s financial leadership team, Ministry Coordination Council members, and the senior pastor on the subject of developing new streams of revenue for the church. The senior pastor asked an MCC member and me to make a presentation to MCC in November on the why and how of new revenue streams. This is a subject that is gaining importance and visibility within our own church.

The Minister of Recreation and I partnered recently on a basketball camp that was a tremendous success and we split the revenue – some for the Rec Ministry and some for the building maintenance (to fix holes in the walls from “stray” basketballs). This is a great model for how we can move forward to fund needs of various ministries and the buildings. I would like to propose that you consider yet another stream of revenue to help meet a need of the Rec Ministry – the backboards.

The idea is that for two of your eight Saturdays during the Upward games, you will distribute a half sheet of paper with the message below. The message is not threatening or guilt-inducing. Instead is makes known a need and gives people the opportunity to respond if they want to. It tells them how they can help a ministry of the church and thanks them for letting us be a part of their life. This is not a solicitation (which our church’s by-laws won’t let you do), it gives people an chance to respond. I truly believe that it is right, ethical, and scriptural to give people the chance to express their gratitude without any form of compulsion. To not give people a chance to give is to limit people and God.

In future years (or even this year), I can easily see the gift request during Upward to be for ministry opportunities in a church in Richmond, or with one of our foreign mission partners, or another recreation oriented need beyond our walls. Perhaps alternating years (between our church and another need) or even doing a split offering in the same year for two separate needs? There are many opportunities and tremendous needs out there – the real question is how can we think creatively to help meet these needs.

Will the Rec Ministry be willing to distribute this message below to its parents? Who knows what God will do through this. Thank you.

New Basketball BackboardsThe Recreation Ministry would like to install four new basketball backboard so that future Upward Basketball seasons can have better equipment. These goals will hang from the ceiling and replace our aging and hard to move floor level goals. Each new backboard costs about $6,000 or $24,000 for the entire project.

Gifts to this project are being accepted by Recreation Ministry if you would like to help. Checks can be made payable to the church and write “basketball backboards” in the memo line and given to a staff member. These tax-deductible donations are not required – it is our joy and privilege to have your child in the Upward program. Thank you for entrusting us with your most precious gift. We hope you and your family have enjoyed it and we hope to see you next year.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: budget, church finances, church staff, generosity, leadership Tagged: , , , ,
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