Last Will & Testament of Churches

Posted on May 7, 2013 Written by

Does your church have a will? What will happen to the church when the time comes to close the doors? No one wants to think about that; it’s too emotional. After all, this is the building where you were married, your children were baptized, your dad’s funeral was held, and your children ran down the halls despite your threats. This is a building full of emotion. So how do you make a rational decision about an emotional subject? The answer is, you don’t at the time. You make those decisions before it becomes overwhelmingly emotional.

Every church will close, and every church building will crumble. That’s a fact. Yes, there are some churches that are over a thousand years old, but most of those are historical structures (think cathedrals in Europe) that are tourist sites and thus get a lot of their funding from visitors (FYI, it costs money to get into St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in London but St. Peter’s in Rome is still free though donations are encouraged).

First Church, Jerusalem was pastored by James, the brother of Jesus. This guy, not one of the disciples, was so revered that he was elevated to be the leader of the most important church in the new group called The Way (aka, Christianity). To see how important James was, just read about the very first business meeting of the church (Acts 15) and that when James spoke, everyone listened and followed what he said. First Church, Jerusalem probably met in a home, albeit a house big enough to handle over 100 people. At some point the Jesus Movement became institutionalized with buildings and structures but early on, it probably met in a house. Here’s the kicker, we don’t know where that house is today – it’s somewhere under all the buildings currently in Jerusalem. Surely God would have saved the meeting place of First Jerusalem just to show everyone how important church buildings are, but God didn’t. That building is now rubble, somewhere.

If God didn’t save First Church, Jerusalem, He won’t keep your building and your church around till Jesus comes. So, what is your plan when the time comes? I urge you to think about it – and I mean “think.” When the time comes the decision will be so overwhelmingly emotional that most people will not be able to deal with the subject in a calm manner. That is expected, this is an emotional subject.

Put together a plan now to answer questions related to closing the church

  • How small will the congregation have to be so that the doors are closed?
  • How small will the budget have to be?
  • What options will be pursued prior to closing the church? Options include merging with another church; becoming a mission point of another church.
  • What will happen to the assets of the church?
  • Will you sell the building and grounds to a developer or donate the property to the local denominational governing body?
  • Will you take action before the buildings begin to deteriorate such that their upkeep means they are the single largest expense?
  • Who will originate the discussion?
  • Who will make these decisions? The trustees? The deacons? The church members themselves?

There are a dozen other questions to be asked of any congregation and a dozen other questions which are congregation-specific. I encourage every church’s leadership to have a well-thought-out and well-documented conversation now, while your church is in good shape. Then, when the time comes to begin a painful conversation, you’ll be ready to address this subject.

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: future, leadership, planning, strategy Tagged: , , ,

The Best Shredders for Churches

Posted on April 30, 2013 Written by

The Best Shredders for Churches

Every office likes to have shredders. The finance office needs to shred sensitive financial files or personnel records; a counseling minister may need to get rid of confidential files; an administrative assistant needs to shred papers with members’ addresses and phone numbers. Shredders are good and necessary to protect the church from any liability resulting from sharing confidential information accidentally.

But shredders are not cheap. The smallest ones cost about $50, and industrial ones go for a few thousand dollars (way beyond what a church needs). Shredders are not used a lot, though. They are used heavily for few projects and then they may sit for a few days or even weeks till they are used again. A real drawback to shredders is the mess they make – every time the plastic liner is replaced, some shreddings fall on the floor which then requires a vacuum to come out to clean it all up. Finally, they have to be maintained and eventually replaced, all of which costs even more money.

Here’s my recommendation: don’t spend any money on a shredder. Instead, take all your papers to your bank to shred. Every bank (including small branches) has shred boxes for their own internal use. They have to have these because of the volume of confidential info they deal with each day. Every so often (usually once a week), the bank’s shred box is emptied and shredded by a professional company. This is a benefit of using a bank that a bank won’t tell you about, but they’ll most often provide this customer service at no additional charge.

Get a box or plastic tub and place it in your office somewhere. When people need something to be shredded, they put the papers in the box/tub. Then, when the financial assistant goes to the bank for the regular weekly or semi-weekly bank deposit, the assistant can take the shred box/tub with her to the bank. Talk with your bank ahead of time to ask about doing this. As long as you don’t flood them with a huge box each week, they’ll be glad to help (at least, that’s what they’ll say in front of you!).

So, let your bank’s industrial strength shredders do your work, save you some money, and keep your office cleaner (and give you a little more space). Take advantage of this (unadvertised) service.

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: church administration, strategy Tagged: ,

What Are You Reading?

Posted on March 26, 2013 Written by

Getting your staff to read together is really important. I recommend that all staffs read two or three books together every year. It will help keep everyone on the same page, and they’ll talk about it in the halls and at lunch in addition to the planned discussion times. Some of these books may be good for some key committees to read together, and that will help the key leaders be on the same page, too.

I suggest a variety of books on different subjects. Church staffs expect to read books about churches, but what about good biographies of strong leaders (Rockefeller, Jobs, Roosevelt(s), missions stories (Peace Child), business (Good to Great, The E-Myth Revisited), social justice , prayer (The Prayer Circle), or the status of the church in America (American Grace). There are thousands of good books to choose from on any number of subjects—and not only with church-related themes. Fiction such as the Narnia series, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and even the Harry Potter series provide Christ-centered truths. The reading list does not have to be limited to C. S. Lewis (good as he is).

Well-written books will also help your staff members speak and write better as they see some best practices. Book discussions will help the staff communicate more and better with each other to explain their point of view in a non-threatening way (after all, it is “just” a book). And, eventually the staff will have a bookshelf which will impress office visitors (that’s my weakest argument!).

Get the staff to make suggestions. The reading list may start with the pastor’s choice, but it must include good and worthy selections submitted by other staff. The pastor will certainly want to use a book to help the staff focus on a specific topic, but the pastor should not be the only person selecting titles.

Finally, it will be interesting to see just how people read the books—in print or electronically. Each has advantages and detriments. Each method appeals to different types and ages of people. That alone can be worthy of a discussion of how society and the church are changing, and then you can discuss the contents of the book!

 

Lead On!

Steve

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

New Income and Revenue for Churches

Posted on March 5, 2013 Written by

A brief audit of a client’s receipts over the past year revealed something interesting: 22% of their income came from sources other than the primary source. The organization has diversified their approach to receiving income so that more than one in five dollars comes from a non-traditional source. This means that if their primary revenue streams remain the same, this organization will have 20% more money to use – woohoo!

This is a good lesson for churches: are you dependent on your mainstay revenue source (tithes and offerings) or have you begun to look at other revenue streams? Churches must be creative in getting money in the door and then very transparent in how it is spent and used. Here are 21 different revenue streams (the first 10 come from a list prepared by George Bullard and the rest are from me):

  1. Special offerings
  2. Tithes and Offerings
  3. Designated gifts
  4. Fee for Services
  5. Capital Campaigns
  6. Foundations of the Organization
  7. In-kind resources and services from individuals and businesses
  8. Sale of Products
  9. Foundation grants
  10. Investment Income
  11. Rental Income
  12. Event Registration
  13. Cost Recovery
  14. Business Partnerships
  15. Offerings After Special Events
  16. Sponsorships and Scholarships
  17. Ownership of Facilities
  18. Memorials and Memorial Gifts
  19. Capital Investment Lists
  20. High Capacity Donors
  21. Gratitude Gifts
  22. Alumni Gifts
For a fuller description of these, visit Free Resources at www.financeforchurches.org
Lead On!
churchfinancialleadership.blogspot.com
Filed Under: budget, church administration, church finances, planning, strategy Tagged: , , , ,

Guidestar.org

Posted on January 29, 2013 Written by
  • Guidestar is an online non-profit company with one purpose. It publishes the Form 990 that most non-profits are required to submit to the IRS each year.
  • A 990 is a legal doc which states the total expenses and income for a non-profit. It breaks the expenses down into sub-categories and even lists the salaries of the five highest paid employees and their benefits. The 990 also shows the various sources of revenue for a non-profit from programming receipts to investment income. Finally, a 990 lists all recipients for organizations who grants from the non-profit whether these were small gifts or very, very large ones. All 990s on Guidestar are in PDF format so they can be downloaded and/or printed for further analysis.
  • Guidestar has a cool tool which enables people to search the hundreds of thousands of non-profits for any category which interests you. This makes finding your specific field of interest that much easier.
    • For example: your church is working with nearby elementary schools and wants to find money to expand a literacy program. A Guidestar search on “children’s literacy foundation” shows over 150 non-profits which have literacy as one of their interests. Not all of them write grants so further research is required. This is time-consuming but eventually you’ll find a dozen or so foundations to which you will write a compelling grant proposal/request. You may not get much or as much money you want/need the first time you ask, but be persistent and over time you’ll develop relationships with the foundations that will open some doors.
  • Use Guidestar as a research tool to find local and national foundations which can provide additional resources for your efforts.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: church finances, planning, strategy Tagged: , ,

Star Trek & Star Wars

Posted on January 15, 2013 Written by

Pick one of those two space sagas – I don’t care which one, choose your favorite. Okay, now, name the seven major (good) characters in each one:

Star Trek

  • Kirk
    Spock
    Sulu
    Chekov
    Scotty
    Uhura
    Bones

Star Wars

  • Luke
    Han Solo
    Leia
    Obi-wan Kenobi
    Chewbacca
    C3PO
    R2D2

You may not be a fan of one or the other; you may not like either series. There are a few similarities and many, many differences between these two groups of characters but let me focus on one in particular as it applies to churches and their leadership: #6 in each list.

Uhura is more than the sex appeal for Star Trek, she’s the communications officer. She is on the bridge, sitting just behind the captain and ready to carry out his orders but also making suggestions based on her experience and knowledge of language and culture.

C3PO is the golden robot and comic appeal in Star Wars. He is also conversant in “more than 6 million forms of communication.” He talks non-stop to everyone especially his buddy and fellow robot R2D2.

Both are utterly critical to the success of each mission. Uhura and C3PO ensure that the message from the leader is spoken clearly and without misunderstanding (well, C3PO does mess up a few times) so that the story is moved along and that everyone knows what is going on.

Transition: who is the communications person in your church? Are you like most churches, relying on the pastor who is already doing everything else (preparing sermons, marrying, burying, counseling, helping members, leading staff, going to meetings, etc.)? Or are you intentional about using someone who is gifted in this area to take the message from the leadership and craft it in a multitude of forms so that the message is transmitted to everyone in every way possible? That person may not know six million forms of communication, but he or she is probably more knowledgeable than the pastor about how to disseminate the message.

Churches need to have a clear, consistent, comprehensive, and cohesive communications cohort. The pastor and other leaders must develop the message in a succinct manner. Then, they must work with and trust the communications specialist to send the message out in every way possible to the broadest possible audience.

The audience will see, hear, and read it in multiple ways. Marketing experts say that it takes a person seven views before the person will internalize a message. Communications people love the challenge of finding ways to tell things; most non-communications get weak-kneed at the idea of telling the same thing seven different times.

Even Hollywood recognizes the importance of communications in a leadership group. How much more should the church recognize the importance of communications since the church has the greatest message in the world? How intentional is your church in its communications? And what do you need to do to be more intentional about it?

Lead On!

Steve

 

Filed Under: church staff, communications, strategy Tagged: , ,

Choices

Posted on September 10, 2012 Written by

Have you noticed? Young people today just don’t have the same level of commitment to church as their parents and grandparents! They have no loyalty. They have no deep roots. They don’t believe and support the one thing that their ancestors did – that bedrock commitment to their church. They really don’t value investing themselves in a church, planting seeds into that faith community, and paying it forward to the next generation.

(Okay, this is where I insert a disclaimer to say this is not true but a massive generalization – please read on)

Of course they don’t.

They don’t because their parents and grandparents – the same ones who voice many, if not most, of those complaints above – taught them they don’t have to have commitment to anything. I’m not blaming anyone, I’m just pointing out how this past two generations have been brought up by their parents.

Choices.

That is one of the hallmarks of capitalism and one of the benchmarks on which this nation is built financially. You, the consumer, get to pick and choose.

So, flashback to your childhood and remember when you sat in the grocery cart as your mom turned the corner and enter Wonderland – the cereal aisle. Mom slowly pushed the cart and you began saying (or if you couldn’t speak, you’d scream) what cereals you wanted. Mom ended up buying 2, 3, or even 4 different kinds of cereal because she knew you would switch every few days. And Mom didn’t stick just to Kellogg’s  brands, she’d even get General Mills or even the occasional off brand (which Dad usually ended up eating or maybe you gave it to the dog!).

Sure enough, over the next couple of weeks you’d have Cheerios for a few days, then switch to Fruit Loops, and then jump over to Sugar Smacks, circle back to Cheerios and finally you’d say you were tired of all those but you’d seen a new cereal on TV and you wanted to try that one so Mom might as well throw away all of the others and just go get the new one.

Kids learned that they can switch cereals on a whim. But also soft drinks, clothes brands, fast food chains, and any other consumer product out there. As an adult, we switch loyalties with car manufacturers (even though grandfather was a Ford or Chrysler or Chevy buyer) and even neighborhoods – I know of people who will move every few years when they grow tired of their home. Young people do the same with jobs. 20-somethings today will switch careers 7-10 times in their work life – that means that they will change job every 3-7 years.

Anyone who has been a child in the past 65 years (since WWII) has been raised in a culture of choices where they are in charge of making those choices.

So why do long-timers in the church get all upset when their kids and grandkids jump from one church to a different church to no-church and over to a church of a different denomination or no denomination. After all, it’s what we taught them: “you don’t have to accept what is in front of you,” and “you have the power to change your circumstances and surroundings so do it.”

Church-hopping today doesn’t happen for only the same reasons as before. I think that our grandparents jumped to another church because of something that happened and caused them to leave. They take that frame of reference and apply to their kids or grandkids.

I think there are a multitude of reasons why people today leave church.

  • They don’t like the programming or staffing
  • A friend invited them to go to another church
  • They want to experience and experiment with a different church
  • They’re looking for a church with values that they have (at the present time)
  • They want a church that will be good for their kids even if there is nothing for the adults
  • They’re seeking a church that is strong in one area of ministry or cause which they identify with
  • They’ve had a conflict with a lay member or staff leader
  • Or any of hundred other reasons

So what is a church to do. How do you address the issue of church hopping in your church? The number of responses is equal to the number of problems but here are a few prime answers

  • Do nothing – just accept that people will come and go through your church. Don’t change anything and realize that the back door is just as wide as the front door and that many people will use both and a few core people will stay and help run things.
  • Focus on a few core principles that guide your church and which in turn limit the number of ministries you do and then do those few ministries extremely well. That means the people who do come will be inculcated into your few ministries.
  • Provide a variety of ministries so that you’re trying to do lots of different things. This is what many churches do – focus on nothing and aim at everything. It works for a while but frankly it dilutes the power and ministry and energy of a church to focus on nothing and try to do everything.
  • Have a few compelling environments which attract people and make them stick to your church. These compelling environments will attract like-minded people so long as it remains a high-level of quality. This is simliar to #2 but that is focused on ministries and this point is on people-groups.
  •  Have several different worship styles within the same facility. That means building several worship centers or doing quick-changes; it also means a bigger staff. But the hope is that you can be a church where people can flit between worship and education venues all the while hearing the same message in a variety of methods.

OR, change the point of view of the people coming to church. That is MUCH harder to do. You see, everything I wrote above sees people coming to church as consumers. They aren’t. And church leaders should stop treating members as consumer. Church attendees are to be givers – of their time, their talents, and their financial treasure. They are to be GENEROUS!

When you attend a wedding, you are not a consumer. You are there at the invitation of the bride or groom; you didn’t just crash it. And the wedding is NOT about you – it’s about the bride (sorry, grooms!). You are a participant – there to enjoy the party and to help celebrate a special day.

Worship is NEVER about the people inside the church. People are there at God’s invitation (and we have no right to turn anyone – anyone! – away). Everyone must be there with the right motivation – not “to get something out of it” but to celebrate God and the life we’ve been given and in turn give away anything and everything we can to help others.

Yeah, changing members in a consumer-oriented culture into reverse-consumer (generous givers!) is not easy. But God doesn’t do easy (or else he’d wipe us off the map – LOL) and God certainly isn’t a consumer-God.

God does love and giving and celebrating and joy. We should and can and must, also.

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: future, generosity, strategy, young adults Tagged: , , ,

Roadblocks to Strategy Implementation

Posted on July 5, 2012 Written by

Below is the outline of materials presented by Susan Beaumont, a consultant with the Alban Institute. She is very effective and what she has to say (and how she says it) is excellent. Think about each of these 10 items – flesh them out in your own mind and reflect on which one(s) are the roadblocks to the success of your vision and your church.

Top 10 List of What Gets in the Way of Executing Strategy

  1. Too many strategic priorities (should be no more than 2-3 priorities)
  2. Senior clergy losing strategic focus
  3. Board fails to provide oversight
  4. Rogue committees that over-function
  5. Board micromanages the staff team
  6. Staffing structures that don’t support the strategy
  7. No performance management system
  8. Absence of program evaluation
  9. Lack of meaningful measures of success
  10. Operating budget not aligned with strategies

Lead On!
Steve

Filed Under: leadership, planning, strategy, wisdom Tagged: , , ,
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