Church Operations

How Documenting Policies & Procedures Supports Ministry

When it comes to ministry, most people don’t think of employee handbooks, meeting agendas, or policy and procedure documentation. That makes sense – after all, we gather as congregations to grow in our faith and to share it with others. However, since we do have staff and resources to steward, we need to pay careful attention to how we do things. That’s how documenting policies and procedures becomes useful for supporting the ministry of a church. If you’re wondering why you should spend time developing and documenting policies and procedures, here are a few benefits of going through that effort: #1 – Provide clarity These questions and many more should be addressed within the church’s policies and procedures. Instead of having to answer these scenarios as they come up (and potentially having different people provide different answers), documented policies and procedures answer those questions in advance. #2 – Offer Protection Childcare, background checks, and financial approvals are a few processes that can create a great deal of harm to individuals. If handled incorrectly, these can also cause legal trouble for the church. By agreeing on how to handle these situations ahead of time, documenting the procedure, and training those who’re responsible for carrying out these policies, you’re protecting your church and those who attend it. #3 – Saves time While the initial time spent creating these documents is significant, this effort will save you time in the long run. Instead of answering many of the same questions with each new employee, they can read the employee handbook first. From there, you can offer to answer their questions as needed. The person who fields questions can refer to documentation when answering requests for weddings, counseling, benevolence, and more.  If you don’t have these documents in place (or if they could use an update), here’s how to get started: While documenting policies and procedures doesn’t feel like ministry, this effort truly does support the ministry of your church. 

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7 Church Metrics You Need to Review Regularly

Have you ever noticed a warning indicator light up on your car dashboard? Whether it’s the indicator for tire pressure or to check the engine, you know that means it’s time to give your vehicle some attention. Those warning indicators are metrics to tell us when something isn’t quite right with our vehicles. It may not be urgent, but there’s still a good reason to have it checked out. Similarly, metrics are indicators for your church. As you review various church metrics, you’ll see trends (whether positive or negative); signs that something is working, or an area that needs some extra attention. If we have a solid set of metrics with reliable data, we can use that information to help us make better decisions, correct course if needed, and see how we’re progressing. Here are seven standard church metrics that can help you gauge the health of your church: Church Metric #1: Financials No, it’s not all about the money. However, it takes money to pay the mortgage, hire (and keep) staff, pay the electric bill, and much more. You need to know the church’s financial health on at least a monthly (if not weekly) basis. This report should include an Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Budget vs. Actuals, and trend analysis for tithes and expenses (how are we doing this month vs. the same month last year)? Church Metric #2: People in Service This will fluctuate from week to week and during certain times of the year. However, it’s still helpful to see if the number of people in each service is increasing and which service people are gravitating towards. Also, don’t just keep track of the number of adults in the main service. You’ll also want to know how many children and teens are in their respective services. That data will also help you determine if you need to start recruiting more volunteers for the nursery or other children’s areas. Church Metric #3: People in Small Groups If your church has small groups, then you’ll want some data points on this as well. Church Metric #4: Event Participation If your church hosts various events throughout the year, keep track of key data points from those events. Track how many people signed up for and attended each event. If this is an event you host each year, compare the current numbers to prior years to see if there’s a trend up or down. Also, if you send out post-event surveys, use the information gleaned from the responses as you plan upcoming events. Church Metric #5: Conversions We all want to see more people come to Christ and begin their journey as His followers. When people make that commitment at your church, you’ll want to help them grow in their faith. Part of that effort involves documenting their decision and guiding them into discipleship classes, a small group, or another growth opportunity. Find out if your church is attracting non-believers and whether they are deciding to follow Christ by keeping track of these numbers. You may also want to include how many baptisms occur each year. Church Metric #6: Membership Who attends your church? How many people are in each age range? How many men, women, singles, married couples, couples with children, single parents, etc.? Part of communicating effectively involves knowing your audience. We aren’t defined by our demographics, but we are certainly impacted by what season of life we’re in and what we’ve experienced. Knowing the demographics of your attendees could help you decide which events to host, what sermon series to do next, etc. Church Metric #7: Volunteers Volunteers are a vital aspect of any church, so you’ll want to monitor the health of your volunteer program. How many volunteers do you have in each area (greeters, ushers, parking lot, coffee bar, bookstore, nursery)? What percentage of your membership serves? How many volunteers are added each month vs. how many “quit” or leave each month. This certainly isn’t an exhaustive list of potential church metrics, but I hope it gets you thinking about what “indicator lights” you may need to add or enhance. As you gather this information and review the story the data reveals, I’m confident you’ll be able to make even better decisions and avoid potential issues down the road. What metrics do you use? How have those helped your leadership team?

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5 Church Administration Time-Saving Tools

Time. It’s the most precious commodity yet the one we have the least of. That’s why saving time is a constant goal for church leaders with busy schedules. One way to save time is by streamlining church administration tasks.  When you work behind-the-scenes in the church office, you’ve got plenty of plates spinning. Coordinating events, fixing a website issue, plus a ton of other tasks are all in a day’s work. While I can’t trim your to-do list, I can recommend the following tools to make your job a bit easier. #1 – Project Management Software Asana, Basecamp, Trello, Monday, ClickUp, are a few of the excellent project management tools available. Most have a free or trial version you can use to see which one works best for you and your team. Complete the form below to receive a free Project Management Tools Overview guide (including information on the top software vendors): #2 – Expense Tracking App Keeping track of receipts for an expense report can be a pain. Instead of shuffling through your purse or wallet for that last receipt, use an app on your phone. Quickly snap a picture of a receipt immediately after making a purchase. Assign the appropriate expense code(s) and have a collection of electronic receipts ready for your next expense report. Staff members who forget receipts and finance team members responsible for collecting accurate data will all appreciate the convenience of an app. Two of the top contenders in this category are Divvy and Zoho Expense. #3 – Church Management System (ChMS) As a church grows, you need an easy way to maintain up-to-date records regarding church members and visitors. Contact information, family relationships, baptism dates, and more are a few examples of data you can use to minister to your congregation. A robust church management system enables your team to maintain accurate information, create follow-up workflows, keep tithe records, and more. There are many options available when it comes to ChMS tools. A few examples include Planning Center, Rock RMS, Fellowship One, Breeze, ACS, Elexio, ShelbyNext, Faith Teams, and TouchPoint. #4 – Facility Management Software From facility maintenance requests to tracking who reserved a room, facility management software can help your team stay on top of things. Smart Church Solutions has an excellent tool called eSPACE. Within this software, you can manage inventory, manage work orders, reserve facility rooms and resources, schedule preventative maintenance, and more. #5 – The Church Operations Toolkit At the risk of sounding self-promotional, the Church Operations Toolkit can save your church time and money. Within the Toolkit are templates, how-to guides, expert interviews, and resources to make church administration and operations tasks easier. Instead of spending hours searching online for a template, simply log into the Church Operations Toolkit and download one in minutes. There’s no magic formula to knocking out your to-do list (if only!). However, these are a few tools to make being productive a bit easier. Oh, and if you’re like me and consider coffee a productivity tool…Can I get an amen? 🙂

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Busting Church Administrator Myths

One way to thrive over the long-haul in ministry is to do more of what God gifted you to do and less of everything else. Many times, that means bringing people onto the team who can handle certain responsibilities for you. For example: If you’re passionate about preaching and counseling but freeze up anytime someone mentions developing a plan or a budget, a church administrator could be the perfect fit. However, church administrators tend to be misunderstood members of the church team, so I think it’s time for some myth-busting. Perhaps I’m a bit biased since I once worked in a ministry’s Finance department, but I think church administration folks are awesome! They keep many wheels turning in the background that support what happens on stage and at the altar each week. If you’re a pastor without someone (or a team of people) filling the church administration role, you’re likely feeling the strain from trying to do something you neither enjoy or are gifted to do. Here are a few myths about church administrators: Myth #1: All they care about are policies and procedures Yes, your church administrator is probably a stickler for certain processes (purchase requests come to mind!). However, it’s not because he thinks policies are the best thing ever…he’s simply trying to keep things running smoothly. If you don’t have a documented process for spending church dollars or for adding new members to the church database, you’ll see the downstream impacts. Too much spending one month could lead to not being able to make payroll the next (trust me…you won’t like that one!). If new members aren’t added correctly to the database, you’ll end up with multiple versions of them in the database or with each staff member who’s contacted them for volunteering or small group membership with their number on their cell phone. That’s not the end of the world, but it’s much more efficient to update information in one place instead of ten. What your church administrator really cares about is the same thing you do…people! They want ministry to happen for people to come to Christ, to become part of the community of believers, and to grow in their faith. They’re using their God-given talents to achieve that goal…it just looks different from yours. Myth #2: They relish the chance to squash your latest ministry idea If you’ve been turned down for renting a massive bouncy house plus paintball guns for a new youth event, yeah…you should’ve seen that one coming. Your church administrator doesn’t want a kid to be mid-bounce when the whole thing deflates from an errant paintball hit. She’s a bit safety conscious and is actually looking out for you (and your future employment). She doesn’t want to kill your idea; she just wants you to adjust it so everyone goes home in one piece. That’s actually pretty sweet of her, isn’t it? Myth #3: Church administrators are all about the Benjamin’s They’re the money-counters and record keepers; so sure, it looks like that’s all they focus on. However, that’s not even close to the truth. What they care about is making sure the church is being a good steward of the money God (and the congregation) entrusted to it. It’s actually a good thing they’re meticulous about the security and accountability involved in recording the offering each week along with how money is spent. Myth #4: They’re antisocial Okay, so it might be true that the church administration role attracts introverts. However, introverts aren’t antisocial…they just prefer interacting with small groups instead of big crowds. Invite your church administrator out for lunch with you and maybe 1-2 others. Do that a few times and once he’s warmed up to you, you might not be able to get him to stop talking. What’ll really be fun is when you hear his passion for ministry (see myth #1). Myth #5: They love Excel, charts, graphs, and details Hmmm…okay, so maybe this one isn’t a myth after all. But hey, it’s not that they LOVE these things, it’s that they know how these tools can support ministry. So the next time your church administrator geeks out about a new Excel formula, encourage her. “Hey, that’s awesome you got that formula to work and can calculate cash flow for the next 8 weeks in under ten seconds!” “Wow, you created a project plan with how many tasks for the couples’ retreat?! That’ll make putting it all together so much easier.” Even if you have no idea what she’s talking about, support her as she uses the gift of administration to make your job a bit easier. Church administration involves details, numbers, planning, coordinating, and lots of lists. It may not be your cup of tea, but it truly does support and make ministry possible. So while you may never fully understand what your church administrators do, be thankful that they are on the team. Their efforts may just save you from burnout as they plan and coordinate with you. Church Administrators – What other myths or misperceptions have you seen regarding your role in ministry?

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How to Define the Role of Executive Pastor

The role of Executive Pastor is gaining wider acceptance yet it’s still a somewhat misunderstood position within the church. If you’re reading this, then perhaps you’re thinking about hiring an Executive Pastor (or becoming one yourself). How does an Executive Pastor serve the church? Is this role all business or should this person also have a pastoral mindset? Let’s start with a scenario that may be all too familiar… It’s after 9 pm on a weeknight and you’re still working. Unfortunately, you didn’t keep going because you had divine inspiration for a sermon series. Instead, You’re Trudging Through… 💲 Financial reports, 👩‍💼 Candidate resumes for a staff opening, and ⛪️ Carpet samples for the sanctuary. Those are just the latest urgent items to handle.  You haven’t been able to devote much thought to a new ministry program you’ve wanted to do for years.  A few years (and several hundred people) ago, leading the church was challenging but still doable. The amount of paperwork and detailed tasks wasn’t that bad. However, now you’re buried in business-like tasks that seminary didn’t prepare you for (and that you dislike doing anyway).  You’re also starting to see what life and the church will look like in a few years if this doesn’t change. You Can’t Keep Doing This Alone. Thankfully, you don’t have to. You haven’t done anything wrong. This feeling of being overwhelmed isn’t a result of your inability to keep all the plates spinning. Other Senior Pastors have felt the strain of trying to be the “Chief Everything Officer.”  There comes a time when it’s wise to entrust a seasoned person with the business-centric responsibilities of leading the church. From Human Resources to Finance and Facilities, you don’t have to manage it all. An Executive Pastor can relieve you of those burdens so you can focus on what God has called you to do. Instead of fielding questions about vacation policies or dealing with construction contracts, you can spend more time preparing a sermon or considering what’s next for the church. If you’re thinking about bringing on an Executive Pastor or are curious about the role, here’s an introduction to what an Executive Pastor is and how he (or she) can serve a church.  A Brief History of the Executive Pastor Role As the story goes, the Executive Pastor role started with Bob Buford after conversations with his mentor, Peter Drucker. As Bill Hendricks writes in “The Origin of Executive Pastors,” Bob Buford formed the Leadership Network in 1984. He invited pastors and other senior leaders of large churches to come together for a few brainstorming meetings.  One question raised during those discussions was how to handle the complicated organizational structure of a megachurch.  The eventual solution proposed was to create a new church role, called the Executive Pastor. Is the Executive Pastor Role Just a Megachurch Trend? While it may have started out that way, that no longer appears to be the case. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as one that has 2,000 or more people in weekly attendance.  Thom Rainer notes, “Ten to fifteen years ago it was rare to find an executive pastor in a church with an average worship attendance less than 3,000. That has certainly changed each subsequent year. Now it is common to see executive pastors in churches with an attendance around 2,000 or even lower. I know of several churches in the 800 to 1,200 attendance range that now have executive pastors, or they are seeking one.” Many churches with less than 2,000 in attendance hire an Executive Pastor to help them break through an attendance barrier or to free up the Senior Pastor’s time and capacity. Churches that aren’t ready for an Executive Pastor yet might hire someone to fill a Business Administrator type role. This person wouldn’t oversee the staff or have any strategic responsibilities. Someone in a Business Administrator position would likely be responsible for the day-to-day operations of HR, Finance, IT, Facilities, etc. Responsibilities That Typically Fall Under an Executive Pastor From a high-level perspective, an Executive Pastor oversees the implementation of the Senior Pastor’s ministry vision. Most Executive Pastors also oversee and develop church staff. As we get more into the details, an Executive Pastor is also responsible for the following areas: When Should a Church Hire an Executive Pastor? Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut formula for when to add an Executive Pastor to the team. However, there are several indicators church leaders can look for to help them make that decision. Indicator #1: Size and Complexity The indicator most often considered is the size of the church. However, even though that’s a popular gauge, there’s no set number here either.  Executive Pastor Dan Reiland recommends church leaders wait until they have an average attendance of at least 1,200 before hiring an Executive Pastor. On the other hand, Senior Pastor Brian Jones tells Senior Pastors to consider hiring an Executive Pastor when they’re working to push through the 800 barrier. Obviously, there’s a variety of recommendations from highly respected church leaders. If a church is growing steadily and the Senior Pastor is strained to handle both the preaching/visionary leadership and executive management responsibilities, then perhaps it’s time to start looking for an Executive Pastor.   Indicator #2: Capacity of the Senior Pastor If the Senior Pastor… Then… Hiring an Executive Pastor to handle those responsibilities can free up the Senior Pastor to do what he does best. Indicator #3: Budget This correlates somewhat with the size of the church. A church of 2,000 is more likely to have the financial ability to hire an Executive Pastor than a smaller congregation.  It’s also wise to consider what the church is willing to pay an Executive Pastor. This role can’t be successfully filled with someone fresh out of college or with minimal executive experience. A church will need to budget accordingly to find a qualified candidate. Indicator #4: Interest of the Senior Pastor If the Senior Pastor isn’t

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