Congregational budget-makers frequently divide into two
camps that approach the task in different ways. The first camp is
likely to include children of the Great Depression, experts in finance,
elementary school teachers, and persons anxious about their own money
situation. Their first priority is to make sure that the budget
balances and that the congregation makes no plans or commitments [...]
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Posted in Board governance, Congregations on Apr 20th, 2009
The Alban Institute has published an excerpt of my new book, Governance and Ministry: Rethinking Board Leadership in this week’s issue of the Alban Weekly e-newsletter (click here to subscribe):
Religion transforms people; no one touches holy ground and stays the same. Religious leaders stir the pot by pointing to the contrast between life as it [...]
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Posted in Board governance, Clergy on Nov 20th, 2008
By law, board members are supposed to put the best interest of the church above all personal considerations — but how is that even possible? Board members in most churches play many other roles throughout the church, and many board decisions affect them and those they love. Potential conflicts of interest arise whenever a board [...]
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Posted in Board governance, Congregations on Apr 21st, 2008
Comparisons are useful but tricky. New Testament writers compare the church to a human body, a herd of sheep, a bride, and a vineyard. Synagogues are often likened to a house, a tent, or an extended family. None of these analogies is meant to be exact or literal—a church may act in some ways like [...]
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“Conflict of interest” is an ugly phrase, but it’s time to say it, lay it on the table, and deal with it as a normal part of life. Everybody who is not a hermit manages conflicting interests all the time. Congregations’ awkwardness and silence on the subject only makes us vulnerable.
Many congregations accept practices that [...]
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Posted in Board governance, Congregations on Aug 2nd, 2007
Here’s a list of some of the books and other resources I have found most helpful and provocative as I have thought about how congregations can best organize their boards, clergy, staff, and volunteers to envision and carry out powerful ministries:
BoardSource. Many resources available at www.boardsource.org.
Carver, John, and Miriam Mayhew Carver, Reinventing Your Board: [...]
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Posted in Board governance, Staff, Synagogues on Jul 27th, 2007
I’ve been working for some time on a diagram to express some of themes about congregational governance. Partly to get feedback, and partly as a test of the whole process of uploading, here it is. At some future point I’ll post a commentary, but even without that I would be interested to hear what you [...]
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Around the board table, each leader brings a point of view rooted in subcultures he or she belongs to. Subcultures of sex, race, age, and nationality are often recognized. The Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator can help a group to acknowledge and “normalize” such differences. We have barely yet begun to see how powerful our occupational subcultures [...]
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Posted in Board governance on Jun 21st, 2007
My next book, due out in the spring of 2008, will be called “Ministry Together: The Art of Governance in Congregations.” Or not–I would welcome any thoughts you may have about a better title. Why “Ministry Together”? Well, consider the alternatives:
Ministry Apart. This approach has a long history, and takes many forms. Ministry [...]
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Posted in Board governance on Apr 1st, 2007
Q: Our board spends too much time reviewing and approving work that should be done by staff and committees. We know we shouldn’t micromanage, but we can’t seem to help it. How can we change?
A: You have a lot of company. Most boards criticize themselves for “micromanaging” and rightly so. This happens because tiny [...]
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