Dan Hotchkiss, author and congregational consultant
Posted in Congregations, Planning on Feb 23rd, 2010
Planning efforts often fail, and one important reason is that leaders underestimate the time it takes for causes to produce effects. Your planning process may discern, for instance, that your mission calls you to invite more people than your current space will hold. But if you build a bigger sanctuary, you will produce dust, noise, [...]
Posted in Congregations on Feb 3rd, 2010
Every denomination that practices “congregational polity” does so a little differently, and each seems to discover its own sticking points. For Unitarian Universalists, one persistent quandary is how to recognize and support professional ministry outside the most standard parish settings. UU ministers have long served as chaplains, community organizers, educators, and in other community roles, [...]
Posted in Board governance, Congregations, Finance, Synagogues on May 27th, 2009
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 [...]
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 [...]
Posted in Clergy, Congregations on Mar 22nd, 2009
Charge to the minister For the installation of Tess Baumberger Unity Church, North Easton, MA March 22, 2009 by Dan Hotchkiss Tess, I’m glad you’ve come to Easton. Traditionally, the “charge to the minister” includes wise, oracular advice to the new minister from an old one. Sadly, I have no such advice to offer; if [...]
Posted in Congregations, Finance on Mar 8th, 2009
The stewardship committee at my church asked me to say a few words recently in behalf of the annual fund drive. It was interesting, having the chance to speak as a lay member. Here is what I found myself saying: When Chris asked me to speak this morning, she suggested I might talk about how [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Posted in Clergy on Mar 1st, 2008
Q: Our minister has announced his retirement. During his long ministry, we have avoided most of the conflict about homosexuality raging in our national church. How can we look for a minister without dividing our congregation? A: Right now, several North American religious groups are sharply split about how and whether to accept gay clergy. [...]
Posted in Planning on Jan 28th, 2008
When churches plan, one of the things they often plan to do is grow. They have their reasons: the Great Commission, for one, and the fact that spreading the gospel is a main point of the congregation’s purpose. But when you get past polite chit-chat, other motives will assert themselves. For clergy, church growth is [...]
