Resource Chapter: Ch. 11: Board-Staff Collaboration

Congregations serve two different customers — members and the broader community — and confusion between these leads to strategic drift.

The challenge of evaluating ministry when outcomes are inherently qualitative or long-term. A goal-focused framework for measuring what matters in congregational ministry.

When should a new community initiative remain a church project, be spun off as an independent nonprofit, or pursued in partnership with another organization?

The growing category of religiously unaffiliated people and what their rise means for congregational planning. Listening sympathetically to Nones can reveal opportunities.

Challenges five common myths congregations use to explain or excuse failure to grow. Uses evidence to push back against comforting but counterproductive narratives.

The annual cycle through which boards engage in strategic planning — when and how boards set direction, evaluate progress, and hand off implementation to staff.

Helps congregations choose the right planning approach — strategic, operational, or adaptive. Most congregations do too much formal planning and not enough learning-by-doing.

Practical guidance on crafting a meaningful, actionable congregational vision statement. Distinguishes vision from mission and explains how clear vision guides planning.

Critiques SMART goals applied uncritically to congregational planning. Ministry goals often need to be inspiring and directional rather than narrowly measurable.

Identifying a short list of true priorities rather than trying to do everything. How congregations can resist strategic sprawl and commit to what matters most.