The second trap, or thing to avoid, deals with payroll. Churches face risk in a variety of areas. Facilities, congregational unity, financial, security, and our next topic, personnel are just a few areas of danger. In business terms, churches are in the “service industry” and as a result, typically, 50% of church budgets are dedicated […]
Today we continue our discussion of the importance of long-range planning by looking at two other areas where churches need to be taking soundings, to see if storm clouds are on the horizon. Ignoring long-range giving opportunities At the present time, our society is going through the greatest asset transfer in world history. Many of […]
Because of dependence on the Whack-a-Mole management strategy, many churches seldom look past their current situation. Unlike ancient sailors who took periodic “soundings” to determine how close they were to shore, many churches take few, if any steps, to determine if they are headed for rocky waters. Unfortunately, a rising number of them do not […]
Operating without a formal, written accounting and management policy manual In addition to a budget, a formal management document is a must to help insure that the church makes appropriate and effective short-term decisions. Written policies and procedure documents assist churches in the administration of activities by helping to set forth in clear, unmistakable terms […]
Operating without an annual budget In fairness, there are very few churches that do not have some form of budget. The key words in this caption are “operating without”. The main point here is that even though most churches do have some type of budget written on paper, far too many operate as if they […]
Avoidance means to succeed in keeping away from something dangerous or undesirable. Conversely, the opposite of avoid is to confront. In church administration, the only way to avoid dangerous situations is to proactively confront, or face down, certain ideas, attitudes and practices within the church. In doing so, an administrator’s life as a church leader […]
You need more than faith in God to keep you and your people safe from attacks in your facilities!! Recently, several high-profile incidents have raised awareness of the threat posed by individuals against churches, schools, and similar organizations. Dr. George Tiller, a controversial physician in Kansas, was shot to death in the lobby of Reformation Lutheran […]