We hear a lot about "sustainability" in the news today. In fact it was on the front page of The Costco Connection, August 2011 edition. No, I don’t advocate that this magazine was written for the church. While most the news articles on sustainability, i.e. Costco’s, refer to the production of an agricultural or business product or plan, I wonder if churches are negligent by NOT considering the sustainability of ministries we undertake.

There has been many times in my ministry when I asked the question: “Can I/we keep doing this?” This question usually followed a few weeks after the new ministry began.

I found that starting a specific ministry in the church is really the easy part. Sustained ministry, that’s the hard part. As I read through the Costco article and a few other magazine articles I was struck by several key points regarding sustainability.

Sustainability is not the product, but the production or process. If sustainability does not figure into our ministry plans then we might as well close the door now and save the effort and heartache. Church plants start, outreach ministries begin, prayer groups form only to see them quickly end. The toll it takes has not only crippled churches, absorbed finances and shut doors but it has also burned out many gifted and trained ministers, both lay and clergy.

To ensure that a plan or production can be sustainable it must have the following factored in:

Ongoing Demand of Truth, Forgiveness, Salvation, Love, Faith, Hope

All people NEED these, … right?

1. Do people know they need these? Some do, some don’t others don’t care. Not much help here.
2.  Are YOU convinced they need these? Is YOUR CHURCH convinced their community/world needs these? How many products do you use today that you did not need until convinced otherwise? How many ads have you watched that were directed at reminding you of what you need? Great effort and cost are taken to inform people of their need. The expenditure of great effort and finances measure our conviction to the need.

Renewable Resources

More than funds, facilities and food, the most needed resource required for sustainability in ministry is the making of disciples of Christ. If we fail at that, forget the sustainability of your ministry. In an agricultural world ‘Renewable Resources’ are huge. For something to be labeled as a Renewable Resource it must be both natural (in product and process) and of benefit. A true disciple is a spiritual process that is to be the natural/normal ministry of the church. A true disciple is one who benefits the cause of Christ in the church and the world.

Transferrable

I have done it and I’m sure you have too. We go forth in what is possible for us in ministry with little consideration as to what is possible for others. The process or production is based on our skill sets, gifting and experience rather than others. So when we give out or leave, the ministry goes as well. I wished I learned this earlier in ministry. Some of the needed ministries I created were productive, but I built them around my strengths, so they died when I left. Later on I decided that I would create ministries that were built around the gifting of the church and many of them continue today.

Networking

There is a reason why social networking is huge today. It is meeting a social need that has seriously been lacking in the family and the world. Networking is a key to sustainability. The connection or networking of your church people with each other will do more for the life and growth of your church than most anything else you can do.

Data Driven

You will never know if you are growing if you do not know if a given ministry is being effective. There is great benefit to viewing detailed data rather than what, “I heard John say…” or, “I feel we did…” There is way too much ambiguity in ministry. A data driven ministry gives more attention to what happened or didn’t happen as to what was felt. Great and simple tools are available to help you collect the data needed to better evaluate the growth of your church. My passion for a simple church management online program grew out of my frustration with complicated programs that required a geek to do. FYI… In my churches I was the geek who managed the tools but couldn’t get anyone to help me. So when I left, the programs were dumped along with the data.

One final note: the writing of this article was motivated by the number of communications from pastors I received regarding their church closing. It saddens my heart when I hear of a church closing. I know that fighting the good fight is hard. I have had a church close its doors. If I can be of any encouragement please email me at mike@churchofficeonline.com

God can and does sustain us: “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.” Psalm 3:5

We are called to persevere: “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:36

Mike Smith
http://www.churchofficeonline.com

It's as old as the first church in Acts but as young as today's culture. It carries with it the challenges of relationships multiplied by their diversity and divided by leadership you and others in your church bring to it. Great church management depends on what you ask of it and measure it by. Simply put, Church Management is stewarding resources to accomplish a goal or objective of the church.

This online blog is aimed at providing biblically based and real-time relevant church management articles. It is not meant to provide a detailed solution for every situation, but it will not be ambiguous either.

Let's start off by answering the question...

What is great church management?

For church management to be great:

1. It must be in harmony with the heart of God
2. It must be in harmony with the mind of God
3. It must be in harmony with what matters to God

Having graduated from one of the finest biblically centered universities in the world I learned that "God's ways are not man's ways."

Of course you don't need to go to college to figure that one out, but a college that is willing to teach it (in my opinion) is one worth going to.

So what does "God's ways..." have to do with church management?

EVERYTHING!!

"God's ways..." doesn't resemble the cookie cutter management practices that are prevalent in churches today.

"God's ways..." seeks to look for what HE is blessing rather than what we want Him to bless.

"God's ways..." takes into account the whole of the church rather than the parts that speak the loudest.

The list could go on and on, but let's start with the first of these three and I am certain you will catch on.

1. "God's ways..." doesn't resemble the cookie cutter management practices that are prevalent in churches today.

If my church had the same mix and mind of people living in the same type of community with the same history of another church I still would question the sanity of using the same church management practices. The truth is identical twin churches do not exist. There is great diversity between churches today, the sooner we realize that the sooner we progress towards "God's ways..." of doing church management.

To get a better view of how different your church is, learn who your people are. Start with your leadership, then your congregation. Good management starts with relationships. People are more apt to follow if they know you value who they are. When was the last time you had a retreat with your church leadership?

Knowing and recording important facts about your people (i.e. family, jobs, skills, spiritual gifts, strengths and weaknesses) provides the knowledge base of good church management. Once you gather that information the uniqueness of your church will become much clearer to you. The discovery of that uniqueness will give birth to relationships, ministries and support you would otherwise overlook with your cookie cutter approach.

There are many simple ways you can gather the information. You can use family questionnaires, talent surveys, spiritual gift test and normal conversation to gather the information. There are great tools available to help you keep track of the information you collected, like www.churchofficeonline.com which allows you to also print off reports of custom fields you create.
I want to warn you though that a sure way to frustrate your church is to take a survey and not use the info to advance relationships or ministry.

2. "God's ways..." seeks to look for what HE is blessing rather than what we want Him to bless.

Our tendency and constant pull is to vest our management in what we want to see God bless rather than looking at what God is Blessing. There are times when it can be both but not to seek and be open to what HE is Blessing is to miss what HE would have us do, “Except Christ build the church we labor in vain…”.

We can start by asking the following questions:

1.  Who has God brought to us?
2. Who has God taken from us?
3. What has God given to us?
4. What has God taken from us?

The fingerprints of God are all over our lives and church. Our greatest task it to know what He is blessing and to move people and resources to that opportunity of blessing.

3. "God's ways..." takes into account the whole of the church rather than the parts that speak the loudest.

We all know that the scripture speaks to the truth that all parts of the church body are important. If we expect people to take seriously the mission of the church we need to do our part in church management that no person gets “left behind”.

“Left behind” happens when we lose track of a person. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people say that: “we were gone for three weeks and nobody called to ask why.”

“Left behind” happens when a person is good at a specific thing but their name never surfaces when a ministry team or event is formed that requires someone with that skill or experience. (And we wonder why only 10% of the people in church does the work of the church.)

“Left behind” happens when we plan a ministry or event and then fill it with available bodies rather than start with people and build ministry.

Mike Smith
http://www.churchofficeonline.com

Before we get the cart before the horse, let’s first answer the question: “What is Church Management?”

Church Management is directing/managing people and programs to accomplish the desired goals and objectives of the church. Because the ministry of church management has a divine origin, and a divine facilitator we look to our Lord to provide and guide us in this.

 We would be greatly mistaken if we thought that our efforts alone will help us to reach our goals. “Unless Christ builds the church we labor in vain…” Psalm 127:1

Unlike the business sector, Church Management works largely with a volunteer base which is becoming more mobile each day. Yet most volunteers expect the church to keep up with what is offered in the business sector in the way of management tools. While there are some tasks in Church Management that software/IT-service cannot begin to meet, there are some tasks that can be greatly benefited by the right program.

Now we can ask the question, “What should I look for in a church management software (ChMS) program?” A good ChMS program will provide you with the features you need without imposing upon you the features you don’t need. The programs that are the most intuitive generally are created by those who KNOW firsthand what is required in church management. For the most part they are easy to spot.

Ten Features every ChMS should include:

1. Easy for both staff and volunteers to use
2. Online Secure Accessibility making it possible to work outside the church.
3. Daily Auto Back-ups of all your ChMS data on secure vaulted servers
4. Household and Member Management –Contact Information with Custom Field Options
5. Communication Tools i.e. email, mass email, e-newsletter creation, mailing labels, etc...
6. Attendance Record Keeping for all Services, Meeting and Events
7. Small Group/Ministry Management
8. Demographic Reports
9. Contribution Entry and Management
10. Data Export for Custom In-house Reports

Other Features/Services that are nice to have:

1. Great 24/7 Support with Knowledge Base and Feedback Features
2. Data Import Service
3. Mobile Connectivity - iPad/Tablets, Smart Phones etc…
4. Multiple Browser and Operating System Compatibility
5. Pledge Tacking and Management
6. Integration Capable

Choosing a ChMS service/program shouldn’t take such a great bite out of your budget that what remains is less then what is needed. Watch out for those services that require high start-up fees.

Mike Smith
Church Office Online

Churches have found that when it comes to raising funds for a specific ministry project there is a greater success rate when you do a Pledge/Faith campaign. In fact it is proven that a well run and prayed for campaign increases general church Tithing/Giving as well. Thirty years of ministry with several completed and almost completed Pledge/Faith campaigns testify to this truth. They have also taught me a few things which I will pass on to you. So before you swing into action let me point out seven guidelines that can help.

SEVEN GUIDELINES

1. STATE YOUR PURPOSE

Have a clear concise statement as to what you are needing the funds to do, purchase, build, …etc. When possible make sure you connect to the needs of people.

2. SET YOUR GOAL

Your needed funds goal amount should be spot-on. Don’t make the mistake of asking for too little or too much. The backlash is not worth it. Integrity is key to a successful campaign.

3. HAVE A CAMPAIGN COMPLETION DATE

Generally a campaign is no less than a month and no more than a year. A specific date helps both the church member and the church to evaluate progress toward the goal. This might be a good place to say that you should be VERY selective as to how many campaigns and how close they are planned to the previous. Give your church time to breath between campaigns.

4. KEEP ACCURATE RECORDS

Obtain a pledge recording and reporting software program. It is essential that you keep accurate records and maintain good financial accountability. Remember that this is unique to churches and most common software like Quickbooks do not provide pledge management.
Church Office Online provides a very inexpensive solution to this with the Pledge Management Feature. http://www.churchofficeonline.com
There is a growing number of online services that also provide pledge management, so shop around. Beware of those that ask for set-up fees.

5. MAKE IT EASY TO GIVE

On-Site
Provide Pledge/Faith campaign instructions and card/envelopes in the bulletins or pews. See attached doc for a sample card.

In Person
Receive funds during the week through the church office.
Acquire a merchant debit card processing swipe device for anyone who would prefer an electronic option. Check out COSTCO for an inexpensive solution to this in their business section. Merchant Credit Card Processing (1.48% plus 20¢ for Retail Classified Transactions*)

Online
Bill Pay – Through your Bank- many offer free bill pay service up to a certain limit.
Website Donation Button – I would recommend Google Check-Out as they are providing NO fee set-up and transactions for Non-Profits (You must apply for this grant each year.)

Pledge/Faith Promise Cards/Envelopes
Make sure you have easy access to campaign brochures, Pledge/Faith Cards and giving envelopes.

Non-Pledge/Faith Promise Giving
Remember not to discourage those who do not want to enter in a Pledge or Faith Promise from giving. Make sure you include them in all communications.

6. HAVE A COMMUNICATION PLAN

Pre-Campaign Communication
Teach Biblical Stewardship and Giving
When church leadership taught and exampled Biblical Stewardship and Giving to their people it provided the foundation for all future giving campaigns as well.

Share the Vision
Let the church in on the vision of what might be before it is. Seeding the vision of what God is leading the leadership of the church to consider in the future is paramount to the church feeling included.

Calendar the Campaign
Post a Calendar of all campaign meetings, deadlines, publication mail out dates, announcement dates, campaign update reports,..etc. Make sure all members of the campaign team have access to it.

Campaign Communication
Share the Need – put a face to the need, if there is no face than connection to the need becomes difficult.
Share the Opportunity to Support - allow people to invest in the goal.
Personal testimonies - should be included in services as well as other publications from those who have experienced the blessings and lessons learned from giving.
Share the Progress – it is perhaps the easiest part of a campaign but often the most neglected.

Post Campaign Communication
Report the Results
Celebrate the Blessing – have a celebration event/service

7. LEARN FROM WHAT WORKED AND WHAT DIDN’T

Every church is different. We learn how different when we take the time to learn from what worked and what didn’t. I have always been surprised by the results as I am sure you will be too. Learn from them. The sooner your campaign team meets together after the campaign to review it the more you will learn to the benefit of future campaigns.

Please Note:

A Pledge is a promise to make payment toward a set goal amount. It is considered by some to specify an agreement between church member and church. It can be for the sum of a year’s tithe, total of a short term mission’s trip, or a couple’s summer conference just to mention a few.

A Faith Promise is a promise to make payment toward a set goal amount. The use of the word “Faith” denotes an amount set by “faith in what God would have one give”. Like the “Pledge” it can be used toward the same things.

In the context of the church I would contest that both Pledge and Faith Promise require seeking divine guidance.

Attached is a sample church Pledge/Faith Promise Card for you to use and distribute.

Mike Smith
Church Office Online

SamplePledgeCard.pdf (327.29 kb)

Introduction to Church Payroll

I challenge you to find a more difficult and frightening task for any church clerk/financial secretary to undertake then that of Payroll. I have seen the best of the best break under the weight of this task. Clergy often have very little choice but to go with the flow and hope the church doesn’t get called in by the IRS. So it’s with compassion on my fellow clergy and the scores of financial secretaries that are frightened to death that I submit the following.

First, please note that this should be thought of as experienced suggestions of things to consider regarding Payroll; I spent 27 years in ministry with half of those years as an administrative/executive pastor. I am also the co-founder of Church Office Online (http://www.churchofficeonline.com) an online church management program.

Secondly, what you will find in this “How To” document are brief outlined directions with links to explore more, I will try to KISS (Keep It Simple Saint).

In-House or Out-Sourcing, that is the Question

How do you choose between the two? You might already be at the point of decision, but before you take that leap of faith let me point out an important fact. Church boards, clergy and staff need to be educated on both options. More problems happen as a result of those who choose one over the other in an attempt to escape what they are unwilling to learn. I’m not suggesting you go back to college and take accounting, but what I am suggesting is that you put forth some effort to make sure that you’re making an intelligent decision. I would also suggest talking to those in your church who have a business and have had to deal with the general questions about payroll.

There are two directions In-House or Out-Sourcing for Payroll

In-House Payroll (i.e. Your Financial Secretary does the payroll)

Payroll Financial Secretary /Clerk Guidelines

1. “Willing to do it” should not be the only qualification. (Remember you are putting your church and staff at risk).
2. “Background Checks are a must” Don’t make me tell you one of my horror stories!
3. “Proven knowledge of basic accounting must be required.”
4. “Yearly Audit Review for the first year and every other year thereafter.”

Payroll Software

You would think that as a co-founder of a software company you would be expecting a sales pitch about now… not going to give you one. We decided that there was a vast quantity of great payroll software and services already out there.

Payroll Software is divided up into three categories:

1. Desktop
   Pros: Most see it as a cheaper option initially.
   Cons: Most find out that new versions come at a cost and sadly they usually don’t come when you need it.
2. Desktop w/Online Updating and Services
   Pros: It would seem that you have the best of both worlds
   Cons: Expensive Updates and new Versions, with great difficulty in maintaining system and browser compatibility.
3. Online Software Service
   Pros: Accessibility from Home or Office
   Cons: Accessibility from Outside the Office

Out-Sourcing Payroll Services

1. Local
   Pros: Local Support, Community Connection
   Cons: Generally More Costly
2. Online
   Pros: Accessibility from Home or Office, Less Expensive
   Cons: Support not always easy to get through to

Introduction to Cloud Computing

Let's say you're an administrative pastor in a new church. One of your responsibilities include making sure that all of the staff have the right hardware and software they need to do their jobs. Buying computers and purchasing software would be easy if it worked the way everyone thought it would. Soon you become overwhelmed with office networking issues, keeping up with constant required updates, downloads and spending more money for the latest and greatest versions.

There is now an alternative. Instead of installing a suite of software for each computer, you'd only have to have one service application. A Web-based service like Church Office Online is now taking the burden off the client and upon themselves to maintain compatibility and accessibility for a variety of systems and devices. Cloud Services can provide everything from e-mail, word processing programs and specific ministry applications for a church (i.e. Church Office Online). Software services offered in the cloud are termed "Software as a Service" or "SaaS", which basically means that you use the application without the worry of installation, maintenance or operating system.

Cloud computing takes the workload off your system or device. Your computer systems and mobile devices no longer have to do the more intensive processing that applications demand. The cloud consists of a vast array of computers/servers that handles them instead. Because the Cloud will do the heaver work it frees the end user/client to purchase lighter and more mobile devices that only needs to access the Web and wireless support devices like printers and other mobile devices.

Most of you have already used cloud computing and didn’t even know it. Do you have an e-mail account with Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo? If you have then you’ve experienced cloud computing.

So what does this mean for churches?

Greater mobility, with mobile web computer tools that will help you to know who you’re going to visit, where they live, and a host of ministry resources you have access to without confining you to your desk.

More time to minister by not having to maintain updates and downloads, and most programs are more user friendlier than desktop based versions.

Cloud based software services (SaaS) are generally less expensive than buying software licences, installing it yourself, maintaining it and of course purchasing the computing hardware to run it.

You have greater options to purchase devices and applications and spend less for them.

Some recommended Cloud software (SaaS)

• Cloud Email: Gmail (free)
• Cloud Accounting: Quicken (free)
• Cloud Microsoft Office: Office Live (free)
• Cloud Church Management Software: Church Membership Online

I remember when my senior pastor said: “I’m not into numbers”. At first I understood it as a statement suggesting priority on spiritual growth over numerical. As a compliant and zealous youth pastor I took the statement and quickly put it into practice. No attendance was to be taken, no heads counted… no numbers, it was easy to apply. However, the problem came when the elders asked why my year end report contained no numbers but only general statements about growth. 
 
Biblically: “Numbers” does not have the negative connotation that my fellow pastor asserted.  If one looks into the Bible you will see a book named Numbers. My first read through it was like reading the parts list for a Boeing 747. It was hard for me to keep interested and awake. Later as an administrative pastor, one thing impressed me about Numbers was that they kept track of their people. They knew who, where and how many. The early church also kept track as recorded in Acts.  Even Jesus’ parable of the 99 sheep represented the value of each individual to him. Jesus makes it a point to know the “who, where and how many”.
 
Professionally: Accountability is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of attendance. When we know the “who, where and how many” we become accountable to those who are represented by those numbers.  If I take a van load of teens to Mexico on a short term mission trip and pay attention only to their growth experience and not notice that I went down with twenty and came back with nineteen; do you think the parents of the missing teen will not hold me accountable? As leaders we must be diligent to keep the attendance of those that God entrust to us.
Secondly, keeping track of the numbers should speak more to the leadership than the congregation. When I see an Individual not attending each Sunday, I don’t write a letter and ask “What’s  your problem?” instead  I ask, “What’s our expectation, is it Biblical and what are we doing ?” Other questions you can ask are: “Is their lack of attendance systematic  of: no follow-up, ministry done poorly or a misfit ministry.”
 
I am thankful to our LORD for allowing me the opportunity to help churches in the care and growth of their church through the service of ChurchOfficeOnline.com. When we began development of the Church Membership Online Program we began with the conviction that attendance was not just an added feature but central to the program. Numbers do count when you are feeding and caring for the flock. The best way to know the "who, what and where' is to take individual attendance, doing so can lead to a healthier church.
 
Pastor Mike Smith, CMO Ministry Support
Church Office Online