For busy pastors, it offers a flexible, efficient and cost-effective way to pursue an advanced degree. Here, five experts survey the landscape. Do you see a lot of full-time ministry leaders embracing advanced degrees via distance learning right now? If so, what’s driving that interest? Are certain areas of focus / concentrations proving most attractive? […]
Read More >Strategies for using technology to encourage giving all year round Define ‘year-end giving.’ What months of the year are we referring to? B. Louie Cordovado: Year-end giving refers to giving during the last two to three months of a church’s fiscal year — usually October to December. Kacie Frazier: Year-end giving is the most charitable […]
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How to properly protect your parish from scammers By Elizabeth “Betty” Norman Cyber criminals seek out organizations that seem unsuspecting. Unfortunately, churches often offer just what they’re looking for. In late April 2019, Father Bob Stec of the Saint Ambrose Catholic Parish in Brunswick, Ohio found himself sending a note to parish members that no […]
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By Matthew D. Hoffman You have recently been named the executor of an estate — but, like many people, you might not be familiar with the scope of the task that you’re undertaking and the important information you need to know. An executor is the person responsible for managing the administration of a deceased individual’s […]
Read More >Emerging trends, outdated ones, and ministry-specific design movements What’s especially appealing about working with churches? Trung Doan: Churches are the hands and feet of faith, and we consider it a privilege to equip churches to continue making a difference. Rodney C. James: Mentoring, leading and helping pastors. Most didn’t get a class in church design, […]
Read More >By RaeAnn Slaybaugh Prior to enlisting One Call Now notification technology (text-messaging en masse) at Seventh-day Adventist Church in Adairsville, Georgia, email was the main channel for keeping members up-to-date on church happenings. As Elder Woody Davis explains, this approach presented a handful of challenges and limitations. “People just didn’t get the information quickly,” he […]
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By Gregory Love & Kimberlee Norris Child sexual abuse risk in ministry contexts cannot be ignored. This statement implies child protection has been ignored by some ministries in the past. For most ministries, however, the challenge is ignorance of the problem. Most ministries are doing something, but not doing the right thing. Church Executive and […]
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By RaeAnn Slaybaugh Joel Guthrie grew up attending church. In fact, his family helped start one in Colorado Springs. Since then, he has been on staff as a worship leader and youth leader at a church in Bellevue, Wash., and is currently one of the worship leaders and 10th-grade-guys leaders at his church in Austin, […]
Read More >By RaeAnn Slaybaugh Research shows pastors are twice as likely to experience financial stress as the average American. As Rev. Dr. Perry J. Hopper, MBA, Associate Executive Director of MMBB, explains, this is because clergy sustain significant levels of indebtedness with fewer resources to meet their financial obligations. Coupled with a theology that sometimes can […]
Read More >Tried-and-true strategies — plus, how technology can come alongside your best efforts With regards to technology, what are the most crucial elements in a “recipe” that best positions a church to keep connected to its members all week long? Chris Kehayias: The point of staying connected, and to “do church” in the first place, is […]
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