Houses of worship play a critical role in the life of the community. As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic progressed, many organizations suspended in-person gatherings in accordance with government mandates or recommendations to limit the spread of the virus. Now that states and local communities are planning to ease restrictions, you may be considering how and when […]
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By Matthew F. Manion As of this writing, masses are being celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome for the first time in 10 weeks. Throughout the United States, individual states and local jurisdictions are creating guidelines for religious gatherings as they begin to reopen their governments. As churches around the globe begin to open […]
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CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN MINISTRY CONTEXTS By Gregory Love & Kimberlee Norris When in doubt, REPORT. If every allegation of child sexual abuse was simply reported by church leaders to appropriate authorities, the resulting positive impact would be immeasurable. Survivors of abuse would feel validated — by itself a significant positive outcome — pathways to […]
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No matter the crisis, whether COVID-19 or something more local to our community, our first priority must be how we minister to people. Having current and real information is key to making necessary decisions in the moment. Answer the question, based on what we know, what is right, now? Don’t let all the other energy […]
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By Matt Mashburn & Melissa Mashburn We’re heading into a time where the future of staffing and team development will look very different. As church leaders, we will inevitably be facing some tough decisions around staffing in the near future. That might mean downsizing staff in some cases. We’ve outlined eight principles for navigating difficult […]
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A new hope By Joel Guthrie In this series, we’ve talked about the past and about the current state of technology in the church. In this third and final installment, let’s talk about the future. I’ve worked with some of the world’s largest tech companies, and one thing is apparent: change is coming, and faster […]
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By Gregory Love & Kimberlee Norris Given the #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements and the ongoing media headlines, many church leaders have awakened to the risk of child sexual abuse and are seeking guidance about what to do. Others are taking this opportunity to evaluate existing safety efforts to measure preparedness. Typically, the criminal background check […]
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By Elizabeth Grace Saunders Working at a church naturally lends itself to murky boundaries. By design, there’s weekend work as well as certain activities that happen in the evenings. Due to the nature of this work, your likelihood of working — or feeling like you’re working—during every waking hour increases. But it doesn’t need to […]
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By Rev. Dr. Patricia L. Hunter, CFP® Everyone is familiar with the advice that most financial planners share about saving for retirement — the best time to start planning and saving for retirement is in your 20s. For any number of reasons, far too many people do not get started that early. Retirement can seem […]
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MATT KAUTZKY / DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES / BLACKHAWK CHURCH / MIDDLETON, WI Spanning more than 130,000 square feet, Blackhawk Church transitioned from a (scraps of) paper-based facilities management system to an intuitive platform — all with zero downtime. The platform’s implementation has even fostered the pursuit of a guiding principle for the church: providing a […]
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