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LEADERSHIP Archives - Page 85 of 123 - Church Executive

Does it make sense to refinance right now? (Even though you might be facing a prepayment penalty)

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church borrowing, Church Finance, church finances, church financial management, church interest rates, church lending, church lending trends, church loans

August 1, 2015 at 2:56 pm.

If you haven’t already heard while listening to the evening news, the 15-year historic graphs indicate that while interest rates are still relatively low, they might have bottomed and be on their way up. While many think rates are likely to increase in the future, no one knows how much they will rise or when. Now might prove to be a good time to refinance existing debt and secure a long-term fixed rate if possible.

How to buy the right transportation for your unique church

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church bus, church bus selection, Church transportation, church transportation selection, church vehicle, church vehicle selection, transportation ministry

August 1, 2015 at 2:41 pm.

Today’s growing churches are seven-day-a-week operations. The ability to transport worshippers to services on Sunday is just one need; churches are also hosting children, youth and seniors well beyond Sunday. So, your transportation needs are clear — and immediate.

An effective worship space for kids is no small feat

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children's church, children's ministry, children's worship, children's worship space, kids ministry, kids ministry spaces, kids spaces

August 1, 2015 at 2:25 pm.

Preschool and children’s spaces are the most unique of all worship spaces, in my opinion. They must capture these special worshippers and hold their attention while also supporting the worship leaders. Even with younger ages in attendance and shorter “sermons,” these services are no less significant.

Internal controls keep fraud at bay

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church accounting, church embezzlement, Church Finance, church fraud, church fraud prevention, church internal controls, church risk control, church theft, internal controls, internal financial controls

August 1, 2015 at 2:17 pm.

“What happens in accounting, stays in accounting.” If your finance team’s motto goes something like this, you might have an internal controls problem. Internal controls are put in place to clearly define proper procedures for finance and accounting team members, to minimize risk, and to alleviate suspicion. Even churches must mitigate risk and ensure that policies and procedures are in place and functioning as intended.

Welcome to worship: how to recognize hearing loss — and provide solutions

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accessibility worship, accessible churches, accessible worship, assisted listening church, assistive listening church, church accessibility, church worshiper hearing loss, hearing loss, hearing loss church

August 1, 2015 at 2:13 pm.

Those among us who have it, often prefer to try to cope with it, live with it, or hide it from others. And yet, this so-called invisible disability affects about 20 percent of American adults! This means that potentially, one out of five of congregants are not hearing messages and music that inspire them each week in your house of worship.

Planning for retirement: it’s your choice

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church benefits, Church Finance, pastor finance, pastor personal finance, pastor retirement, Retirement planning, saving for retirement

August 1, 2015 at 2:08 pm.

“Do I buy a car or lease one?” “Do I work to pay for my education — or my children’s — or do I take out a loan?” “Do I rent an apartment or buy a house?” For each of these questions, making the right decision depends on a number of factors that are unique to you. But one financial question leaves us with very few choices: “Do I save for retirement?”

How scheduling tools can streamline your ministry efforts

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church facility management, church management software, church scheduling, church software, church technology, software for churches

August 1, 2015 at 2:04 pm.

Scheduling can be a nightmare. Overbooking rooms. Double-booking church equipment. Accidentally scheduling two big functions on the same day. No matter the church size, the story is the same.

ChMS-enabled volunteer management strategies

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ChMs, church facilities, church management software, church scheduling, church scheduling software, church software, church technology

August 1, 2015 at 1:57 pm.

Two decades ago, we were using spreadsheets that needed to be emailed around to the various teams to keep track of who was serving each Sunday. A few years after the church launched, I was able to hire an administrative assistant to help me with the immense workload. But, after 18 months of frustration due to the overwhelming logistics of scheduling all those volunteers, she burned out … and she quit.

Back then, wCalendar_1e didn’t have the tools in place to effectively support our ministry processes. Sending spreadsheets back and forth all week wasn’t an efficient way of managing the schedules for hundreds of volunteers; it just led to confusion and frustration.

Now, the technology is available to streamline these processes. When implemented correctly, church management software simplifies scheduling every aspect of an event — including the crucial volunteers.

Using technology to tame the volunteer schedule headache

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ChMs, church management software, church scheduling software, church scheduling technology, church scheduling tools, church software, church tech, church technology, management software

August 1, 2015 at 1:50 pm.

Perhaps no other part of church is as important or as complicated as managing volunteers.

Visitors coming to the church are greeted by volunteers — those first few impressionable moments are left to volunteers. The same is true for the nursery, our children’s ministries, guardian angels patrolling the parking lot, and especially the lay leaders that lead out bible studies, Sunday school classes and children’s programs.

These critical roles in the church are bounded by a number of important concerns: Who has volunteered? Are they gifted in that way as a volunteer? (Just because you want to be a teacher, doesn’t make you a great teacher.) Have we checked their background — especially in regards to children’s ministry? Are we using them? How often do they serve? Are they burning out? What are their preferences in serving? Do they like to serve with their families? What rotation works best for them?

As a leader of volunteers, your concerns are more aggregated: How are my volunteers performing, and do they enjoy their roles? (Because if they don’t, they won’t volunteer much longer.) Do they have feedback that can make the position better, more efficient and more fulfilling?

THE CE INTERVIEW: JONATHAN STOCKSTILL

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CE Interview, church executive interview, Church expansion, Church Growth, Church leadership, faith leadership, jonathan stockstill, Leadership lessons, pastor leadership

August 1, 2015 at 1:20 pm.

Jonathan Stockstill was 30 years old when his father, the Rev. Larry Stockstill, turned over to him the leadership of Bethany Church. Interestingly, Larry was the same age as Jonathan when he took over for his dad, who founded the church in 1963.

Jonathan has led music at Bethany since he was 17. He says he always felt that he would be in full-time ministry, but it was not until he was in his mid-20s that he began to sense a pastoral call upon his life. At the time, he was leading worship and traveling with a band called Deluge. He wrote songs, recorded projects and did music tours, but he says God was dealing with him about a different kind of ministry. Jonathan also did several evangelistic crusades and went through a season where he felt he might plant a church in his late ‘30s.

“But God had a different plan,” he says.