Church Leadership

Week #13 Singleness and Ministry

2009-04-08T15:07:00.001-07:00

Thursday 04-16-09
By Nick Smith

I choose the article from http://www.drurywriting.com/keith/protect.htm to make my list of 5 items. The items that I choose to put on my list were basically 5 ways I could see myself being most susceptible or ways in which I thought I could really capitalize.

1. I really enjoy the close relationships that I have with people (guys and girls alike). As I go into my profession I will need to watch out when getting to know new women. I need to avoid getting too attached emotionally, because I believe this is an area in which I could fail. I think for me personally it would be easy to just try to be close friends and then that moves to an unhealthy relationship where I would be fulfilling her emotional needs.
2. I need to listen to the advice of my wife. Though sometimes I think that she could be saying things out of an underlying jealousy, most of the time she is probably right. And, even if she is saying it out of jealousy, no relationship is going to be more important than my relationship with her, so following what she thinks is best is always going to be a good thing.
3. I also need to learn how to get a hold of my thought life. This is something that I think will come with age, but really getting serious about it now will be key. I feel like I have gotten better in this area over the last 4 years, but I am not where I would like to be.
4. Sinners always get caught. Well, I don’t know if that is always true. But, I do believe it is a good rule to live by. Maybe I don’t have enough years in me to really know if I have been caught of all my sin, so living like I always will get caught is a good reason to not get involved in sexual sin.
5. Don’t spend time alone with the opposite sex. This is going to be key. Not because I am always susceptible in this situation, but the questions that can arise from others knowing I was in that situation could be dangerous.

Week #12 Learning Leadership

2009-04-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

Thursday 04-09-09
By Nick Smith

“Some leaders learn to lead by making mistakes and then reflecting enough on those mistakes to develop principles for the future… another way is to learn the principles based on the mistakes of others.”

With this statement we can see there are two ways to learn leadership. First of all, we can learn by experience. Our leadership skills will improve over time because with time we find out what works the best and what doesn’t work the best. Over time, we also learn people a bit more. So out skills with people will improve after doing wrongs and rights with people. Of course, all of this wont work out unless we are able to actually reflect on these situations and look at them honestly enough to pinpoint flaws and extract the good. The second way to learn is sort of up front learning. We study leadership skills in order to know what to do in certain situations therefore being able to avoid problems as they come. The best way to do leadership in my mind is to combine these two styles. Learn as much leadership theory as you can up front, that way you will have some idea of what to do, but then when you do make mistakes, reflect hard on them and decide what you could do to improve.

Six Things to Remember about Taxes 4-14

2009-04-07T05:55:00.000-07:00

1. With your housing expenses, you are allowed to take that money tax free. Make sure that you, or whoever is doing your taxes knows how much you were paid that was applied to housing in order to make sure that you indicate that you did not pay tax on that money. Remember that this does not include income tax, so you must pay tax for social security.

2. Turbo tax is a great resource. Many people to prepare taxes are not familiar with ministers taxes. Turbo tax has all of the up-to-date tax information for ministers and it will save you money in the long run.

3. Pastor’s are considered self employed. This being so, you will have to pay your social security tax as a lump typically, so make sure you are prepared and ready to pay this sum around tax time. Don’t wait to save, you are a self employed person, you need to treat your pay like it.

4. Make sure you pay your taxes on gifts. Typically if one receives a gift, it is when making a visit, performing a funeral or a wedding. These are part of your “job” so this would also be income, so since it is income, you must pay taxes on it. Don’t just think it is a gift so you don’t need to pay taxes on it, you are not better than others who get paid from a business, your pay just looks different.

5. The housing allowance is tax deductable, meaning you don’t have to pay taxes on whatever you designate for housing. At the same time you do that, whatever interest you pay on a mortgage can also be deducted on your taxes, also known as the “double-dipping” benefit.

6. Always pay your taxes. This might sound stupid but I don’t write this to say that you should just pay your taxes, you know that, but I say it as a reminder to be honest. As a Christian you are called to be honest, and as a minister you are called to a higher calling. So because of this, you need to be very honest and make sure you are following the tax

Theory X&Y at CWC

2009-04-07T05:52:00.000-07:00

For this post, I will be looking at College Wesleyan Church and Dave Drury in the view of the theory X and theory Y in leadership.

I think that Pastor Dave has a good balance of these two views. I think in general, he is a theory Y guy. I think he would say that for the most part, people are good and are competent to do their job and have a passion for their job. Although he is like this, he does a good job at creating accountability.

One week when I met with Dave, he had just finished up a meeting with one of the staff members, which was a yearly review. He said that in these meetings, he would go over the personal and professional goals of the employee and talk about how they accomplished those things and if they hadn’t, they would talk about how they need to improve for next year and what they need to do to go about reaching and exceeding those things for the coming year. This would also be a time for those to present a new set of written goals and major things to accomplish.

I believe that even though Dave is a theory Y person, he knows that people are better workers when properly motivated. This doesn’t mean he has to micro manage, but he needs to help them manage themselves. I think that College Wesleyan in general has a theory Y type of management. Dave and the leadership has a great philosophy of management, one that allows them to push people to become better and grow in their ministry, but also allow people room to motivate and get things done out of their own passions and intrinsic motivation.

Week #13 Minister’s Taxes

2009-04-06T20:35:00.001-07:00

Tuesday 04-14-09
By Nick Smith

1. Ministers who own their home do not pay federal income taxes on the portion of their church compensation that is designated in advance by their church as a housing allowance to the extent that the allowance is used to pay for housing related expenses and does not exceed the annual rental value of the home.
2. Do not hide your honorariums from the IRS. It is an easy thing to do as long as you are ok with lying.
3. Use turbo tax! It knows the ins and outs of pastoral taxation. You will find this very helpful.
4. Though you don’t have to pay income taxes on your house, you do have to pay social security on your house.
5. A minister who is buying a house is also able to use the interest as a regular deduction.
6. Remember that if you are going to live in a parsonage, you will not be able to gain equity, which could possibly very important if you move to a church who does not offer a parsonage.

Week #12 Formal Leadership Theory

2009-04-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 04-07-09
By Nick Smith

The leadership theory that I will be applying to the Church as a pastor, is the Transformational Leadership theory. It is one I have experienced myself and therefore can relate to it.
In my church there is are only a few kids who come to youth group Sunday nights, yet there are 50+ who come to Wednesday morning prayer breakfast. As a transformational leader, I will seek to be more inspiring, let the kids know there is much to gain from following Christ more closely. I will speak to them on Wednesday mornings with more passion about the love of Christ, seeking ways in which to address specific issues in their lives they might be going through. I will do these things in order to fill them with the same type of passion I have and encourage them to come to youth group Sunday night.
Not only will I be passionate about the Lord, but I will also develop a vision for the youth group kids. That vision will encompass an evangelical mindset as well as a discipleship mindset in order for kids to understand that they need to make the most of their opportunities to come to Church in order to hear from God as well as bring their un-Christian friends in order for them to find the love of Christ. I will constantly be selling this vision on a corporate setting as well as an individual setting.
In times it will be important to find new ways of moving forward. Revising my vision might be the case but just finding new ways to go about carrying out my current vision will be the first way I go about pushing forward. I will do all I can to push on. I will involve the kids as much as possible to get their opinions as well as finding ways for them to get involved with my vision.

Thursday Report #10 Singleness and Ministry

2009-04-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

I read Keith Drury's article on minister's protecting themselves from sexual sin. The following is a list of 5 policies that I intend to practice in order to avoid sexual impurity and impropriety in thought, word and deed as a minister.

1. I will not be alone with the opposite sex. I will always make sure there are numerous people around me when I am meeting with someone from the opposite sex.

2. I will always keep my door open in my office when I woman is there. I will make sure someone is always within eye sight of the open door.

3. I will never intimiately embrace a member of the opposite sex. This means I will only shake a females hand or "side hug." I will never fully embrace, kiss, or hold a woman's hand.

4. I will sign up for XXXchurch.com's internet pornography accountability software so that my future wife can see all the websites I visited.

5. I will go to my wife for emotional support, no one else.

2009-04-05T19:35:00.001-07:00

Thursday Report #9 Learning Leadership

2009-04-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

"Some leaders learn to lead by making mistakes and then reflecting enough on those mistakes to develop principles for future...another way is to learn the principles based on the mistakes of others."

This phrase means that leaders do not have to make mistakes to learn leadership lessons. Through reading books about leaders who learned from their mistakes, and/or having personal conversation with leaders who made mistakes, a leader can learn basic principles about leadership. This phrase should inspire leaders to not assume they will make mistakes. Yes mistakes are inevitable, but leaders should not strive to make them in order to learn from them. This phrase should also encourage leaders to reading numerous books and pursue experienced leaders to gain proper leadership knowledge that will inspire their future leadership. Another insight leaders can gain from this phrase is the importance of study. Leaders should study leadership.

Tuesday #10 Formal Leadership Theory

2009-04-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

The theory I would like to apply is the 360 Degree Leadership Theory by Bill Hybels. I will like to apply this concept to my local church situation at College Wesleyan Church. I will act as if I am the Worship Arts Director.

This past Sunday was Palm Sunday. As the Worship Arts Director, I had an intricate leadership role in both planning this service and leading the service. Bill Hybels 360 Leadership Theory proved quite helpful. I first had to "lead down". I was in charge of communicating with the volunteer lay people who help lead worship at the various venues. I had to send them each a service order and check in periodically with them to guide them in their planning. I gave them a vision for the service and inspired them to set goals for the service.
I also had to "lead up". I held a Wednesday worship planning meeting with my supervisors, Pastor Steve DeNeff and Pastor Judy Huffman. I reported to them what I had planned for the Palm Sunday service. We worked together as a team to plan the service.
I also engaged in what Hybels calls "lateral leadership." I participated in this kind of leadership in the way I delt with my fellow staff members. We worked together as peers in mutual servant hood to coordinate the service. I met with College Pastor, Thad Spring, to discuss his role in the Great Room service.
Finally, I participated in "self leadership" by spending time in prayer throughout the week, praying for the Palm Sunday service. I took time throughout my work week to clear my mind and focus personally on my role in the service. I also spent time in the Bible, reflecting on the Palm Sunday Scripture passage.
By leading down, leading up, leading my peers and leading myself I was able to fully apply myself in my leadership responsibilities for the Palm Sunday service.

Thursday Report #8 Maxwell Book

2009-04-02T05:46:00.002-07:00

John Maxwell presents a helpful "rule" for working with people in his book Relationships 101. The principle reads as follows, "Great leaders understand that their team is only as strong as their weakest link."

This principle means that if one person in a group is not doing their share of the work, the whole group suffers. If there is a group of 100 people and 1 person in that group does not live up to the standard set by the group, the group will suffer. This principle implies that when someone is working with people he or she must keep everyone in the group accountable to the work they are doing. If there is no accountability in the group, most likely someone will fall behind and slack on their end of the stick. If you are leading a group, you must set up a system of checks and balances that help keep everyone in the group on board and focused on their task both as individuals in the group and as the large group. This principle also implies that a small negative seed of influence has a lot of power. It doesn't matter how many people in the group are doing the right thing, if one person is doing wrong then the whole group's image will be tainted.

Personally, I think this is a very helpful principle. This principle helps young leaders in ministry understand the importance of group accountability. Also, this principle motivates young church leaders to lead in a way that both inspires and motivates others.

Thursday 4/9 – Week 12

2009-04-02T05:29:00.001-07:00

As a leader, it is our job to be as perfect as we can. Although we try as hard as we can to not fail, we will inevitably fail. But we also are able, or should be able to gain knowledge from the failures of others that went before us or who work alongside us. But even if we are looking to those around us, we are going to fail. If we are always looking around, instead of up we are not going to be faithful to what God is leading us to do.

We aren’t always called be perfect however. As the great Dr. Chris Bounds would say, our measure of success in ministry will not be based on the fruitfulness of our ministry, but by our own faithfulness. Learning principles should be important to us and should be an important and we should take as much as we can from experience; we need to ultimately draw everything back to God and what He wants us to take from it.

If we are always, only learning by others mistakes, then we are not doing enough ourselves. We should be out there doing and learning along the way, making mistakes and implementing what we learn from those mistakes and keep being faithful to what we are being called to. Ultimately, if we are doing what we should, our mistakes aren’t going to matter in grand scheme of things, as long as we are looking to God and pursuing His goals for our lives and those He wants to touch through us.

Week # 11 Maxwell Book

2009-04-01T15:56:00.001-07:00

Thursday 04-02
By Nick Smith

In John Maxwell’s book 360-degree Leader, I found a quote that contained a lot of truth. It says this, “Leadership is a choice you make, not a place you sit.”

This is a great principle. First of all, I see from it that in order to be a leader, you must take some sort of action; people will only bow down to your title for so long if you do not have any real desire to lead them. Another thing I see in this quote is that true power is given only by the actions that you take. If you the head of a department and you do not go out of your way to lead people/move them to action, they will not follow because you do not lead. Around this quote is the fact that most people who lead are the middle workers of an organization. They do most of the work yet do not have that chair. All in all, I think this is saying, your position is pointless is you cannot get anyone to follow you. It is a great principle to follow and reflect on from time to time.

Tuesday #10: Mistakes Ministers Make

2009-03-31T05:03:00.000-07:00

I interviewed Jason Stephens on March 29th. The mistakes new staff persons make at a church are:

1. Trying to make too much change- He admitted that while change is not bad, and every church needs to change. A new pastor is a great way to bring about change, but if he or she does so too severely or too fast he is setting himself up for failure. People are resistant to change, and if one does not bring about change correctly they will find themselves in trouble.

2. Assuming they know it all- Nothing turns a people off of a new minister than having an individual assume he or she knows everything. If a pastor is new to the area, he needs to see the people of the church as a resource, and one of the fastest ways to gain the support of members is to come to them in an attitude of humility and ask them to help him.

3. Hiding- Any new staff person needs to get involved in the church in a hurry. If the new minister shows up to the office everyday and comes to church on Sunday morning, he will soon be left spiritually empty from not being connected to a local body, as well as disengaged from the body to whom he is trying to minister.

Week #11 Mistakes Ministers Make

2009-03-30T21:37:00.001-07:00

Tuesday 03-31
By Nick Smith

Michael Young gave me these three mistakes to avoid Saturday afternoon.

1. Assuming they know it all – New pastors who are cocky about how good they are in ministry come off as arrogant and that is not a quality people want in their pastor.
2. Assuming they don’t know anything – While a pastor should not be arrogant, they should not be too passive either. If they think they can make things more efficient then they should at least try.
3. Trying to change too much – If a new pastor comes in and tries to change everything (even if they are programs that don’t work) then they disrupt the comforts that people have with church.

This interview gave me the impression that balance is the best key for a new minister.

Tuesday Report #9 Mistakes Ministers Make

2009-03-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday March 18th, I interview Emily Vermilya. Emily is the Worship Arts Director at College Wesleyan Church. Emily told me 3 mistakes a new church staffer should avoid making in their first job.

1. Comparison - Do not compare you previous ministry experience to your current ministry experience; no 2 churches are the same.

2. Patience - Make a conclusive judgment about the new church you are at at least one year into the church. Do not make an evaluation too quickly.

3. Change - Do not change/implement too much too fast. The first year be a student, take notes, make observations, then later on begin implementing small changes.

People Work – 3/26

2009-03-26T11:55:00.001-07:00

Working with people is the biggest aspect of ministry. It is the purpose of ministry; interacting and loving on people. But how does one work well with people?

Well this is where learning and understanding people skills plays one of the largest roles. Working with people takes a focused understanding of yourself, but live an outward focused life. Instead of having an inward focus, where a person looks to his or her own needs, the person needs to live with an awareness of others feelings and needs. This is why women thrive in pastoral care position because usually women have a more keen perception of others feelings and emotions, helping them connect and build strong relationships with people.

When interacting with people, it is important to show a concern for their well being. Working with people means building relationship. The pastor should start by forming relationships with his or her congregants, on a personal level to build a sense of trust and companionship, in this way the pastor is a more personal and spiritual influence rather than being just the church figure.

Learning this skill can be done in many ways. First, in order to learn about building relationships and working with people, it is important to read and study the idea. Find books, online resources and talking with others. And of course, the best way to learn is to do. When working with people, take time to reflect and analyze how your interaction was good and how it was bad. Then apply those principles to your life. The End.

Week #10 People Work

2009-03-26T06:12:00.000-07:00

By Nick Smith
Thursday Post 3-26-09

A person can get to know people skills by doing a lot less talking. Those people who I do not view as having good people skills in the major, are people who often talk too much. To learn people skills, you have to learn people. To even begin doing that, we must shut our mouths and learn to listen.

Another ways to learn people skills by way of learning people; is to learn how to read peoples body language. I have noticed that the words people say don’t match what their body says. By simple observation one can begin to notice these clues that their body sends off. This process will take a while to learn, but hopefully one could pick up on a few things quickly that would be big helpers.

When it comes to knowing how to work with people, I think it is best to take the, “Okay, ya, that sounds great!” approach. When someone has an idea about how to do something, don’t think that you know how to do it. In fact, even if you are 100% sure that their way will fail, do it anyway, with your whole heart. That way they will know you have their back plus when you do it right, they will know that you know what you are talking about.

Learning people in general is a lifelong process, because we are always meeting new people and having to adapt to their personality. But learning individuals can be a relatively easy thing. Just by spending time with a wide variety of people will help you learn how to deal with different people. If you have only ever hung out with your brother who is exactly like you, then it is time you found a few new people to hang with.

Thursday #10: Learning People

2009-03-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

How we learn to work with People:

1. Evaluate yourself. It is important to always be introspective. If working with people is not something you are naturally gifted with, you should be in the frame of mind that you are constantly learning in an effort to improve yourself. When walking away from different interactions with people, ask yourself honestly how it went. What could I have done differently? Is there anything that worked really well? What should be improved?

2. Have someone you trust evaluate you. Gaining the kind of friend who can honestly tell you how things are is a priceless gift. Maybe this is a spouse, or a coworker, or just a best mate. But having an outside perspective can be incredibly valuable. This can be dangerous, as there is the possibility of feelings being hurt, but setting up guidelines beforehand as well as knowing there is a love that underlies everything being said can help one evaluate in a way that is not possible by oneself.

The underlying factor in both of these is experience. It is impossible to grow without experience, and if we really want to get better with people, we have to be with people. This is a non-negotiable.

Tuesday #9: Church Fight

2009-03-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

I interviewed Thad Spring on March 17th.

Thad shared a story of being at a church plant in which the largest small group within the church was withdrawing themselves from Sunday morning worship to go and pray. Thad, fearing that they were in danger of separating themselves from the body without doing so intentionally, let them know that while he valued their prayer efforts, he would really appreciate it if they would join the rest of the congregation in worship.
The people of the small group mistook this as animosity towards them, and they decided that Thad did not like them. They let this fester, and began making comments about Thad amongst themselves and eventually other people in the church. Thad heard about this, and confronted them and tried to make reconciliation. They told him they were fine, and were going to be able to move on from the situation.
Several months later, a completely different situation came up in which one of the daughters of a couple in this small group was having a rough time, and said that she did not like Thad. This gave them the ammunition they needed to launch an assault against their pastor. They came out with guns blazing, and began spreading rumors and dissent within the church. Thad tried to make reconciliation again, but this time they said they would have no part of it, and wanted to leave the church.
Thad brought witnesses with him at both of these confrontations, something he said was one of the smartest things he did throughout this experience. One of these witnesses happened to call Thad on an afternoon during which the church fight was in full force. He said he saw the entire church board gathering together in the parking lot, and thought Thad should know, in case they had not told him. This was a meeting Thad was not aware of, and he assumed it meant they were deciding to fire him. He called someone on the board and asked for the honest answer of what was going on. The board member told him they had gathered to pray for Thad and his family, because they had unanimously decided to support him, and dismiss all claims of those opposing him.
He said it was one of the most trying experiences of his life, for both him in ministry, as well as his family. His wife at one point wanted to quit all together because it was such a heart-wrenching experience. He said his major take-aways from the experience were to bring a witness in hairy situations, and to always use God as your advocate, never ceasing in prayer.

Week #10 Church Fight

2009-03-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

By Nick Smith
Tuesday 03-24

1. The Issue
The conflict in his story arose from adding a contemporary service the regular Sunday morning worship. The people who objected the contemporary service did so because they thought it was against the “proper” way to worship. Bob told me that their objections were based largely on a misunderstanding.
Other objectors thought that this contemporary worship would change the nature of the church, making it less sacred and more secular. Others thought that the church was doing well as is so there was no real reason to change it.

2. How Bad It Got:
The problem didn’t cause a church split or anything, but it did cause a few families to leave.

3. What could have resolved it—what someone should have done.
Bob says that the best action was taken. Instead of letting everyone know about the issue ahead of time, the elders just chose a date and implemented it. This way, there could be no discussion and people would just have to accept it. Now, I do agree that it was a good tactic. But I am not sure I really like it, as an American, I think I have the right to complain about everything. The reason I am not really sure it was the best tactic is because people did get angry enough about it to leave. Were those people right to leave their church family over this issue?-No. But something should have been done to restrain those who they thought would have had the biggest problem with it. Forewarn those people; let them know that there will still be a traditional service available. I think people are too willing to leave the church, and as pastors, we should be aware of this issue.

Thursday Report #7 People Work

2009-03-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

Working with people is a vital component to being pastor. In this essay I will identify was in which I can learn how to work with other people better.

One affective way in which I can learn how to work with other people would be to shadow a congregational life pastor. I would follow him or her around and see the way he or she interacts with people. By observing the way he or she works with people, I will be able to learn how I can work better with people.

Another way I can learn how to work with people would be to read books on this topic. Some helpful books that I could read would include: John C. Maxwell's Ways To Win With People: How To Make Others Feel Like A Million Bucks as well as George Boran Youth Ministry That Works: Practical Ideas for Working With Young People. Reading books would help me with the "head knowledge" of working with people in the church.

Another way I can learn is to interview a pastor who has years of experience working with church people. In this interview I would ask him or her various questions on how to handle people in the church.

I can also look to the Scriptures for instruction on how to work with people. Studying the life of Christ as a model for working with people would be very helpful. Also, reading Paul's letters would motivate me to be better with ministering to people in the church.

Tuesday Report #8 Church Fight

2009-03-23T13:06:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday March 18th, I interview Emily Vermilya. Emily is the Worship Arts Director at College Wesleyan Church. Emily told me a story that took place in her former church in Colorado.

THE ISSUE: The main issue was that this church had 2 separate campuses and each campus had a head pastor and worship pastor, but there was 1 lead pastor that was in charge of both campuses. One of the campuses had to let their worship pastor go. So now there was only 1 worship pastor left. The lead pastor decided he wanted there to be only 1 worship pastor who was in charge of worship for both campuses. The head pastor of the campus who had to let their worship pastor go did not agree with the lead pastor in this decision.

HOW BAD IT GOT: Even though there was disagreement, the lead pastor went forward with his decision to just keep 1 worship pastor. It got bad enough that the head pastor was acting very rudely to the worship pastor which caused bad conflict. And eventually the head pastor was fired.

WHAT COULD HAVE RESOLVED IT: This situation could have been resolved by establishing a clear leadership structure in the church. Also this issue could have been resolved with there was a clear/writte-out philosophy of the multi-campus church.

Thursday #9: Characteristics of a Leader

2009-03-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

People in the church look for:

1. Christ-likeness: To use a street term, people need to see that a leader in the church is "smokin' what he's sellin'." If we are going to lead people down a path of spiritual maturity, we had better be on that same journey ourselves.

2. Integrity: Nothing is more of a turn off than someone people don't feel as if they can trust. If we say we are going to be one thing, we should be that to all people, at all times.

3. Authenticity: If people don't believe what we say is genuine, we are going to have a hard time getting them to follow us. People should be able to trust those leading them in the church, and if this is not something we can convey through our actions of authenticity we are in trouble.

4. Passion: If the guy in charge isn't excited about what's going on, why on earth should anyone else be excited. If we are going to convince people that what we are doing is worthwhile and important, we need to be sure we convey that ourselves.

5. Contributing: While delegation is a wonderful tool, it is not one to be used for the result of the leader not doing anything. People need to see that we are invested in what we are leading as well, and that means being able to pull our share of the weight.

6. Humility: In the world, there is an idea that a leader must be the perfect individual with absolutely no flaws. While people don't want their pastor to be a flailing idiot, it is a positive thing to express humility and be honest about who we are.

7. Charisma: We need to enjoy the people we are serving. If we can't make an environment somewhat fun, it is not one that volunteers are going to enjoy. We need to be people ho can be in relationship with others and create a positive atmosphere that will generate success.

Leadership Characteristics – 3/19

2009-03-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

A church leader should be a person who has some characteristics that help them succeed in their position. These qualities should make people want to follow them. Here are some of the characteristics:
1. A heart after God. They should have a desire to continually be growing in their faith, this should be the most important, they are the representative of God.
2. A sense of vision. They should be able to cast a vision and give direction to get there.
3. Decision maker. They should be able to make hard decisions and stick to them.
4. Conflict mediator. They should be able to setting disputes between people to keep fights from taking place.
5. Confidence. If the leader isn't confidence then why follow them?
6. A compassionate spirit. They should care about and love people. Someone who shows that they care.
7. Creativity. They should be able to think outside of the box and come up with new ideas.

Week #9 Leadership Characteristics

2009-03-18T19:01:00.000-07:00

By Nick Smith
Thursday 3-19-09

1. Confidence
a. A leader is easy to follow when they are confident in what they are doing. When I see that someone lacks self-esteem/confidence, I have a hard time following them. A leader must make me feel like what I am going to help them do is worthwhile, and a strong confidence will do that.
2. Small Ego
a. Though a leader must be confident for me to want to follow them, they also must have a small ego. Leaders with a large ego make me feel like I cannot do anything to help them because I perceive them to always be in control.
3. Inspiring
a. A leader must inspire their followers to follow. They must have some sort of vision and be able to cast that vision onto others. Another approach a leader might take in place of inspiring is commanding. Since we live in America, the home of the free, we don’t really like to be commanded, but we do like to have a purpose.
4. Understanding
a. I believe a leader must be a reasonable/understanding person. What I mean here is a leader must respond to peoples mistakes with an understanding that no one is going to do everything right all the time.
5. Goal Oriented
a. A leader must have a goal, if not written out it must be in the back of their mind at all times so they are able to focus, and keep their followers focused. It would be very hard for a leader to be inspiring with no goals.
6. Make others #1
a. Humility should be core to the leader. Willing to put others before themselves. If followers start to think that the leader is only worried about themselves, they will feel used and not want to follow any more.
7. Creative
a. Finally, I think people are more likely to follow someone who is creative. This is because a creative leader is always coming up with new ways to do the same boring things. This creates an interest in the followers.

Week #9 “Firing” an Ineffective Volunteer

2009-03-17T06:04:00.001-07:00

By: Nick Smith
Tuesday 3/17/09

On Sunday after church, I meet with pastor Bob Woods to discuss this issue.
1. Don’t make it sound like you are the best teacher when you go to this person to talk about the issue.
2. If the person is irresponsible or ill prepared, try to work with them. Encourage them and try to help them. Don’t accuse them of these issues but rather let them respond by telling them what you have heard.
3. When you come to this person, do not come with an angry attitude, but one of love.
4. The most difficult teachers to deal with are those who think they are doing a great job but they really aren’t. You just need to notice that they have a great passion to help and then find an alternative. After you have found that alternative, then present it to them, tell them you think they would be great at it.
5. Bobs final rule of getting rid of an ineffective Sunday school teacher was to estimate how much harm they were doing. If they weren’t too horrible, it might be best to not worry about it. It might actually cause more harm in the person you are getting rid of than the amount of harm they are causing.

Bob had some great thoughts on this issue, very practical and insightful.

Tuesday #8: Firing a Teacher

2009-03-17T05:46:00.000-07:00

I interviewed Thad Spring on March 12th about how to fire a bad teacher. He told me that simply, the most important and beneficial thing you can do is have policies in place before hand that give you an objective basis on which to take action. If you do not have this, taking evaluation from people actually in the class, on an anonymous basis allows you to give feedback to the teacher without making them your thoughts. Hopefully they respect the opinion of the people they are teaching, and if a significant number of his or her students think they are not in the right place it may be easier for them to step down.
He said that often when people are approached about stepping down they have the attitude that if they do not fill this position no one will, and it has been his experience that this is almost never true. If this is a situation where no one else is passionate enough to take over this ministry, there is a good chance that this ministry is not going to be around for much longer. In almost all situations, someone is able to step in and do a better job, which is a relief to the pastor, the people involved, and even the former teacher.

Firing a Teacher – 3/17

2009-03-17T05:25:00.001-07:00

I interviewed Dave Drury to get his insights on firing an ineffective Sunday-school teacher.

Dave said that he wouldn’t fire this teacher. If the teacher really is ineffective, they are probably going to run themselves into the ground. But if they need some help, he suggests that he wont fire them, but he will marginalize them. This means that he will subtly let them get to a point to where they know they are ineffective and they will choose to back out.

He will do this unless they are causing problems and need to be removed. In that case, he models the removal process after Matthew 18 with the confrontation by two people with a conflict resolution style. He said that it is important to fight when needed and only when needed. Don’t start with fighting, work with them and on them until it gets to a point where you cant do anything but fight. When you do fight; fight fair and fast. Get authority with the person, go to their class and talk to the class, take a person along with you and bring up issues to the class. Ask the problematic teacher to start by taking a break and let them phase out.
In any case, ineffectiveness needs to be dealt with and addressed. Don’t leave an ineffective teacher alone, take care of the issue.

correction: Thursday #8: Theology of Conflict

2009-03-12T06:08:00.001-07:00

Thursday #7: Theology of Conflict

2009-03-12T05:56:00.000-07:00

Thinking about conflict theologically,
1. Conflict starts in the heart, and it is based on the condition of our hearts that conflict is either good or bad. If we are entering conflict with a brother or sister because we are motivated by love to edify him or her or the body of Christ as a whole, conflict is necessary and beneficial to all. If we are seeking to tear down someone, or pursuing selfish aims we have entered the realm of bad conflict.

2. The Bible gives a number of suggestions for how to deal with conflict between Christians, ie. Matthew 18, and it should be our responsibility to observe these and practice them in our lives. Conflict may even be motivated by good intentions, but if it is not done in a God glorifying way, it is counterproductive.

3. There are times when the good of the body as a whole may need to be placed above the personal concerns of the individual. This to say that there may be times when one must pick and choose his or her battles out of concern for the community. Sometimes it may be better to grow thicker skin in order to prevent hostility being felt between the whole body.

Week #8 Parliamentary Law

2009-03-12T05:46:00.000-07:00

Thursday 3/12/09
By Nick Smith

1. Though, we might agree as a church to build an elevator for the elderly people who are having a hard time with the stairs, that agreement does not put anyone in charge of the task of making the phone calls to get that done. I would use the “law” to make committees.
2. I would not allow for the option of tabling an issue. This is because if no one can feel the Holy Spirits calling on an issue, then it should just be thrown out altogether.
3. I would also get rid of the chair. The Holy Spirit would be the rightful chair person. If people are getting out of line, the Spirit will correct them, not a human authority.

There are many problem with my new method. It just does not seem like there can really be an adaptation between these two structures.

1. First of all, if we agree on a committee, we could have put people in that committee who would not help the decision process at all and could possibly even hender it, yet they are on there because no one was willing to speak out of place and disagree with the majority.
2. The final decisions made could end up being bad decisions because no one wants to speak up and disagree.
3. Finally, having no chair could be very problematic. People could speak too long and out of turn often without a physical being directing.

Though I do appreciate the Quaker and Brethren approach to voting, I do not see anyways to adapt both models.

Conflict – 3/12

2009-03-12T05:31:00.000-07:00

Conflict can be the death of a church. But conflict, when handled in the correct manner, can be a way of perpetuating a church in growth and discipline. When there is a conflict between two people and it is worked through, the relationship is strengthened. This takes on a sort of Trinitarian form with the sense of relationship that can work together for good. But because of our fallen nature and of sin in the world, we are a selfish people. We want what we want. So many conflicts that I have seen come from what I think is more of a sense of I am write you are wrong.

But it is the act of working through the conflict and bringing about a resolution that brings a sense of peace and deeper meaning within a relationship. This is a tricky idea because our nature doesn’t like to be ignored. So it takes the power of God working through the person’s self-denial to come to resolution. We must come to the end of ourselves, removing our sense of pride and work with others, loving them and being able to come to a conclusion that brings one another together in deeper relationship rather than being selfish and alone.

Week #8 Attend A Board Meeting

2009-03-10T06:08:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 3/10/09
By Nick Smith

This past Sunday at Michigantown Christian Church there was a board meeting held at 12:30 which is approximately 15 minutes after the service ended. The meeting lasted about an hour and 15 minutes in a cramped little room.
The decision process was pseudo-parliamentary procedure. They began by having the minister and youth minister share what was coming up in their ministries. Then they moved to old business and talked about issues that had been given to individuals or a couple of people to work on. They did have a chair, he pretty much started with the guy to his left or right and they would go around the room and talk about what they had discovered within their area. It was a pretty open forum. No one really talked out of place, everyone waited patiently. After no one said anything regarding old business anymore, the chair asked if there was any more and seeing there was none, he opened up the floor for new business. When an issue came about regarding adding an overhang to the church, the chair jokingly threatened to assign it to someone if no one was going to volunteer to look into it. So there it did seem like he had some power. When there was a topic to vote on, the chair just asked if anyone wanted to say anything else about it, then he said “all those in favor…” So they do use Parliamentary procedure for voting and finally for the closing of the meeting. It was dragging on, and you could feel that more than one other person was thinking that. Finally someone said I move to adjourn, someone seconded and the chair adjourned the meeting.
This form of decision making worked well for that church. Everyone respected each other and didn’t talk over one another. I wondered if they were talking about a more serious and heated topic, if the chair would step in and have to bring some order. Another thing that I noticed was that the chair was a jerk, one that I wouldn’t be worried about offending. He said a few things that were out of line in my opinion. He made the pastor the butt of a few jokes, and everyone laughed at his expense. I could tell it upset Bob because he was not laughing, just looking at the floor. So I thought they should get a more courteous chair. It was interesting how this meeting worked though. It was like they took the parliamentary procedure and adapted it to fit their style.

Tuesday #7: Volunteers

2009-03-10T05:45:00.000-07:00

I talked to Thad Spring on Wednesday the 26th of February about how to recruit and maintain volunteers.

He said the most important thing to gaining volunteers is telling the story of what what it is they're going to do. That is, not telling them what you need them to do but showing them how they can make a difference. He told me that bordering on manipulation, you have to be able to show them how the world will be different because of what they are doing, for example, telling the story of little Billy who was invested into by a youth sponsor and went from a terrible home life to pursuing a call to ministry, all because someone like that youth sponsor invested in someone else.
In recruiting it is important to know what kind of individual you are looking for. He said one of the greatest ways to do this is to have an "open chair" philosophy. This would say that as a leader or team, you are always evaluating your situation, asking "who needs to be sitting here that is not?" This way you are never begging for anyone, but always working from the framework of someone you would like to work with.

Once you have volunteers, you need to be sure and take care of two things. The first, is that you need to equip them with everything they need to do a good job. Giving training is essential to making sure both they and the ministry they are involved in are benefiting from them being there. In addition, stay in contact and make sure they are happy where they are. If volunteers are not kept up with, it is easy for them to fall between the cracks, and walk away from ministering altogether.

After they've been involved, there are two

Motivating Volunteers – 3/10

2009-03-09T19:07:00.001-07:00

For this report, I interviewed Dave Drury. He has done some work just on how to get and motivate volunteers. This interviewed was conducted on February 27th.

The best recruiting is multiplying the ministry.
The best way to recruit people is to have the people you recruit, be the recruiters. After a person is recruited, they are then a recruiter in order to multiply the amount of people involved. A person’s time spent recruiting is best when that person that is recruited will get ten more volunteers.

The ratio of people in the church to those involved is very important.
The church has the people that it needs to get done what it is called to. Congregants should be involved in some capacity, one shouldn’t feel bad for getting recruits, we are offering a chance to make an eternal difference.

Making contact.
When a person is recruited, you can give them the responsibility to contact others to find new recruits. Several things that help when making phone calls: stand while calling, leave the office in order to not get distracted and always thank people and make sure they feel appreciated.

In recruiting it is important to stress that the goal is for people to get involved. Laymen should be serving in the church in some capacity. The body is the body when they are contributing. Everyone has a place, so it is important to find where people fit in and what their gifts are. We all play a part in the Body.

Week #7 Interpersonal Conflict and Theology

2009-03-04T10:43:00.000-08:00

Thursday 3/4/09
By Nick Smith

1. Corporeal Beings – God has made us physical beings who are able to be touched, hugged, slapped, punched, etc. Keeping our physical nature in mind, I believe that interpersonal conflict should take place in a physical setting, not over the phone or email.
2. Submission – We love (especially as Westerners) to fight for what we believe is right and we will step on everyone’s toes to get our way, even our superiors. I think we need to have a bit more submissive mindset when dealing with most issues. Christ got most angry when the temple was being misused, but when was the last time people were trying to sell objects in your sanctuary for a personal profit? If you are not willing to die over the issue, then you might want to submit to it.
3. Love – A lot of times we forget about this characteristic when in an interpersonal conflict. I think we lose sight of Christ’s love in situations because we are worried about getting what we want and lose focus of what would be better for the relationship, group, or church as a whole. Love and submission I believe should often go hand in hand.

Week #7 Motivating Volunteers

2009-03-02T12:44:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 3/3/009
By Nick Smith

I interviewed Bob Woods last Friday regarding these 5 tips on motivating volunteers. He had some really good insights!
1. Look for passions that people have and then ask them to be part of a ministry that involves that passion. Bob told me, “If a person hates kids, then it is going to be difficult for them to get involved with the youth group.”
2. Respect peoples time. If you tell people it is going to take an hour, then do not go over that.
3. When you have a volunteer, make whatever they are doing as easy for them to do as possible. Let them know where all their resources are and that they are more than welcome to ask you questions.
4. Give your volunteers as much information as possible. People a lot of the time do not like to volunteer their time because they do not know what it is exactly that they are doing and they don’t want to feel stupid. If they are doing something as part of the service, make sure they know exactly when to do their part.
5. When recruiting, make it known that they are doing this for the Lord and not for you personally. This gives people a sense of contribution to something bigger than the immediate.
6. Let people know tat they are needed and wanted.
7. Give lots of encouragement.
8. Let your volunteers know that you have their back in case they have criticism.

The tips Bob gave seem very practical. A lot involve taking care of the volunteers that you currently have so that way they will continue to volunteer and also they will tell others about their positive volunteering experience. But, these tips are also good for gathering new volunteers as well.

Thursday #7: Campus vs. Church

2009-02-26T06:06:00.000-08:00

There are a number of differences between getting along with people in the church and at school, but I have tried to identify my top three.

1. Generational Differences
Almost everyone we encounter at school is within a couple of years of our age. This brings to the table the idea that we most likely share a great deal of presuppositions about life at this particular point. Even is someone is different from you in school, there is likely to be a significant amount of common ground on the simple fact that you are both in college. This is not the case within the church, where we must deal with people from all walks of life, at different points in life.

2. Unavoidable Interactions
In college, if we don't like someone we can simply avoid them. We don't have to live with them, we don't have to talk to them, we don't have to sit by them in class. This is not the case in the church, as often the people we cannot stand are people we will be forced to interact with. In a sense our relationships in college are optional, whereas in the church they are often mandatory.

3. Elevated Position
In college, we are peers. People see us, and while others may view us as leaders, or have respect for us, we are still for the most part equals. At school, we are people, just the same as everyone else. Nothing magical happens between here and the real world, other than once we are in the church we are "Pastor so-and-so." Whether we like it or not, we have been placed in a position where we are expected to care and relate to people in a way that demands much more than simply being a peer.

Thursday 2/26 – People Campus vs. Church

2009-02-26T05:25:00.001-08:00

Getting along with people; no matter where you are, this can be a difficult thing. For me, I try to get along with everyone, but sometimes I don’t do the best job. Much of my personal views and feelings get in the way of my relationships. In college it is easy to, after not getting along with someone, avoid people and just let the conflict go away and put time in between those periods of frustration. But in any case, it is not good to let conflict go without addressing that conflict and bringing resolution.

In relationships in college and relationships in the church shouldn’t look a whole lot different, but I know they will and do look different. One difference in getting along with people in college is that you can avoid them without too much awkwardness. In this situation, it is still possible to function in life and academically and not address the issue. But within the church, it is harder to avoid people and it not bringing about some issues that are recognizable that can bring down the ministry.

Another difference between college and church with getting along with people is it can be easier to build very close personal relationships in college. Most of the time in college, people are around the same people all the time. In the church, people have to be more intentional in order to build close, tight knit relationships. The church has to have a planned systematic approach to bringing people together.

A last difference is the choice. In the church, the people have to be accepting and welcoming to all people. In college a person can easily choose and pick their friends. But with the church, in order to be effective as ministers, people must feel included and loved.

Getting along with people in the church is a necessity, as to where in college it isn’t always necessary. So as ministers in the church, we need to be aware of people and how to interact with those people and work issues out and above all love and accept everyone.

Week #6 People--Campus Vs Church

2009-02-25T16:14:00.000-08:00

Thursday 2/26/09
Nick Smith

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about getting along with people in these to settings is the difference in roles. Right now in the school setting I am primarily hear to learn. I get along with people for a couple of reasons: I work with them, I am in a class assigned group with them, they are a close friend, or they have likable qualities that I am naturally drawn to (which is honestly a very small group of people in this particular major). So basically at school, I get along with those I have to and avoid those who I do not get along with. Its not that I don’t know how to get along with people, its just that now I have the choice to avoid.
At church, my role will again be different. A pastor’s aim is to get along with everyone and the biggest difference is that I cannot avoid those I don’t get along with. My primary goal as pastor is to show Christ’s love and give members many opportunities to respond to that love in many different ways.
I know that there are some understandable conflicts in my college life and where I think I should be as a pastor on this issue. But, I am 22 years old. I don’t have my entire life figured out right now and when I am at school that is my primary focus. When I am a pastor, people will be my focus. Right now, I am trusting that my education will help me take care of the logistics of being a pastor; sermon preparation, administration, etc. So if I do not make school my focus now, then people will never really be my full focus in ministry down the road.

Difference Observations:
1. The Roles are different between school life and pastoral life.
2. The Role of student is learning.
3. The Role of pastor is people.
4. I am 22 and don’t have life figured out quite yet.

Thursday Report #6 Leadership Characteristics

2009-02-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

One cannot lead unless he or she has followers. Leaders should have certain characteristics that make people WANT to follower them. 7 of these include:
1. Honesty - Leaders must speak truth into those people he/she is leading.
2. Humility - Leaders must reflect Christ in the service, not taking personal gain for their leadership.
3. Focus - Leaders should be able to think clearly about what kind of ways they can serve their people and how these things should be carried out.
4. Endurance - Leaders need to be able to finish strong.
5. Patience - Leaders must be able to endure under difficult/frustrating circumstances.
6. Unselfish - Leaders ought to be willing to empower others humbly.
7. Kindness - Leaders have to be charitable in their work; always being willing to listen.
8. Judgment – Leaders should be able to review and evaluate themselves and others in a Christ-like way.

Tuesday Report #7 Firing A Teacher

2009-02-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

On Monday, February 23rd, I met with my supervisor Emily Vermilya in her office at College Wesleyan Church.

Emily gave 3 main pieces of advice in terms of firing a teacher.
1. Follow churches firing procedure. It is important to not "fly solo", and fire someone informally. Instead, one must know and follow through with the proper church procedure.
2. Document interactions with the person you are going to fire. By documenting your interactions with the person who should be fired, you give supporting evidence to why they should be fired.
3. Clearly state why the person should be fired. It is vitally important to "make a case" for why this person should be fired. It is important to list things such as: negative affects this person has on others, and ways this person dis-unifies the body of Christ.

Tuesday Report #6 Attend A Board Meeting

2009-02-23T16:54:00.000-08:00

This past Tuesday (February 17th) I attended a board meeting at College Wesleyan Church. At 7:00PM both the Elder Board and the Deacon Board met for a casual dinner. At 7:30PM the members of the Elder Board left and the Deacon Board began there proceedings. I left at 8:00PM. (*Note* I got permission to do this blog late from Coach)

I would describe the decision-making of this board as casual parliamentary procedure. When an item (such as paying for a pastor's cell phone bill) was brought up a casual discussion ensued. Once everyone on the board had a clear understanding of the topic/issue Drury would ask for a motion to vote on the item. He then proceeded to ask for a second. Once, the second was acknowledged he asked that all would vote by saying "I" and then asked for any "Nays". The decision making of the board was slightly different from regular parliamentary procedure in the fact that the discussion was at the beginning instead of after the motion and the second. In general, the decision making was calm. There was not frustration or tension amongst the group in there decision making process. Once the topic was clearly understood, a vote was cast (which was always unanimous). In this sense, the board's decision making reflected a Consensus Model rather than a Parliamentary Model.

I learned that when a board (especially a board with few members) meets, Parliamentary Law is used in a more casual manner. Before attending this meeting I assumed when PL was used, it was used in a more direct and intense manner. Another thing I learned was that Parliamentary Law and Consensus Model Decision-making both are incorporated in the churches board meeting.

Week #6 Church Conflict Story

2009-02-23T14:20:00.001-08:00

Tuesday February 24, 2009
By Nick Smith

Last Friday I asked Bob Woods to tell me a story of conflict that he has had to deal with directly in the church. His story started out like I would guess many churches conflict stories to start. The conflict in his story arose from adding a contemporary service the regular Sunday morning worship. The people who objected the contemporary service did so because they thought it was against the “proper” way to worship. Bob told me that their objections were based largely on a misunderstanding. Apparently, a worship group from Willow Creek had been there a few months previous with, “speakers stacked to the ceiling that shock the stained glass windows.” Those opposed had envisioned this type of thing happening every week and it did not settle well.
Other objectors thought that this contemporary worship would change the nature of the church, making it less sacred and more secular. Others thought that the church was doing well as is so there was no real reason to change it.
Bob said the good thing about this decision was that the elders unanimously supported the idea of adding a contemporary service. So during one of the elders meetings, they discussed the foreseen conflict. They decided it would be best to set a date on which the contemporary service would start, and that would be the end of it. They also decided they would reason with those who opposed in truth and love. They also wanted to make it clear to those who opposed that they were doing this because it was a form of outreach and needed to fulfill the great commission.
The good thing about adding the service was that some who originally were opposed saw the good in it and accepted it. A lot who were opposed just go to the traditional service and Bob said about two families (ten people) left the church over it.
Bob told me that a pastor should always anticipate conflict and to work it out in truth and love. He told me to admit it when I was wrong and go from there. The people need to know that you have the church in your best interest and you just have to do what you think is right.

Church Conflict Story – 2/24

2009-02-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

I interviewed Dave Drury at the beginning of February.
Dave told of a story at a church that he knew of that put on an Easter Pageant every year. This was a big production for the church for many years and when it started, this production was well known in the community and there would be a large number of people who made decisions to follow Christ out of that pageant. This was a huge production, it took almost 250 people to produce.

Over the years, this production would take a large toll on the budget and slowly started to become a hassle to the staff and congregation to the church. The staff became less involved and over its 20ish years of running, the pageant went from being produced by 250 people to about 150. So the staff decided that since it wasn’t being as productive as it was before and it was taking a large part of the budget, they decided that they would take that money and put it towards other things.

So when the worship pastor made the announcement at the church, he promised to do something productive with those funds that would be beneficial to the church. They honor those that were involved that gave them public thanks for what they had done, but decided that they would stop doing this production.
Some people in the church were upset, but nothing was done because of this announcement and there was no big fallout. But several years later some people did decided to leave the church and when they were questioned as to why they were, they said that the pageant situation did play a part in their leaving. And those promises that were made as to replace it with something never worked, so people were hurt that those promises never happened. This should have been more delicately handled and a plan should have been put into place as to what would replace the pageant.

Thursday #6: Parliamentary Law

2009-02-19T06:04:00.001-08:00

In looking at the consensus model, there is a lot churches could benefit from it. Here's my list of ways Parliamentary Procedure could be modified within the church.
1. There should either be complete consensus, or agreement to submit to a differing opinion by all. Two thirds is not enough when speaking about a local body of Christ making decisions with one another.
2. Rather than placing one person in charge, there should be co-chairs.
3. Possibly manipulative terms should be defined when given, such as the difference between receive and adopt.

There could be a number or problems with this model. First, if one person decided to be in difference to the group and is really hard-nosed about it they can halt all action. Second, two chairs could potentially create a great deal of confusion in the running of a meeting. Finally, if we are constantly defining terms, we are spoon feeding our members and not making them carry their own responsibility of terms, slowing progress considerably.

Thursday 2/19 – Office Work

2009-02-19T05:13:00.000-08:00

I think that this is something that is unique to each church. Within the church I would like to see a church that is balanced, the pastors take some time throughout their week to visit with the congregates, but also have office hours where they are around the other staff members. I think that there is a sort of common ground that gives some balance and rest for the pastor. He or she doesn’t always have to be the pastor around other staff members, they can be a co-worker.

I would prefer my time to be spent doing both. I like the idea of having good staff time as well as time spent in the office so that people can come by and see the pastor. At the same time, I would like to go visit people on occasion, in order to build connections outside of the church atmosphere because the pastor is not just a presence in the church, but a presence in the lives of people. So visiting would help build the relationship and help disconnect the pastor from just being at the church.

I would like to spend about ten hours a week doing both visiting with people in the office and outside the office.

Week #5 Office Work

2009-02-18T18:28:00.000-08:00

Office Work

By Nick Smith

This shift in my mind has had a negative impact on the church. This is a great example of the business world encroaching on the church. Clock in and clock out now as a pastor, which in my mind makes it seem like you can go home at the end of the day and not be a pastor. A church with the “study” in my mind is much more ideal. People would be less likely to interrupt a pastor in the “study” rather than in the office because what goes on in most business world offices?…nothing. Pastor’s could spend more time in preparation of their sermons and lessons and spend less time on administration type of things plus, spend time with members who really need their help.
In the ideal world, I would spend my workweek in prayer and preparation plus spending time counseling those in need of direction. You wouldn’t have to call my secretary to set up an appointment, just check the “study” because that is where I will be and that is what I will be doing.
As far as how many hours a week I would spend I think it would vary from week to week. I guess I would take the time to do everything I need to get done as well as fulfill everything others needed of me. Ideally it would be great to fulfill everything that everyone wanted of me as a pastor but obviously that could not happen. It seems that those who are going into the ministry should expect to work at least 65 hrs a week though. Remembering that their job is to look after God’s sheep, it is more important than any other job in the world.

Thursday Report #5 People-Campus vs. Church

2009-02-18T14:26:00.000-08:00

There are 3 main differences between "getting along with people" at college compared to "getting along with people" in a church situation in your future.

1. The first major difference I see is that when you get to know someone in college you are usually on an "equal playing field." Meaning, in general you are in the same circumstances (class, homework, dorm life...etc. When getting to know someone in a church situation your given situation is often different. For example, it may be hard to relate to 65 year old plumber who has 3 daughters, when you are a young 22 year old single youth pastor.

2. Another major difference falls under the category of intentionality. When getting to know someone in college, you don't have to be really intentional in that relationship (say if they are your roommate in college). when getting along with people in your church you MUST be intentional with them. You don't have the convenience of living with them; you must block out time in your schedule to build those relationships.

3. A final difference is the fact that when you a pastor in a church, you are viewed as a leader, so all your relationships with people are in the context of you being a leader. This is different from college in the fact that-for the most part- college students are equal in the leadership.

Tuesday #6: Board Meeting

2009-02-17T05:52:00.000-08:00

I observed the LBA meeting of College Wesleyan Church on the night of Monday, February 16. I observed from seven o'clock to eight. College Church has begun a new approach to their board meetings this month, having the elders and the deacons meeting together every other month, with the other months having the two combined. Last night, I sat in on the deacons meeting, and got to observe more than simply parliamentary procedure. There was a time of fellowship, as well as prayer. Members of the board were lifted up and annointed, and a look was taken at Acts 4 examining how our meetins should be impacted by what we see in the scriptures.
Topics of discussion included approving the minutes from the previous month, the adjustment of the housing allowance of a pastor, the cell phone plan of a pastor, as well as the amount of money spent on staff at College Wesleyan as well as other churches in the Wesleyan Denomination. Parliamtentary procedure was used, with motions being made, seconds being recorded, discussion being granted, and votes taken. There was a financial report given, and this was received. As I heard the word "received" I made the mental note that this was different than "adopt."

Week #5 Time Management

2009-02-17T05:25:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 2/17/09
Time Management Advice
Nick Smith

This Weekend I interviewed Bob Woods

Bob said that he sets his boundaries by his checklist. This way he knows what has to be done and by when but it also allows for flexibility. Flexibility is also sort of a boundary for Bob in an interesting way. He wants to stay flexible so that way he does not get stuck to his routine which is set fourth by his checklist. An interesting way to go about things in my opinion but it makes sense. By setting boundaries, we can sometimes get stuck to them. Of course that is not true for all boundaries but it works well in this scenario.
With Bob’s checklist, makes everything due a lot earlier than what it actually is. For example, he sets out in his week to get his sermon finished by Thursday. If his week is fairly uninterrupted, he can accomplish this task. But, if it is interrupted, it is no big deal because he has a lot of time built in to make up for it.
One piece of information that he gave me was “early to bed and early to rise.” This is because nobody calls early in the morning allowing for things to get done without interruption. The second piece of information Bob gave me regarding time management was to allow a lot of flexibility. He said this has been great for him but you have to have enough discipline to actually do things.

Week #5 – Time Management Advice

2009-02-17T05:23:00.001-08:00

I interviewed Dave Drury, on the 5th of February in his office with Joel Liechty.
Dave said that most of his schedule is controlled by his Microsoft outlook schedule. This can be updated by him or by the administrative assistants in the office. He said that most of his time is set in blocks. He schedules most of his time, even if he doesn’t have a specific thing to do for that time. He will set several hours a week for study and reading and he won’t schedule other things during that time. Otherwise he will schedule meetings and other events in set times.

He had several great pieces of advice. He said focus on one thing at one time. He said that it is easier to get one thing finished when giving all your energy to that one thing. Do not multi-task. Find triggers that help your efficiency, possibly by making a due date to get things done. Figure out the best environment to get things done. For him, he sets a different mood in his office; he will shut off the overhead light and turn on his lamps. This helps to separate normal time from his study time.

Tuesday Report #5 Church Conflict Story

2009-02-16T13:40:00.000-08:00

On Friday February 13, I interviewed Emily Vermilya (Worship Arts Director) in her office at College Wesleyan Church. She told me the following story about a conflict situation.

A person came into Emily's office with a written list of "issues" concerning the worship music played at College Wesleyan Church. This person specifically addressed a gospel song the choir had sung on the previous Sunday. She stated that in proper musicality, a musical phrase should not be broken up by a breath. Emily responded by saying that that is only the proper musicality of one particular music form (Anglo-Saxon). This person violently responded by saying, "I get so mad at what those black people have done to music." Shocked, Emily consciously composed herself by taking a deep breath and internally saying a quick prayer. After composing herself, Emily said strongly that she disagreed with the statement this person had just made and was personally offended by it. She went on to say that this perspective is not mindful of the heavenly kingdom.

Thurs #5 - Admin work

2009-02-12T06:16:00.000-08:00

Church Leadership is about people. So in every aspect of their job, essentially, they need to be focusing on the people. But how does the pastor do that in administration work? Well first of all, in many pastoral positions, administration work can be working with other people. As I observe the administration of Pastor Dave at College Church, I see that he is always interested in developing the staff. This development is an important way that he invests and cares for the staff. The pastor should always be serving and encouraging those who are on the staff.

Also, I think that the leader can actually be encouraging and be a good example to the people in the congregation be being responsible in taking care of the administration work in a way that is disciplined and glorifying to God. The people need a leader that is organized and responsible with all of their duties. So this is more of an indirect way that the pastor is serving and being a Godly example to his congregation.

Week #4 People

2009-02-12T05:49:00.000-08:00

Thursday 2/12/09
Nick Smith

How can we as Pastor’s do Church administrative work while still focusing on people?
Well in my eyes, the administrative work that a pastor does is always focused on the people. We manage the business of the church in order to help the people. If a pastor is ever in a situation where he cannot see how that particular task is helping the people, he should really question why he is doing it. Making sure that the bills are being paid obviously is helping the people because most like to worship in a lighted sanctuary with heat or air conditioning. Now, with these tasks, it can be easy to lose focus of the people while carrying them out. I believe that if a pastor keeps the people in mind while carrying out these tasks, they will seem more worthwhile. It is a matter of looking at the big picture while carrying out these mundane little tasks. Simply saying a short prayer such as, “Lord let this be for your glory, edifying to your people not just another thing that has to be done,” could help keep the focus in the right place. If all you are doing as a pastor is administration, then maybe you should hire someone to take care of the church “business.” I do not believe God intends for pastors to neglect the people in order to do administrative work.

Thursday Report #4 Staff Report To Board

2009-02-12T05:42:00.001-08:00

Last week I accidentally worked ahead and did week 5 instead of week 4. So, today I am doing week 4 which is about staff reports to a board.
First, a staff report to the board should include condition of the ministry (area) you are in charge of. For example if I was a worship pastor, I should report on how the worship ministry is doing (number of volunteers, congregational participation...etc). Secondly, staff reports should include a testimonies about how lives are being changed because of the ministry you are in charge of. Thirdly, staff reports should list facts about your ministry, such as: attendace, financial numbers, volunteer numbers, equipment...etc. Finally, staff reports to a board should use a clean template; meaning, the report should be uniform and should not be sloppy. A staff report to a board should do 2 main things: 1) Make clear the status of your ministry. 2) Tell the stories of those people who you are serving (give them a voice).

Thursday #5: Office Hours

2009-02-12T05:39:00.000-08:00

In my ideal world, office work would magically take care of itself. In the ideal world, we could say the church is really all about people, and 100% of our time would be spent directly ministering to people. I don't know whether this would be my ideal world because I love people or because I hate office work, possibly both. It would be nice if ministry time was solely dealing with the people we are supposed to be ministering too, but this is not the reality of today. I understand that in order to put together quality programming and coordinating our large church bodies there needs to be a significant amount of planning put into these things. This is why we need office work. I suppose I have enough appreciation to say that in a realistically ideal world, office work would be just enough to put together a holistic, organized ministry without sacrificing quality time with the people of our flocks. Office hours would not be so others can get a sense that you are doing your job, but rather are times to make sure we are being the most effective church we can be.

Tuesday #4 - Hours worked in ministry

2009-02-10T07:09:00.000-08:00

I interview Pastor Dave Drury at College Wesleyan Church last week. He said that he does more administrative work in a week than a typical staff pastor or senior pastor. His role is mainly administration, although he does many other things including study and relational ministry. He spends about one hour a day on purely administration work and then one hour a day on email.

On average he spends 3 hours a week on study if he is not preparing for a seminar or preaching. If he is preparing to lead a seminar, he spends about 5-6 hours a week. If he is preaching, he spends 15 hours a week for two weeks before the preaching experience. Weekly he spends about 10 in service prep and attending, leading and participating in the services. And at least one day a month, he will spend the whole day away from the office and spend time alone with God.

Leading meetings is a big part of what he does, so he spends at least 8 hours a week leading group meetings and investing in those people in those meetings. And then he spends about 8 hours a week meeting one on one with people in a relational ministry setting.

I think that as an executive pastor, all these things are important. I believe that Pastor Dave spends most of his time investing in people, whether that is directly or indirectly. I notice that he protects his schedule and his time. This is important because he needs to not get too busy to lose his sense of purpose and not to diminish his effectiveness by burnout.

Tuesday #5: Time Management

2009-02-10T06:11:00.001-08:00

I interviewed Thad Spring of College Wesleyan church on 2/4

When I asked Thad about boundaries, he said that one of the most important things you can do in setting boundaries is making sure you take a day off. He said that this is something that is crucial to making sure you still have a life outside of work. The work we do as pastors is important, but not so important that we should completely loose ourselves in it. Consistently having a day when you don't go in to the office is helpful in keeping this in perspective.

In looking at time management, he said it is key to remember that there are ebbs and flows in ministry. A concept that was very helpful for him was remembering that time in ministry vs. home should not be viewed in a way that tries to keep things 50/50. He said there are times when ministry will demand more time than the family, but there are other times when the church does need a lot of time. If there is a major crisis within the church, it is expected that you will put in extra hours. Busy seasons like Easter and Christmas demand extra work. There are times though, that your family needs you to be present more than the church. If there is a major crisis at home, or a really big event in the life of one of your children, you should be at home and not the office. One other piece of advice Thad gave me was to block of particular times to accomplish particular tasks. Having time set aside to do something specific aids in keeping you focused.

Tuesday Report #4 Time Management

2009-02-10T05:03:00.000-08:00

On Friday of this past week (February 6) I met with my supervisor, Emily Vermilya. Emily is the Worship Arts Director at College Wesleyan Church. I sat down with Emily in her office and asked her questions about boundaries and time management, the following are her responses.

How do you set boundaries in your schedule so you are not totally controlled by others?
1. Keep further ahead on family's calendar than church's calendar.
2. Make sure you have "not church time" blocked out on your calendar each week.

What are 2 of your best pieces of advice for a new church staffer to efficiently get their work done in the time available?
1. Close your office door for a certain amount of hours a day. Put a sign out on your door that reads "In study" or "I'm busy, talk to you soon."
2. As a pastor or staff person it is vital that you know how to turn things off. This may mean closing your door or shutting off your email. Also this means choosing your day off wisely.

Week #4 Hours Worked In Ministry

2009-02-09T18:28:00.001-08:00

Nick Smith
Tuesday February 10, 2009

This week I met with Pastor Bob Woods after church Sunday morning to discuss how his hours are divided throughout his week. On a regular week, Bob studies between 10 and 15 hours. In his administrative duties he spends about 10 hours. Between all of the different services and bible studies, he spends about 6 hours. Most of Bob’s time is given to meeting with people, not necessarily in a “counseling” setting but in a way that is more geared toward programs and service preparation, which adds up to about 20 hours. There are finally about 4 hours on average per week that Bob spends on meeting with people in a counseling setting, either one on one or small group (mainly husband wife).
The first thing that I noticed about Bob’s week is the amount of hours he spends doing his job. He could easily end up working more than 60 hours per week on a regular basis. He mentioned that if there is a funeral or any other emergency, which his hours can spike really quickly. Another interesting thing about Bob is that he spends a lot of his time working with other people. He delivers good sermons every Sunday, but that is not the focus of his time. He allots most of his time to doing something that involves working with others, which I think is great.

Thursday #4: People

2009-02-05T05:30:00.000-08:00

Administrative duties...not the favorite aspect of many pastors' jobs, but a very necessary one. But how do we as ministers complete our administrative duties while still interacting with the members of our body? I see a couple of options, though the reality is that there are simply things that we must do on our own and simply get them done.

The first thing that comes to my mind when looking at incorporating people into my administrative tasks is having people help me with them. This summer I had an internship working with high school youth, and often times I could convince some of the students to come and help me with my copies and other such tasks. I'm sure this is much easier to do with students, because working a copier is still somewhat exciting when you're sixteen. As our office was a very public space this was also a cool way to form relationships with the girls in the group without worrying about being in a place where questionable things could happen.

My practicum supervisor has offered some great advice into this topic as well. He takes a day and sets up shop at McConn. He brings his laptop, and spends a few hours knocking out correspondence that need to be taken care of. During this time, he is available to students who would like to talk. I feel like this is an awesome blend of sharing time between the two places we are pulled, and if possible would like to incorporate something like this into my ministry in the future.

Thursday #3 – Staff report to the board

2009-02-05T05:17:00.000-08:00

As the staff member, it should be your goal to be as thorough as possible when giving the report to the board. This report needs to include as much concise information as possible. This report should include the following:

• A written handout that has any documentation that should be recorded
• A summary of what a typical day looks like
• Any significant activity that has taken place in your area of ministry since the last report
• A report on the budget, an explanation if the spending is more than normal
• Possibly report the fruits of the ministry
o Number of those who have made commitments
o Works that the ministry has done
o Types of growth that have been observed

As a staff member in a church, there should be a sense of accountability. So, there should be some requirements set by either the board, or whoever is in charge of the staff. These reports should be the staff person’s “proof” of what they have been doing in their ministry, therefore, they are keeping their works honorable.

Thursday Report #3 People

2009-02-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

One thing that a minister cannot get away from is people. People are at the heart of ministry. When performing administrative work, a minister must do this with people in mind. One way of incorporating people into administrative work is to allow a person (or persons) the opportunity to observe you do these administrative tasks. This could serve a teaching tool on how to do administrative work. Also, a minister could simply do his or her administrative work with the thought of serving others. For example a worship leader when reading a book on worship should think about how he or she can use what he or she is learning in order to benefit the worship team. Another way to do this is to incorporate others in the actual planning process. This means allowing an intern or a volunteer to actually help you plan a service or do other administrative tasks like paperwork. Finally, when attending meetings, ministers could act as the voice of the people. By this I mean that ministers could focus on how the decisions that are made in meeting will affect others.

Tuesday 2/3 Administrave Time

2009-02-03T05:29:00.000-08:00

I interviewed Dave Drury in order to find out just how many hours he spends with his administrative work. He started with stating that he spends more time than a typical pastor, a lot of what he does and is in charge of is administrative. The following is a list of what his administrative work looks like in a typical week:

1) Signing checks – this is a form of checks and balances, he can only sign checks, he cannot print them, the person who prints the checks cannot sign them.
2) Administration work for the LBA – working on membership issues and students, forming the budget, but not accounting.
3) Signing letters and such for different types of greeting cards
4) Facility management – making decisions
5) Health Care decisions

He spends about one hour a day average on these tasks as well as one hour a day emailing in order to make decisions and administrative decisions.

Tuesday #4: Hours Worked in Ministry

2009-02-02T23:08:00.001-08:00

I interviewed Thad Spring on Feb. 2, 2009

Time Spent on:

1. Study: 10 hrs.

2. Administrative: 20 hrs.

3. Services: 6-7

4. People: 8

5: What Else (practicum meetings, talking, random "stuff" that comes up): 6

That's a total of 50 hours a week. At first we might scoff, but I think we are going to have to get used to the fact that this is the nature of the church. Many people find a way to be at church for ten hours a week, between services, Bible studies, and serving on committees and the like, while still working a full time job that requires forty hours a week. If we expect it of our lay people, we need to be doing it ourself.

Tuesday Report # 3 Ministry Hours

2009-02-02T18:35:00.000-08:00

I met with Emily Vermilya this past Friday, January 30th. We met at 9:15AM in the College Church conference room. The following are the general number of hours Emily spends on each topic in a given week.

Study (alone): 7 hours
Administrative/Office: 20 hours
Services (worship, Bible studes, etc.): 8 hours
People (meetings, committes): 15 hours
What Else?: This activities include: worship rehearsals, service set-up and running errands.

Observations:
1. Worship Directors spend less time actually leading worship and more time meeting with church people and developing the services themselves.

2. Worship Directors do not get a large amount of study time during their work week. This means Worship Directors must be intentional when these study times emerge.

3. Worship Directors spend more time doing office/administrative work than I originally thought they would.

Thursday #3: Staff Board Report

2009-01-29T05:49:00.000-08:00

What a staff member reports to the board I believe is a lot of times a very subjective issue. The church one is serving in will determine a great deal. In smaller churches, there is a much smaller staff reporting to a board. This probably means that your ministry covers a much larger portion of the church's efforts. If you have a big percentage, you should give a big account of what is going on in your ministry. In larger churches, where there are several staff members with their own ministries, there is simply not enough time for every ministry to give a comprehensive account of what is going on in their spheres of influence.

Key focuses of the ministry should be covered, with concerns and present emphases being stressed. The board should get a picture of what your ministry is "about" right now. I also think the board report is a great time to give testimony to what God is doing in your ministry, as well as expressing concerns. These things bring a great amount of connectedness to the body, allowing us to praise God for what he is doing, and asking him to do things in our midst together as a body of believers.

Thursday #2 - 1/27

2009-01-29T05:29:00.000-08:00

Since Robert’s Rules for meetings seems to quench the Spirit’s work within the leadership of a church, this is an attempt to make the process more welcoming to the Spirit’s leading on the body.

1. Instead of a motion by a single person, the motion, for a larger issue, should be decided before the actual meeting, and agreed upon by several people and then brought to the whole group in the meeting, suggesting that this might be what the Spirit is leading because more than one are in agreement.
2. The first step cuts out the need for a second, this would just go to the discussion stage. This stage would look different in a church such as this, the people are focused on the question “what does the Spirit want?” This directs every issue and concern for the decision back to God.
3. Once everyone is in agreement, then it is prayed over, asking for the Spirit’s confirmation on the decision. Then the decision is made by the agreement.
4. They then decided who will take action, only by agreement of the whole group.

There are quite a few problem with this suggestion.
First, this way assumes that people are going to be completely self-less in there thoughts and decisions. People have to completely understand what the Spirit is telling them down to the specifics, but last time I checked, the Spirit doesn’t speak to me in fine details for everything. I think that this would just force people to be unrealistic and maybe even create what they think the Spirit is telling them. Last, this says that the person has no ability to choose. This could imply that everyone is in touch with the Spirit, but that always isn’t so.
I believe that God has given people different experiences so that they can have the wisdom to make decisions, the Spirit is a part of this, but not making every decision. The Spirit empowers us by His wisdom, allowing us to think for ourselves.

Thursday Response #2 Parliamentary Law

2009-01-28T19:18:00.000-08:00

Here is my list of how I would adapt parliamentary Law if I held to the Quaker/Brethren perspective.
1. Instead of 1 person motioning for something, I would require a group motion, meaning at least 3 people must motion initially.
2. In order for a motion to be verified, a discussion amongst the group would be a held and a majority vote must be reached to have a valid second.
3. I would keep the discussion similar to Robert's way but made the chair ask more specific questions, trying to weaken the chairs power to sway the vote.
4. I would require at least a 75% vote in order to pass the motion.
5. It less than 75% is achieved discussion is continued until it is reached.
6. If it is seemingly impossible to reach 75%, the motion must be dropped.

Problems with my new method.
1. More discussion time allows the "blabber mouths" to overwhelm the discussion process.
2. It would be harder to get things past if a 75% vote was needed.
3. The meetings would take a long time because a higher percentage vote is needed as well as more discussion time is included.

Week #3 Staff Report to the Board

2009-01-27T20:18:00.001-08:00

By: Nick Smith
I will base my thoughts from my limited knowledge of how church board meetings function. It seems to me the smart thing to include in would be everything. When it comes to Church politics, and that is what this basically is, I would say you need to cover everything. Tell what all is going on in your specific area; growth, health, impact, enthusiasm of those under your care etc. I would not blab on and on about each topic, but the more topics included, the more together you will look and the more together you look, the better perception the board will have of you. As a staff member you are reporting on an area that is your expertise, so own up to what is going on their and don’t make it seem better than what it really is. The goal here is for an honest assessment of what is going on with your department. If your department is not doing well, lying about its health just because you want job security is not a good thought pattern to adopt. The goal should show the board members exactly what everyone in your department knows without them personally having to be there. I would add to that, your own personal assessment of how you believe things are working out.

Tuesday #3: Administrative Work

2009-01-27T05:40:00.000-08:00

I interviewed Thad Spring at College Wesleyan church about the administrative part of his job, and how much he dedicates to it.

Tasks:

1. Scheduling for meetings he is involved in: 1hr/week

2. Bulletin Information-classes being taught and the like: .5 hr/week

3. Coming up with order of service, contacting people about service: 1 hr/week

4. Being in Meetings and developing agendas for them: 5hr/week

5. Writing letters of follow up or appreciation: 2 hr/week

6. Printing and Making Copies: 1 hr/week

7. Keeping track of budget matters: minimal

8. Request forms for transportation and facilities: .25 hr/week

9. Upkeep and work on website: 2.5 hr/week

10. Inter-office Emails: 5 hr/week

That equals just under 20 hours every week doing administrative work. Thad said this is the most administrative job he has ever had. I asked him if this was because he was at a larger church, and he confirmed that. He said that because there is a larger staff, there has to be an incredible amount of communication to make sure everyone knows what page everyone else is on.

Week #3 Administrative Work

2009-01-27T03:56:00.000-08:00

January 27, 2009
By: Nick Smith

Last Friday I interviewed Bob Woods about the types of “administration” he does as a pastor. The following is a list of what he does.
1. Sending and receiving correspondence (letters and emails)
2. Planning and participation in meetings such as elders, board, missions, etc.
3. Planning worship services and other gatherings (such as Thursday evening, Christmas Eve, etc.)
4. General organization and coordination of the church calendar and programs
5. Serving as a contact person for the church with prospective members, sales people, etc.
6. Purchasing various items for the church such as office supplies, worship materials, some building supplies, etc.
7. Corresponding with various missions individuals and groups
8. Working with the church secretary with church communications such as emails, newsletter, bulletins, etc.
9. Oversight of several church staff members.

Bob said that throughout the years this number has fluctuated quite a bit but here recently it has been about 20-25 hours a week spent on administrative type of work.

The first thing that surprised me about the work that Bob does is the amount of time spent on these tasks. He was the solo pastor for many years and has been able to give some of his administrative type of things to the youth pastor. I am guessing in a larger church, not all pastors are going to say that they spend that much time on administrative type of things. Another observation that I had was at the number of times that Bob said “etc.” This caught my attention because it seemed to me like he was saying, “This is generally it, but there is more than this and there are always exceptions to this.” I also got the sense that Bob didn’t especially like doing this type of work but he didn’t hate it either.

Board Meeting Experience - 1/27

2009-01-26T11:48:00.000-08:00

This past week, 1/19, I observed a board meeting at College Wesleyan. I observed this with Joel Liechty and we were only allowed to observe about half of the meeting, which lasted about an hour. This meeting was unique because it was the first week they started a new board system which is split up into two boards, an elder board and a deacon’s board. This meeting was with the deacon board, which is more of the administrative and building operations board.
This meeting had one major decision that was the biggest topic of discussion that night. This was the discussion on the ceiling tile in the building which they were having some problems with and what should be done in regards to that issue. This started with a recommendation from a subcommittee which is the committee that is formed to discuss and find a good solution. This recommendation then went to this board and they then had discussion about the decision. This took awhile to get everyone on the same page and to understand what the problem was and then there was a split decision on what to do. So they decided to table the decision to see if the problem could be fixed in the mean time. So this will be discussed again next month. In order to make the decision I believe that they would have to all agree and vote for the same resolution.
I have observed several board meetings in the past at other churches and I find that one thing is the same for them all; that is, there is always going to long discussion and disagreements. I think that is important because if there were no tension then it would be easy for one person to take control without accountability and a process of making the best decision.
One thing I appreciated was the spiritual awareness of the board as a whole. While we were there, a request came up to pray for someone related to the staff and one of the members suggested that they stop and pray right then for the family then which they did. This made me thankful for a board that isn’t just about the details but are concerned about the congregation and the people. I think that this is an important aspect to the board, that they are most of all wanting to serve and love those in the church.

Tuesday Report #2 Administrative Work

2009-01-25T17:13:00.000-08:00

I talked to Coach Drury and he said I can work backwards on the "Attend A Board Meeting" blog and instead do week fours "Administrative Work." So I will be talking about doing Administrative Work in ministry.
This past Friday, January 23rd, I interviewed my practicum supervisor Emily Vermilya. Emily is the Worship Director at College Wesleyan Church. The following is numbered list of the "Administrative Work" Emily does weekly.
1. 20 hours. Emily spends 20 hours a week doing communicative work. Meaning she spends this time organizing and contacting lay people for the Sunday service, coordinating with venue leaders, and developing the service order.
2. 10 hours. Emily spends 10 hours a week attending and presiding over meetings. These meetings include worship planning meetings, pastoral meetings and practicum meetings.
3. 5 hours. Emily spends 5 hours a week scheduling musicians and worship leaders. This means contacting musicians and worship leaders through email or phone.
4. 1 hour. Emily spends 1 hour a week budgeting. This includes things such as a checking on budget development and looking at future spending.

Meeting with Emily helped me get a better since of how a Worship Director spends his or her time. One observation was the amount of time Emily spent simply communicating with people. As a future minister, I must learn how to efficiently and properly communicate with lay people and fellow staff members. Another thing I found interested was the numerous hours spend in meetings. Meetings and ministry seem to go hand in hand. My final observation is the lack of weekly hours truly spent in "ministry." I guess what I mean by this is most of Emily's week is not spent actually leading worship or rehearsing for Sunday worship. Most of her time is spent preparing for Sunday.

Week #2 Ethics - Alternative Blog

2009-01-22T06:05:00.001-08:00

By: Nick Smith

The scenario’s given in the original article are pretty interesting. It seems like there is a choice to either do whatever you would like to do because you have some sort of right as a pastor to or to go ahead and go the hard route, wait it out and see what the board or treasurer has to say about it. As far as ethical issues go for me, it seems like if the situation is going to benefit you even a little bit, then its probably wrong. If some guy wants to give the church a house to sell it back to his daughter then it gets a bit harder for me. The church needs the money, but that deal seems a bit shady. If anyone outside of the church ever got a hold of that one they would destroy you in the papers. The church probably doesn’t need the money that badly. If it got itself into a poor financial situation well then maybe it doesn’t deserve to grow… If a question of ethics pops into your head then it is probably a good bet that whatever seems the easiest is not the best situation. If you use the church credit card for something of your own, then make sure it gets paid back. If you are not an honest enough of a person to pay it back then you probably don’t deserve the credit card or deserve to be a pastor.

Response #2 - Ethics 1-22-09

2009-01-22T05:58:00.000-08:00

I think this popular take on tithing is interesting. This seems to be a more American view that says that we need to see some tangible difference with our giving. We have this view that what we earn is ours and in our materialist thinking says that evening in our giving we should receive something because we deserve it. So we give to the cause that we most believe in so we can see the exact results and gains because WE gave OUR money. But when we just throw our money into the general offering plate, we are giving with the population, we aren’t giving to anything specific, we don’t get thanked, it just goes in and we don’t get any recognition and we don’t see the direct results.
But is this a good biblical model of giving? I don’t think so. We need to get outside of ourselves and outside our need to find worth and satisfaction in seeing results, and give, trusting that God is being glorified out of our faithful giving. I am not sure that there is a clear biblical mandate of a specific amount, but I do know that there is a clear call for Christ-followers to be more than generous with what God has blessed them with. This is evident in Acts 20 with those who give are more blessed than those who give. But it is not just good to give, but those who are a part of the body, that is, a local body, should be giving to support the ministry of that body and also take care of those in leadership in those positions. We see evidence for this in Galatians 6 with Paul calling those believers to provide support for those who teach the Word of God.
So as my generation is moving into the main financial support and leadership roles in the church, we need to be the most selfless when living our lives. The body of Christ is called to give to the ministry in order to be faithful to God. The members of the body should always be quick to give; also be faithful and consistent in their giving in order to show their obedience and love for God and His Word.

Thursday #2: Response to Ethics

2009-01-22T05:40:00.000-08:00

Oh how much questions can help us. I think so many of these ethical issues could have been solved if the poor minister involved had asked a few questions at the start of his job or situation. I know that at my internship this past summer, before I was given a church credit card I was told the basic policies, and then I asked questions about anything questionable that came to mind. Before I would take a student out for lunch, I made sure that my lunch was also a part of that budget as well. Assuming I didn't have an ethical opposition to the church's policy, if my actions were to come into question, I could be confident that they lined up with the authority of the church.

But what do we do when we haven't asked the right questions beforehand? I think in this case, we have to stick with the idea of being "above reproach." That is, what we do is so ethically pure, that no one would even call our actions into question. I think sometimes this could result in us spending money we shouldn't necessarily have to, or getting the short end of the stick so to speak, but from there we know what questions to ask in the future. In the ministry, being perceived as something is just as bad as being it. We don't have to practice shady financial habits to get into trouble with the body. The body just has to think that we are engaged in less than ethical practices and it might as well be true. When in doubt, we have to take a step above what could even possibly be called into question.

Thursday Response #1 Ministerial Ethics

2009-01-21T17:32:00.000-08:00

I thought your questions were quite thought provoking coach! I anticipate running into these issues in my future ministry. I do believe that Pastor's are called to a "hire" standard than other believers. This does not mean they are better than everyone, it simply means that what the do is more closely watched and people look to them for ethical answers. I read the article and come up with my responses to each question.

1. I would take the money from Mrs. Kramer and tell her I would put it in the offertory. If she insists that it is a personal gift, I would keep it. But I would make sure to include it in my taxes and tithe 10% of it as well. It would be quite rude to act like you would keep it as a gift then just put it in the offertory.

2. I would ask the Pastor what the set amount is to put in and then put the money in the jar right away. I would make sure that some policy was in writing so the issue would be avoided in the future.

3. I would pay for my whole family. But I would talk to the church Pastor and/or the church treasurer and make sure they know how I spent it. I would also make sure there was a clear policy on what to do in these situations.

4. I would endorse the check then give it to the secretary as a rebate. I don't need the extra cash...also it is not a personal printer by any stretch. It is the churches printer, I am just using it.

5. This is a tough one. I think it would be wrong to just take it as a gift. I would definitely consult the church staff. Honestly, Ross seems to be giving the gift more as a kickback not so much as a thank you for being a great minister.

6. I would tell mister Powers thank you for the offer but I would tell him to sell the house to his daughter and give the $300,000 to the church. What is important to decide is his intentions. Is he using the church as a tool to get what he wants or is he truly selfishly giving of his possessions?

7. I would call the church Treasurer and ask for a corrected giving receipt. I honestly can't see justifying it any other way.

These issues seem to be quite "muddy" if you will. I think the best thing is to set up a lot of policies...yes sounds somewhat stiff but I think it helps avoid some of these "gray" issues.

Tuesday #2: Making a Budget

2009-01-19T23:18:00.000-08:00

I interviewed Thad Spring at College Church on 1/14/09

In the making of the budget at College Church, there are five steps:

1. Ministry leaders go through their budgets line by line, creating a report for the finance team. This gives the specifics of ministry goals, as well as projections for the coming year.

2. The finance team then goes over the vision of the church, looks at the previous year’s expenses, as well as the projected expenses of next year, and creates a budget which is sent to the Local Board of Administration (from here on, LBA).

3. It is then the responsibility of the LBA to review and approve the budget. Once this is done, it is sent to the Local Church Conference (from here on, LCC).

4. The LCC, which is comprised of members only, meets once a year, usually for the sole purpose of reviewing the budget. They elect officials, and approve the final budget.

5. The process continues throughout the year, with the finance team playing the justice department, so to speak, making sure everyone is holding to the budget, until next year, when the process is restarted.

Week #2 Making A Budget

2009-01-19T21:53:00.000-08:00

By Nick Smith

Week #2
Tuesday 1/20
Budget

This weekend I interviewed Rita Camden who is a major player in creating and managing the budget for our church.

When I asked Rita how the church makes the budget she replied with this, “Well, it’s not exactly rocket science.”
This church is relatively small, working on a more limited budget.
1. The first thing they do is look at the last few years of spending and see how much money was spent in certain areas.
2. The second thing they do is go ahead and estimate how much money is going to be spent on the things that have to be paid (utilities, payroll, etc.).
3. On the third step, they look at the income compared to the expenses and if the income exceeds the expenses then they increase the amount of money that can go to different programs such as the youth group, and children’s ministry. If the income was lower, they cut a little bit from these programs.
Rita told how the old secretary was stealing money so the biggest thing with the churches financial situation is incorporating more accountability. Since then the church has been receiving more money from tithes. It seemed to her that the more accountability allowed for people to be more at peace with what the church was doing with their money.
So as for now the church’s finances are handled pretty simply until they have more money to spend on ministry.

Practicum Research - Making the Budget 1/20

2009-01-19T20:15:00.000-08:00

For this report, I met with Pastor Dave Drury at Baldwin for lunch today, along with Joel Liechty who is also doing his practicum with Pastor Dave. We talked over the procedure for developing a budget for College Church, from the individual budgets to the whole. It is as follows:

Individual ministry areas create their idea budget
- This includes coming up with an exact number of what they think they need to operate
their ministry for the next year.

Then those budgets are submitted to Pastor Dave for review
- Pastor Dave takes all the budgets and decides which budget gets cut if needed and
which budget should get exactly what is asked for; he makes sure everything is needed
so that parties don’t have to argue in person for money. He is an unbiased person who
can make the decisions on importance of the budgets. He decides what is most
missional for next year and what to protect.

Once these are decided upon by Pastor Dave, they are then voted on by the LBA
- This is the Local Board of Administration at the church. They have the right to make
changes as they see fit. They have to come to a decision on what needs to change and
why. They have the say on the larger, big picture things, such as building projects.

Once the LBA approves the overall budget, it is then voted on by the Local Church Conference
- This is the meeting of all the voting members of the Church. They then have the
ability to propose a change with an addition or subtraction of funds in the budget. This
happens in the month of May as decided by the District.

This process seems to cut out the possible conflicts and hurt feelings in between the ministry leaders and gives them all equal opportunity when it comes to getting their “peace of the pie.” This also gives all the members their chance for input on the budget. I think that this is a good process and seems to work well for the church.

Tuesday Report #1 Making A Budget

2009-01-18T16:51:00.000-08:00

This past Friday, January 16, I interviewed Emily Vermilya. Emily Vermilya is the Worship Arts Director at College Wesleyan Church.

The following is the step by step procedure Emily gave me on how the church goes about making a yearly budget.

1. All staff members (Worship Director, Young Adult Pastor, Youth Pastor…etc) create a budget for their given department. This budget is then submitted to the Executive Pastor team (Senior Pastor, Executive Pastor & Congregational Life Pastor).

2. The Executive Pastor team pieces the budget proposals together to form the 1^st proposed budget.

3. The Local Board of Administration and the Executive Pastor team meet and make more edits to the budget.

4. This edited budget becomes the final budget and is signed appropriately.

Week #1 Thursday Report

2009-01-15T06:09:00.000-08:00

Thursday 1/15
Kinds of Leadership

What is leadership? The first things that come to my mind when asked that question are; creating a vision and then casting that vision onto others around you to help you carry out that vision. Leadership involves making the impossible seem possible. Leadership evolves out of a need that is not being met, or it comes from oppression, but it can also come from the fear that things will not run as smoothly as we would like for them to if we do not step in and lead.
Leadership in the Bible was an interesting thing. What makes it most interesting to me is that it was never done perfectly (except with Jesus) and there was no set “rules” that made those particular leaders exactly that. The following are my thoughts on different kinds of leadership based on different people throughout Biblical History.
-Adam – Adam was a pioneer leader. Being the first man, he was heading out into uncharted territory as an explorer. He was put in charge by God to name the animals, be fruitful and don’t eat from that tree. The interesting thing about Adam’s leadership is that it came completely from God. But Adam was a leader who screwed up, big time. The worst leadership mistake of all time came from Adam even though God told him distinctly what to do.
Jesus – The perfect example of a leader. Lead by serving. Jesus was such a good leader for this reason; he was God. No one else could do it better because they lacked that quality which made it difficult to lead perfectly.
The interesting thing about leading in the Bible is that there were a lot of good leaders in there, but they all screwed it up somehow. I don’t know if it is necessary to go into any more detail than the first leader and the perfect leader. All the leaders in the Bible are given visions from God and then they did their best as humanly possible to complete those visions. They all screwed up somewhere along the road.
If you want to know how to lead a people to one goal, don’t look at Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, Barnabas, or Paul. Look at Jesus.
In all of these people I see the same characteristics; they all loved the Lord and tried their hardest to live it out. Another characteristic of the Biblical leader was diversity. They all did it a little different. But why did they do it differently? I believe they all did it differently because they were all different people leading as best they could in the only way they knew how.
If you want to learn a lesson from the life of the Biblical Forefathers then all you need to know is this; keep focused on the Lord and when you screw it up, don’t stop.
When you apply that idea to the way Jesus led (with humility and leading by serving) then you have a pretty solid leadership style.

Thursday Post #1-Leadership

2009-01-14T22:38:00.000-08:00

Leadership is the ability to provide vision for others, while empowering and uniting them in the pursuit of this vision. In looking at the broad spectrum of leaders, there are good leaders and bad leaders as well as good people and bad people. This is an important distinction to make, as good leaders are not always good people. Hitler and Mussolini were a couple of guys who inspired nations to be united behind a cause and most certainly empowered them to work towards this goal, but there is no way one could argue that these were good people. On the same note, there are plenty of people who are great men and women of integrity, but are not good leaders. I believe when God gets his hand on someone of integrity who has the ability of bringing people together and empowering them to work towards a cause we witness great things.

In the Bible we are given incredible examples of people in the Old and New Testaments who were incredible leaders for the people of God. Moses might be one of the greatest leaders of all time, who at the command and constant direction of God led an entire people in a quest for freedom against one of the most powerful ancient civilizations ever, armed with nothing more than a staff and unleavened bread. Joshua picked up this mantle, and led the entire nation of Israel in their conquest of the promised land. David was an incredible leader, who honored the authority over him, despite the fact that this authority wanted to kill him.

In Paul, we see a man with an uncontrollable passion for the gospel who spreads the church more than just about any individual over the course of history. Maybe the greatest example of leadership we are given though is Christ, who comes as the servant. I cannot think of anyone else who presents a vision more glorious than bringing the kingdom of God to earth and uniting those under him to share this vision. Not only are they united, but he also imparts his divine spirit to them in order to empower them to accomplish this goal. All of this is done as the leader who was willing to wash his students’ feet, and die upon a cross.

Post 1: Church Budget

2009-01-12T21:52:00.000-08:00

Here is College Wesleyan Church's Budget in percentages from Largest to Smallest.

I interviewed Thad Spring on Wednesday, January 7.

46.6% on Minsters and staff including benefits

33.18% on Facilities including debt payments

11.74 on Programs

8.49% on Denomination support and missions

Three things that I found to be very interesting were:

1. College church spends less than half of its budget on salary, which I feel is better than most churches do.

2. I found it very interesting that there is only three percent more of the budget put into programming within the church than support of the denomination outside of the building.

3. In looking at the sum total of everything all added up, it was a great reminder of how much money comes through a church in a year and the great responsibility that comes with that.

Week #1 Tuesday Post

2009-01-11T12:08:00.000-08:00

January 11, 2009
Church Budget

Michigantown Christian Church
I interviewed Pastor Bob Wood’s on this topic.

The Budget was divided as follows:
66% Ministers and staff (plus benefits)
15% Facilities
14% Missions (Non Denominational)
5% Programs

Observation #1
- From city-data.com, I found out that the average income in Michigantown (where the church is located) is $45,043 per year. The senior pastor is making about $5,000 more than that per year while the youth pastor is making about $15,000 dollars less than that. I found that sort of interesting.

Observation #2
- I noticed that only $27,000 is budgeted for missions yet the actual giving is $46,000 per year. It seems that a lot of the money that exceeds the budgets needs gets put into missions.

Observation #3
- The actual spending for the Sunday school was $3,500 the last fiscal year but nothing was budgeted for it the past year or the year to come. This is because a member pays for all Sunday school expenses out of pocket. I found that interesting.