The Congregational Consulting Group, organized in 2014 by former consultants of the Alban Institute, is a network of independent consultants. We publish PERSPECTIVES for Congregational Leaders—thoughts on topics of interest to leaders of congregations and other purpose-driven organizations. — Dan Hotchkiss, editor
Sarai Rice Most ministers, me included, probably discovered early in our careers that we don’t have the full set of skills essential to congregational leadership, skills that include not only preaching and pastoral care but also congregational governance, employee supervision and evaluation, fundraising, change management, long-range planning, marketing/brand development, and budgeting. When this is true, where do we go? What can we do to gain the skills we need?
An entire philanthropic industry, complete with journals, associations, specialized vendors, academic research, and special reports, exists to support nonprofit fundraising. I know because in my day job as a nonprofit executive, I’m bombarded with articles, tools and reports designed to help me raise the $3.5 million that I need annually to feed 15,000 people a month. Ministers can learn a lot from this industry.
Many of us have had the experience of working with an employee who, no matter how understanding we are or what we try, continues to be a problem. Sometimes he never gets the work done or clearly isn’t the right fit. Sometimes she upsets others or continues to resist something new she’s been asked to do. Whatever the issue, there is a point, almost always on the other side of training and support, when it is appropriate to terminate someone.
No one likes to fire anyone, but most of us will have to do it someday. If you follow the basic steps below, more or less in order, deliberately, and without procrastination, you will be able to do what you need to do and maybe even end up in one piece. I began this article by …
If you’re doing everything you’ve always done as a congregation but it’s not working anymore, you may be alarmed, but you’re not alone. Once upon a time, we all shared a congregational business model that seemed effective and ordained: Over the last couple of decades, however, this model has changed. Now, growing congregations look very …
by Sarai Rice
“Why aren’t you a pony?”
This was a question asked out of the blue one day by Lynne Truss of her then-boyfriend, in what must have been a moment of either great bewilderment or great clarity. (Truss is the best-selling author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves.)
I couldn’t help but identify with Truss’s confusion as I watched yet another distressingly awful Presbytery meeting this past week in which minister members begged to continue funding positions that may never have been effective and could no longer be afforded, on the ground that Christians are supposed to be “nice.” Is it just me, or must God, too (assuming that there is a God and that God has thoughts) occasionally look at the church and ask the bewildered divine equivalent of, “Why aren’t you a pony?”
by Sarai Rice
I’ve just started serving on the Finance Committee for a local faith-based group, and I’ve realized that years of external audits have taught me some things that other ministers don’t necessarily know. So, below are the answers to a few recent questions about audits.