Church leaders make
decisions every day. These decisions are made about things like people
(volunteers, employees, and members), money (budgeting, spending, saving),
ministry programs, facilities, and the list goes one.
In Jim Collins’ classic
book, Good to Great, he
talks about using councils to help guide the organization.
These guiding church
councils or committees should be made up of a group of the right people who can
discuss, debate, and make decisions about the
administration and management of the organization.
People selected to serve
on these important committees should be those with knowledge, experience, and a
passion for the topic.
These knowledge experts
are used to facilitate a decision-making process that benefits the
church.
Each council or committee
should have a clear charter, and someone should be assigned to facilitate the
process.
This facilitator should
help the group identify a team, create a team charter, ground rules, and establish team goals.
By going through this process, the team understands what it is charged to do. Church councils should meet regularly and report to the church board.
Here is a list of six
church councils that your ministry should consider establishing.
1. Church Finance
This group is the
financial think-tank and has an identified representative that reports to the
board-of-directors.
The church finance
committee is responsible for meeting with church leaders and creating the
annual church budget.
This team also has the
responsibility of reviewing monthly budget numbers, analyzing budget variances,
and approving non-budget expenditures.
The budgeting process forecasts annual
revenues, fixed and flexible spending, and anticipates and budgets for
significant capital expenses.
2. Human Resources
The human resource council
or personnel committee helps to ensure that
policies, procedures, and processes are in place to support church employees
and volunteers.
And, that the ministry
complies with, and operates within state and federal laws.
An HR council might also
have the responsibility to review job applications and approve applicants for
the first round of interviews.
This essential team also
helps to establish employee pay grades, make recommendations on employee benefits, employee policies,
training, leadership development, job classifications, employee assistance programs,
vacation approval process, compensation strategy, reward and recognition,
and performance management.
The team is responsible
for anything people.
3. Facility Review
The facility review
council should meet regularly and discuss strategy for facility management.
This team is responsible
for identifying facility update needs, and planning for future expansions or
remodels.
This group also
facilitates the process of ensuring that staff work areas meet employee job
requirements and gives direction on standard furniture, décor colors, campus
way-finding, and mechanical equipment needs.
This council meets with
the church finance committee to ensure large capital expenditures are budgeted
and resources are available when needed.
4. Information
Technology
The information technology
council is responsible for making sure the church has the necessary technology
to run its operations.
This may include
recommending purchases such as audiovisual equipment for church services,
computer software to operate children’s ministry, or assessing whether
employees have the right computer equipment and software to perform their job
duties.
This council of technical
experts also researches new technologies and ensures the church is using all
available technologies that can help streamline work processes.
For example, investing in
electronic scanning systems for children’s ministry and adult classes can
eliminate the need to manually input attendance information into the church database.
This council may also be
responsible for establishing ministry guidelines for replacing computers,
setting guidelines for internet usage, employee training, communicating policies
on employee personal use of church equipment, and creating any other
information technology policy and procedures.
5. Safety
A safety council is
responsible for ensuring the church provides a safe environment for visitors
and employees.
This is done by reviewing
safety procedures for potentially dangerous activities by employees and
volunteers.
This group should make
routine campus rounds and proactively look for hazards that need to be
corrected.
Hazards can be defined as
anything that could cause harm within buildings or outside grounds.
For instance, electrical
systems, walking surfaces, air quality, fire extinguishers, clutter in
hallways, etc. can be potential hazards.
Proactively looking
for things that could pose a threat of harm to employees or visitors can help
to avoid an unnecessary incident of injury.
6. Customer
Experience
A customer experience council is
responsible for seeking feedback from all customer groups—members, volunteers,
and employees—and identifying ways to improve the experience.
This council may be
responsible for facilitating a formal feedback process, reviewing feedback data,
and developing improvement plans based on that data.
For example, this group
may find that volunteers are asking for a more structured training process
because they don’t feel adequately trained to perform their job duties.
Managing a church can be
challenging, particularly with limited resources and the reliance on volunteer
labor.
A ministry that can
identify the right councils, with the right people to help make recommendations
and decisions for the operational side of the church – helps the church focus
on its number one priority – its mission!
Source: Smart Church Management
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