Christian Management Report
August 2005 Issue (Vol. 29, No. 4)
Focus: Volunteer Program Management
Title: The Volunteer Revolution
"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." --Colossians 3:17, NKJV
In this issue we address volunteer program management. It's true, without volunteers there would be very little ministry. The beauty is, God designed it this way. Every believer is gifted by God for sacrificial service to others. ◙ Bill Hybels calls us to unleash the power of volunteer ministry. As Brian Proffit points out, serving in ministry is really all about growing in discipleship. Building a volunteer culture, says Chris Hardy, must start by training staff in how to nurture team ministry. Al Newell shows us how our natural mindset can sabotage volunteer ministry development, and Tony Morgan provides practical advice for building an effective volunteer ministry. ◙ Happy and fruitful reading.
--DeWayne Herbrandson, Executive Editor
Note: The cover photo of Bill Hybels was taken by Bill Bilsley for Willow Creek Association.
CONTENTS ∙ Christian Management Report (Vol. 29, No. 4, August 2005)
Church Leadership
The Volunteer Revolution
Unleashing the Power of Everybody
By Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church
In this excerpt from his latest book, The Volunteer Revolution, Bill Hybels describes three important lessons church leaders must keep in mind in building a great volunteer culture: new volunteers are vulnerable to discouragement and disillusionment; their time is valuable and not to be wasted; they need to be constantly reminded of their value and of the role they're playing in the ministry of the church.
Management & Leadership
"We've Got an Emergency!"
Essential Lessons Every Manager Needs to Learn Before a Crisis Hits
By Mark Cutshall--an interview with Randy Strash, Strategy Director of ERMB, World Vision
When a massive earthquake-caused tsunami struck India and Indonesia in December 2004, World Vision's Emergency Response and Disaster Mitigation team immediately swung into action. In this interview, the strategy director of that team describes the steps that were taken to mitigate the disaster, providing important lessons for managers in how to prepare for and respond to a crisis.
CHURCH LEADERSHIP
How Churches Are Ending Passivity in the Pews
They Don't Use Volunteers--They Teach That Service Is the Expectation of Every Believer!
By Brian Proffit, Senior Editor, Church Volunteer Central
Rather than constantly trying to fill what seems to be a perennial shortage of volunteers, church leaders must change the underlying attitude toward service, says the author, and create an environment where service is understood to be a basic expectation of every believer. He goes on to outline three foundational principles of such a culture: the priesthood of all believers; the giftedness of all believers; and the uniqueness of all believers.
►They don’t use volunteers. Here's the full article by Brian Proffit.
Church leadership
A Strategic Management Fork in the Road
Do You Hire Staff to DO the Ministry or to EQUIP Volunteers?
By Chris Hardy, Pastor of Life Development, Westover Church
In this article, the author describes the critically important of equipping church staff members to build a strong volunteer base. "We can’t expect to develop high-functioning teams of skilled and equipped people," he writes, "if we don't have high-functioning team leaders. Staff members must see their role as equippers of God’s people and must possess the necessary skills to successfully fulfill this role."
Church leadership
Simple Strategies
From "Simply Strategic Volunteers"
By Tony Morgan, Pastor of Administrative Services, and
Tim Stevens, Executive Pastor, Granger Community Church
In this article, excerpted from their book, Simply Strategic Volunteers, Tony Morgan and Tim Stevens describe five effective methods for attracting volunteers.
Management & leadership
7 Reasons Volunteer Ministries Fail
Our Natural Tendencies Can Steer Us Wrong
By Al Newell, President, Newell & Associates
Often, in dealing with volunteerism, church and ministry leaders tend to follow their natural tendencies, which can lead to a series of mistakes that cause volunteer programs to flounder. They include: lack of involvement by the CEO or senior pastor; putting poorly trained people in charge; failure to provide adequate infrastructure; and focusing on the wrong priorities.
Management & leadership
Evaluating Volunteer Program Success
Six Key Questions for Measuring Effectiveness
By John R. Throop, President, The Summit Planning Group
More and more, nonprofit leaders are challenged to describe the role volunteers play in their ministry by defining expectations, participation and results. So how should we measure volunteer program success? Throop suggests six key questions for determining just how effective and successful your volunteer efforts will be.
Management & Leadership
Avoiding the Shadow Side of Leadership
By Robert Banks, Director and Dean of Macquarie Christian Studies, Sydney, Australia
By Bernice M. Ledbetter, Former Director of the De Pree Leadership Center, Fuller Theological Seminary
It was Jesus, say the authors, who perfectly modeled the three key aspects of character as they relate to leadership--faithfulness, integrity and service. From this, they draw two important leadership lessons: leadership is first of all about who a person is, before and alongside what he or she does; and since leadership is ultimately about who a person is as a whole, it's fundamentally about followership before it's about leadership.
Management & Leadership
Followership Vs. Leadership Skills
By Eugene H. Peterson, Pastor, Scholar, Poet and Writer
Followership must precede leadership, says the author, and is foundational to it. "Leadership that is not well-grounded in followership--following Jesus--" he writes, "is dangerous to both the church and the world."
Board Governance
By Bruce R. Johnson, President of NextLevel Leadership
A different location is just one of several ways to improve your next board retreat, says the author. Bringing in an outside speaker, focusing on larger topics and taking time to build relationships are among the other ways retreats can be made more inviting and effective.
►Here are some suggestions on "When to Invite an Outside Facilitator to Your Board or Leadership Retreat" by Bruce R. Johnson.
CEOs
By Sarah Loehndorf, Project Manager at Best Christian Workplaces Institute
Instead of asking employees what they dislike about their organization that needs to be changed, the "Appreciative Inquiry" approach involves asking positive questions about the past that can be used to generate positive images for the future. While this article describes how a major organization – World Vision – used this approach effectively, it also outlines ways it which it can be put to good use in much smaller settings.
Church Financial Management
By Dan Busby, Vice President of Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA)
The author describes recent changes in IRS regulations regarding flexible spending accounts (FSAs) that favorably impact employees.
Church Financial Management
By John Parrish, Owner of Keller & Owens, LLC
To help curtail the spread of identity theft, Congress recently passed legislation requiring that any organization that obtains personal consumer information for business purposes must properly dispose of unneeded data. That includes background checks on potential employees, acceptance of debit or credit cards for donations or product sales and similar data. Proper disposal means shredding paper documents and erasing electronic files. Penalties for failure to comply are severe.
Church Leadership
By Tony Morgan, Pastor of Administrative Services, Granger Community Church, South Bend, Ind. (tonymorgan.typepad.com)
Leading an organization that functioning primarily with volunteers takes greater skill than leading paid staff, says the author, as he outlines several specific strategies his church uses in leading a large volunteer team.
►How to lead volunteers. Here's the full article by Tony Morgan.
Financial Management
A Whistle-Blower Policy
Can of Worms or Good Protection?
By Jennifer Perez, CPA
While there's some uncertainty about whether two provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002--whistle-blower protection and document retention/destruction--apply to nonprofits, the author recommends that it would be prudent for churches and ministries to include such provisions in their written policies and procedures.
►Obtaining confidential whistle-blower reporting services. MySafeWorkplace is one solution that provides a surprisingly affordable Internet-based reporting service and also makes available the support of legal and human resource experts to help management follow up on any tips that are reported. Links to other organizations that provide whistle-blower fraud reporting services are available at ComplianceWeek. Your auditor or attorney may also be able to provide you with suggestions.
Fund Development
Building Bridges to Donors by Going Beyond "Sales"
By Greg Frady, Director of Development for Compassion International
Developing solid and lasting relationships with donors requires a lot more than sales and fundraising skills, says the author. It's about building bridges that require an understanding of both donor passion and ministry needs.
Fund Development
Aging, Web-savvy Women Want Donor and Volunteer Appeals Targeted to Them!
By Gary Foster, Marketing and Management Consultant
They account for more than 80 percent of all consumer buying and, in 2004, made 64 percent of all online purchases. In considering which organizations to target for making donations, today’s wired women want the big picture, convenient access to lots of details, and stories of people whose lives are being affected by those organizations.
Human Resource Management
Human Resources in the 21st Century
By Ronald F. Smedley, President, Synergistic Resource Associates
In this article, the author previews a new book, Human Resources in the 21st Century, which examines the challenges facing HR professionals in today's rapidly changing work environment.
Human Resource Management
We Must Make Work Creative and
Meaningful Rather Than Demeaning!
By Richard C. Chewning, John W. Eby and Shirley J. Roels
In this excerpt from their book, Business Through the Eyes of Faith, the authors maintain that those in management positions have a responsibility to organize work that is meaningful, and aimed at benefiting others.
Human Resource Management
Managing Talent: Fad or Helpful Trend?
By Ronald F. Smedley, President, Synergistic Resource Associates
In answering that question, the author writes: "I believe the new term brings a refreshing awareness to an area of people development that’s often lost or ignored."
►For more information on "managing talent," go to the Center of Creative Leadership for articles that explore this new HR management practice.
Information Technology
Blogging 101
What Is It and Why Should You Care?
By Jason Miles, Founder, Charity Insighter (charityinsighter.myblogsite.com)
Blogs, shorthand for web-logs, began basically as online diaries posted on simple Internet sites, but have evolved into powerful opinion shapers with an estimated 32 million Internet users regularly reading them. In this article, the author points outs several reasons for their fast-growing popularity.
►More information about blogging. Here's the full article by Jason Miles on blogging, including sections on "Rules for Success" and "Thou Shalt Nots."
tax & legal trends
Volunteer Liability Protection
By Charles M. (Chip) Watkins, Attorney, Webster, Chamberlain & Bean
In order to reduce or eliminate the risk of liability to third parties, to which volunteers might otherwise be exposed, church and ministry leaders are advised to work with their attorneys and insurance providers to ensure that they have a comprehensive plan in place to protect their volunteers.
tax & legal trends
Bush's Faith-Based Initiative Comes With Strings
By Stuart J. Lark, Partner, Holme Roberts & Owen LLP
While President Bush's "faith-based initiative" policy has provided new funding opportunities for ministries, there are some strings attached, and ministries must ensure that such strings, in the author's words, "do not undermine their Christian character and mission."
tax & legal trends
Lobbying for Supreme Court Justices? What You Can and Can't Do!
By Frank Somerville, Attorney, Hammar & Sommerville
With the replacement of one or more Supreme Court justices very much in the news these days, the author summarizes what lobbying activities churches and ministries are permitted to conduct without risk of penalty.
Christian Management Partners
By Mark Cutshall--an interview with Russ Robinson, founding partner of Robinson, Pluymert, Piercey, MacDonald & Amato, Ltd
In this interview, the new chairman of the Christian Management Partners Board of Advisors explains why he sees great growth potential for CMA. "CMA’s mission," he says, "has tremendous built-in appeal to thousands of kingdom-minded business men and women who would love to leverage their talents, influence and resources to impact hundreds of CMA member ministries and churches."
Management Rules of Thumb
and Other Management Musings
By John Pearson, President/CEO, Christian Management Association
In Rule #9 in this series of Management Rules of Thumb, CMA’s President/CEO recommends what he describes as a fast-reading management book, You Can't Win a Fight With Your Boss & 55 Other Rules for Success, by Tom Markert. He goes on to describe several other Management Rules of Thumb he’s gathered during his 30 years of leadership experience.
►Share stories to punctuate your projects. My all-time favorite true story, in my 11 years at CMA, describes how God provided a miracle orange for my friend, Janet, during a bus ride to San Clemente. Click here for "Miracle on a Bus" by John Pearson
►You'll never understand your team members until you understand the four social styles. There are four social styles: drivers, expressives, analyticals and amiables. This knowledge impacts every relationship I have, including my wife, my board chair, my co-workers, and my triplet grandchildren (they each have a unique social style!). Click here for "Understanding and Celebrating Your Team’s Uniqueness" by John Pearson.
►Listen to a One-day Workshop on Social Styles! Don German, a consultant to Fortune 500 companies, led a one-day workshop on social styles at CMA Texas 2004, Christian Management Association's annual leadership and management conference, on April 26, 2004. To order the audio recording, go to BestChristianConferences and order "Effective Leadership" by Don German.
