Administrating the Local Church E-Book

Dr. Rob Tucker, Ph.D., M.B.A

• Herausgeber: Zion Christian Publishers
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

A handbook for new pastors and church administrators

Leseprobe

Administrating the Local Church

A handbook for new pastors and church administrators

by

Dr. Rob Tucker

All Scripture quotations in this book are taken from the

King James Version Bible unless otherwise stated.

Published by Zion Christian Publishers

Version 1.0

Published as an e-book on October 2017

in the United States of America

E-book ISBN 1-59665-701-4

For more information, please contact:

Zion Christian Publishers

A Zion Fellowship ® Ministry

P.O. Box 70

Waverly, New York 14892

Phone: [phone]

Toll free: 1-877-768-7466

Chapter 1

The Administrative Problem

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this handbook is to help the reader determine the best process for setting up the administrative policies and procedures for a small church.  It is the author’s desire to assist the church administrator by providing an overall framework from which a small church can work.  Much information has been accumulated relating to the administrative procedures of large, well-staffed churches.  However, very little information has been gathered to assist a small local church set up its organizational structure.

Setting of the Problem

There are hundreds of thousands of churches established worldwide every year by pastors who have very little or no experience in setting up the organizational structure by which the church should be run.  Eventually, many of these small churches begin to grow and realize too late that a well-defined administrative structure has never been set up.  Rarely, do pastors or lay workers have the expertise or time to implement an effective solution.  For lack of knowledge, administrative duties are overlooked or completely ignored.  In the end, small churches many times fail because adequate organization has never been implemented.  Administrative duties are often ignored because new pastors do not understand what needs to be done, let alone how to do it.  Many long books, manuals, and seminars have been geared towards the administrative needs of churches.  However, many of these books are filled with legal jargon that tends to further alienate a small church administrator even further.  Pastors need a simple, easily understood, inexpensive way of understanding church administration so that it can be implemented in a new church. 

History and Background of the Problem

Throughout the years, small churches, for the most part, have been very unorganized, crudely joined organizations.  In the past, there has been very little administrative work in setting up a small local assembly.  Over the years, however, this has changed.  Some of these changes have been a direct result of the negligence of church organizations.  In the 1970’s and 1980’s, many stories came out in the press showing how some churches or para-church organizations misused power and money, as well as preyed upon the trust of other honest Christians.  For reasons such as this, government has become more involved, and administrative systems need to be put into place.  Churches are now expected to live up to the standards that the business community has had to deal with for several decades.  Catching up on policies and procedures for larger organizations has not been such a problem.  Churches with adequate income are able to hire experts or consultants to come in, clean house and establish proper operating procedures.  This, however, is not possible for a small local church.  For the most part, small indigenous churches rely completely upon the skills of its laity or pastor. 

It is unfortunate that most new pastors do not have the training necessary to establish the “secular” aspects of starting a new church.  Many Bible schools and seminaries are very good at preparing preachers, but spend very little time training pastors the everyday, down to earth concepts of church business or church administration.

Scope

It is the scope of this handbook to provide a new pastor of a small church the knowledge that is necessary for establishing the church with “good business sense.”  This handbook is not meant to be an “end all” manual for every church congregation.  Its main focus is the small church with very little staff, income, and complexity.  It is anticipated that most pastors have very little time to spend on administration.  Therefore, a guidebook of this type should be concise and easily read.  Hopefully, this will not be a legal dissertation, but a guidebook that is written in everyday language, easily understood, and easily implemented.  A pastor does not need a manual that necessarily answers all his or her questions regarding church administration, but does need a guide that is helpful in letting him or her know what needs to be considered.   It is the purpose of this handbook to do that.  It is anticipated that this will be an impetus to the pastor or lay leader to further study in this area.  This book should direct the new pastor and provide a path or direction he or she should take. 

In order to understand what aspects of administration are most important to small churches, a survey was conducted, in preparation of writing this handbook, asking pastors what they consider to be the problems of establishing a new church.  Systems have been developed that will assist pastors in solving these problems or at least making them easier to manage.

Importance of this Topic

I believe that this project is important because, as a pastor of a smaller church, I have seen the need for it.  I have served overseas in several organizations that helps pastors establish new churches.  From my perspective, I have observed that churches fail, not always because of doctrinal issues, but many times because administrative duties were either neglected or completely ignored.  If this area of church administration could be cleared up by giving new pastors some simple tools to work with, pastors could then focus on the more important aspects of the church.

Chapter 2

Gaining and Understanding

In order to gain a better understanding of the needs of a small church administrator, much material was investigated and a survey was conducted.  The purpose of this handbook is to give a basic understanding of principles and procedures of administration for operating a small church effectively.  It is recognized that the church administrator will have to do further study in this area.  This handbook is a good starting point to assist in bringing to light some of the things to be considered.  This chapter is devoted to introducing the reader to some other sources of information that are available.  In the past, the topic of church administration has been limited and unresearched.  However, as the need continues to grow and the administration problem becomes more complex, much material on the topic is being produced.

The first place a new church pastor / administrator should go for information is to other pastoral acquaintances who have gone through a similar process in the past.  It has been said that experience is the best teacher.  Tapping into the resources of other individuals is certainly a valuable asset.  Talking with others who have set up administrative systems introduces the apprentice to items of consideration, as well as acclimates him to the vocabulary and language of the topic.  Many times the most difficult thing is not implementing a policy or procedure but knowing that a policy or procedure is needed in the first place.  By having a mentor nearby to consult, many pitfalls can be avoided.

Another good source of information is a denomination, college or local library.  Many libraries carry current material on the topic of church administration.  It is important when doing research in a library to search under topics that are related to church administration.  Some general topics to seek in the library include:  Non-profit Organizations, Accounting, Administration, Management and Finance.  By starting with general topics, it becomes easier to hunt down material and begin focusing in on the topic of church administration.

Over time, a pastor / administrator may wish to build up his or her own library with books that assist in the development of church administration.  The following is a short list of some of the books used to prepare this handbook.  A short review of each book follows the title.  These books have been found to be valuable resources in the church administration area.  The books do overlap in some of their scope; however, they are different enough that each one would be useful to have in a personal library.

The National Association of Church Business Administration (NACBA) puts out several booklets that can be very helpful to the church administrator.  The Church Organization Manual, written by Robert H. Welch, is a well written, easy to understand book designed to introduce a new administrator to the basic tasks in a small church.  The book is divided into three primary sections that cover authority, organization and administration.  Each section goes into sufficient detail to introduce the topic, as well as make suggestions on a general direction to take.  One of the best parts of the book is the appendices at the back of the book.  Many blank forms and examples are included to further shed light on the subject.  The book itself is a collection of the policies and procedures a church should incorporate over time.  By showing examples of what a policy manual should look like the book illustrates the administrative task.  “Effective organization and management can dramatically reduce the degree of confusion and uncertainty that exists when no specific guidance is provided in the operation of the church.  The existence of a series of policy statements subscribed to by the church body provide the framework for efficient and competent operation of the administration of the church, thereby reducing the frustration of the task.”  (Welch, p.1)  The book does not spend much time on theory but focuses in on practical, everyday use.

A second manual produced by the NACBA, Developing A Church Policy Manual, by Robert A. Young, is laid out very much like the organizational manual.  The detail is not as good as the prior manual; however, it is more concisely written and is quite appropriate for receiving quick answers.  More time is spent preparing the reader for the process and less time is spent explaining the details of how to actually work it out.  One area that has proved to be very useful is the section concerning job descriptions.  As was previously discussed, knowing what to do is sometimes more important than knowing how to do it.  The book spends a good deal of time on the topic of defining what church administration is and how it should be kept in a proper context.  “The very nature and purpose of the church require that the goals of church administration be set in the framework of the God-given tasks of worshipping, ministering, teaching, and reaching out to people.”  (Young, p.2)  Developing A Church Policy Manual does not provide all the tools necessary, but it is a good starting point for the new church administrator.

Organizing for Accountability, by Robert R. Thompson and Gerald R. Thompson, covers some of the theory behind topics such as forming organizational accountability, fund raising, and keeping church organizations out of the trap of becoming a business.  Many problems a church faces today in the area of administration have to do with the issue of being properly responsible for its own actions.  Government intervention has arisen because the church has not correctly regulated itself.  “This is not to say that most religious organizations lack integrity or accountability.  There is no  reason to impute bad motive or deliberate intent to deceive on the part of religious organizations.  It is simply that they may not have had to exert any conscious effort in the past to make themselves more accountable.  Some merely lack an awareness of how accountability can be keyed into their organizations;  they require someone to show them what to do.”  (Thompson, p.1)  Organizing for Accountability provides good background knowledge on which to build for the future in this area.  Unfortunately, much of the book is geared toward larger organizations with multi-million dollar budgets.  However, the basic principles presented in the book can be easily applied to small churches.

Based on the results obtained from a survey given to thirty pastors prior to the writing of this book, the two most confusing and frustrating areas of church administration are accounting and legal matters.  Much of the irritation in these areas is due to the fact that most pastors or lay staff receive very little training in these areas. 

Basic Accounting for Churches, by Jack A. Henry, is a very well written, easily understood handbook for understanding the basics of church financial bookkeeping.  “Pastors sometimes ask, ‘Why should I learn bookkeeping?’  They rationalize that by the time they need a bookkeeping system they will have a church treasurer who can do it for them.  The truth is, you need to have a good bookkeeping system to account for your stewardship when the first penny hits the offering plate in your church.”  (Henry, p. 37)  The book in a very simple manner explains the basic principles of accounting and applies them to usage in the local church. 

Legal matters are a mystifying area for many new pastors.  Pastor, Church & Law, by Richard Hammar, is a comprehensive book that covers the topic thoroughly.  Mr. Hammar’s book goes to great lengths to cover nearly every imaginable topic that affects the church from a legal perspective.  The book is not always quickly understood due to the fact that such detail is provided.  However, it provides an excellent resource for legal thought on church matters. 

The set of books mentioned, as well as the one currently being read, is in no way a complete library for the church administrator.  However, they do provide a “good place to start.”  This handbook is a compilation of not only these books but many other books, as well as the experience the author has gained working with the topic.  By pointing the reader in the right direction, it is hoped that establishing administrative procedure will be a simple task that facilitates a new pastor in his ultimate goal of establishing a church on a spiritual foundation.