I mention this in a Sundayresources.net blog for several reasons:

1. Many people who read this blog assume I’m still in Hilliard Ohio.
   I’m not.
   
2. It explains the ocean/beach blog graphics.
   
3. It tells you a little bit about my perspectives and range of experience.
   
4. The move and island experience is teaching me a lot about myself, my family, church, and life in general.

How does an Ohio-boy end up in St Croix? 

a)  It was one of those life dreams I could actually make happen. Positive life circumstances created a “window of opportunity” for my family and I to follow that dream –for a few years. We probably won’t stay here forever. Why? Because change happens! 

My job largely takes place via the internet so I could move it anywhere (we still ship software out of Ohio). My wife landed a great position in the NICU at the local hospital here on StX. My youngest daughter who is with us was excited to become part of a small private island school. She was tired of the crowded suburban schools. And my two oldest are away at college.

b) I have saltwater in my veins. I love the mountains and tropics.
          (and StX has plenty of all three)

c) I/we were looking for a cultural experience beyond the whitebread vinyl-sided suburban landscape we had grown tired of.  StX is 75% “West Indian” …ie, of african descent. But it’s still the USA. “Third World USA” to be sure, but a very interesting place to live.

Life on St Croix is quite different than it was in Ohio…

We’ve already had a hurricane (Omar on Oct 16, 2008). That was crazy.

We live in a rainforest 8 minutes over the mountain from the beach.

Everything here is more expensive than in the states, and we’ve had to learn to pinch pennies (we don’t drive a newer car any more, for example)

Nearly everyone is quite a bit friendlier and more relaxed than in the states.

It’s definitely WARMER, but not “florida hot.”  StX sits in the tradewinds which always seem to be blowin, -so the temp never goes above 90. Most days it gets up to about 85. That said, we live in shorts and sandals, and have learned not to worry about a little sweat.

Relaxing here means taking a book (or your dog) to the beach and sitting in the shade of a palm tree, …or going for a walk or going swimming. In the suburbs, it meant sitting in the A/C in my lay-z-boy.  We’re more outdoor active here, and can be year-round, -which was part of the plan.

There’s something about waves that soothe my soul like nothing else.  And at night, the stars are amazing –something you forget when you live in a metro area full of streetlights.

We’re already involved in a local church: the Reformed Church (RCA). It sits on top of a hill and people wear shorts and sandals to worship. There are churches down here that date back 300 years.

As mentioned, “Crucians”  ie, people on St Croix, are quite a bit friendlier than Midwesterners. They actually look at you and nod or say “good afternoon” when they pass you by. Standing in line or sitting in a barber shop they will strike up a conversation. In Ohio, people act like you’re not there. They walk on by you. Down here, eye contact, a wave, and a kind word is considered normal.

The roads are a bit crazy, and we drive on the left. But Crucian drivers have 100% less “road rage” than midwesterners do. They routinely stop to let people enter the roadway.

StX has a lot of poverty and is rather rundown, but it also has a lot of beauty. The people are conservative and outgoing. They care about their island and are actively trying to change it.  Very little is taken for granted like it is in the suburbs up north. There are more beautiful islands, but few you could actually make a good living on.

StX is somewhat rural and underpopulated, -it’s not crowded like St. Thomas. It does have two major “cities.” Pretty much everything you need is here, except for Campbell’s Bean with Bacon Soup -which I’m always on the lookout for

No, we’re not rich. We just decided we didn’t want to wake up old someday and be living in the same place, and regretting the road(s) not taken.

And then there’s that Caribbean water.  I’m sure I was a sailor in a past life!

If you ever find yourself heading to St. Croix, look me up, or contact me for the scoop.  neil@sundayresources.net   I have a family blog about our moving experience and life on the island. If you’re interested in reading it, let me know.

I turned on my computer this morning and all it did was BEEP BEEP at me. No startup. No screen. Just “beep beep” -then it shut itself down.  All sorts of worst case scenarios started to go through my poor head.

After my heart started again, I Googled the problem using another computer. I typed “my computer goes beep beep and won’t start.” Seems that happens a lot because the web is full of beeping help.

So I clicked the link to http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm  and learned that Motherboards are designed with beep Morse Code, ie, the combinations of beeps tell you what’s wrong.

They listed all the TERRIBLE THINGS that the beeping indicated “could”  be going wrong, but their first suggestion was to ”unsnap my memory chips from the motherboard and snap them in again.”  Sounded too easy. I was sure I was going to have to spend 3 hours on the phone with Dell only to discover my harddrives were fried.

But it worked. I unsnapped the memory card and snapped them back in. Hit the power button and away she went.

I don’t know why it worked, it just did. The chips weren’t loose. Apparently the motherboard had just developed “electrical vaporlock” during a recent power outage we had,  and unsnapping the chips broke the lock. Computer booted right up.

Which brings up something every staff person in a church (or any computer user) should know:

you don’t have to wait for the church techie to solve your problem,
=you just need to get to the right website.

__________________________________________________

PCHELL.com is a great site. http://www.pchell.com/   Everything from hardware problems to do it yourself virus removal.

http://www.smartcomputing.com/techsupport is a good “fix it” website written in plain english.

The better computer companies also have websites full of useful info. Dell.com’s “Forums” are filled with people posting their problems, and others -including Dell technicians, posting solutions.

Problem #2

My daughter’s new laptop has a broken DVD drive. I called Dell, but their phone system is crazy. So I went online and used their “Tech Support Chat.”   They were quick and very helpful. They even had me download a small file that allowed them to REMOTELY CONTROL the laptop so they could run some tests. This is the second time I’ve had to use Dell Online Chat to help with family computers, and it’s the only way to go.

It’s such features as Dell Chat and their ability to remotely access my computer which keep me coming back to Dell.  Buy your computer at a store like Best Buy, and you’re stuck going to their store to get things fixed.

Horror Story Alert: A friend took her computer into Best Buy to fix her HP’s built-in webcam which was still under warranty. They came back saying she had all these viruses and they could remove them for $149 !!

…I told her I’d do it for free. When we got the computer back, she didn’t have viruses, she had some spyware and ‘malware’ which any one of a number of free utilities was able to nuke. The GeekSquad was just trying to drum up business.

Vista Commercial: 

The more I use it, the more I like the Vista operating system. It is MUCH more HELPFUL than XP is in figuring out problems, such as internet connectivity. 

My computer with the BEEPING problem was an XP computer, and the problem was hardware, not operating system. But we’ve been having “power and internet issues” on all three of our computers here at our new place, and the VISTA laptop we have with us has been MUCH more intuitive and helpful than the XP computers. 

We in the church need to avoid being “Eco Tourists.”  I’m not talking about avoiding visits to the rainforests, *smile* …I’m talking about the church equivalent of “checkbook mission.”  I’m talking about the Attention Deficit Disorder many churches suffer from. Those with ”cause de jour” -ism.  (I love metaphors).

How can you tell if your church is an “Eco Tourist” ??

Here are some signs. I’ll bet you can come up with more….

They are concerned with cutting the church’s energy bill but not with exploring alternative energy sources for their building -such as solar. (The tithing of dill and cummin problem)

They adjust thermostats but choke on the cost of correcting heating and cooling loss problems (such as better insulation around the ductwork).  (The Straining at Gnats problem)

They choose parishioner comfort and tradition over changing the habit of what we wear to church during heating/cooling periods. (The Sabbath made/not made for man problem)

They fail to use the church’s need for change, and subsequent changes, -as an educational tool and role model for members and the entire community. (the Light under a Bushel problem)

They don’t address energy and environmental policy issues beyond their church building.  (the kill the prophets problem)

They don’t address how their facility and property is affecting the environment. They recycle their Sunday Bulletins, for example, but ignore the run-off of oil and chemicals from the church parking lot and lawns, and don’t pay attention to where their trash and compostible debris ends up.  (the blind guides problem)

They don’t do a lot of ‘green’ things because it will cost money, yet they seem to have money for everything else. (the Rich Man on the road to Jericho problem)

I’ve listed a LOT of ideas in this “Green Jesus” thread to make positive changes. But perhaps the BIGGEST CHANGE we in the church could make is learning to SURROUND and STICK WITH initiatives past their short-attention lifespan. Serious change comes through holistic thinking, courageous action, and dogged perseverance.

Quick Examples:

We focus the search on good preaching, but don’t focus on the prospective pastor’s ability to lead.
We elect officers largely on their attendance and giving (ie, their apparent support) rather than closely looking at their talents and leadership qualities.

Pastors are often chosen based on their ability to deliver a sermon, how well they impress the search committee, and what their hand-picked “references” say about them.  I graduated from seminary and served as a minister in two churches, and I can say without reservation that the skill set required to deliver good sermons and visit the sick is not the same as required to lead people in  innovative ministry and spiritual transformation.

If I were on a pastoral search committee I would be interested in their sermon and people skills, but I would also ask several things to gain insight into what kind of pastor this person was, -what skills they have and are trying to improve on. Here are some examples of the kinds of questions I’d ask:

1. What are the problems facing the church today and give me examples of what you’ve done to address those problems. I’d want specifics. Success stories, and failure stories. Then I’d ask the candidate’s personal references specifically about these stories.

2. What books have you read and seminars have you attended on the issues of “transforming the church” and “equipping leaders.” If they hesitate too long, or can’t provide specific answers, they’re making it up. If they aren’t doing the reading I wouldn’t hire them. If they leave off their “continuing education history” on their resume, ask for it in writing. You want to know what skills they are working on, and what their commitment is to continuing education.

3. Name the magazines you subscribe to that are church-related, and non-church related.

BTW… If I were on the PERSONNEL committee, I would ask the pastor these same questions EVERY YEAR as part of the review process. I would also PRESCRIBE seminars and skill sets which the committee felt the pastor needed.

The problem with most “references” is obvious: they are hand-picked friends of the person you are interested in. And even I can find three people who will say nice things about me  ;-)  So here are a few interview tricks from the files of “Police Interrogation Tactics”: 

1.  Interview the reference more than once.
2.  Interview the reference AT LENGTH. People will loosen their tongue the more they talk.
3.  Ask them for dirt. They won’t give you the dirt the first time around, so ask them in a couple of different ways.
4. Ask them about their church -its strengths and weaknesses. Their answers may reflect the pastor’s strengths and weaknesses.

A few other questions I’d ask the pastor if I were on the search committee:

1. Name 3 mission trips/projects you’ve been personally involved with over the past two years.

2. What was your biggest program failure. 

3. How do you plan to reach out to visitors and new members.

4. What creative forms of worship have you personally been involved with over the past two years.

I would also ask to speak with 5 members of their church, and then ask those members about the prospective pastor’s “inspirational” skills. Are they a leader people want to follow? ]

___________________

We have the same problem choosing volunteer leaders.

And here I’m specifically talking about those leaders who are typically selected by a “nominating committee” to a church office,–Elders, deacons, chairpersons, etc.

The criteria by which they are chosen usually goes like this:

• Worship attendance
• Giving
• Niceness

The problem is that this nominating process usually overlooks skill sets, and you end up with half your leadership group ill-suited to the task. 

In one church I was in, this traditional criteria produced some difficult results…. The guy in charge of the Facility committee told me he had never done facility work in his life and wasn’t particularly handy either. But he was a good attender, giver and quite friendly. Just couldn’t get anything done. He wanted to be on the Worship Committee because he was in the choir, but they already had a leader there. The gal heading up the Personnel Committee was a middle-level manager. I really liked her. But not stepping on toes was her M.O.  The person heading up the Mission Committee was a secretary and very quiet person. All three of them were very nice caring people, but based on the results of their committees, each were in over their heads. (It would have helped if the pastor were actively involved in two of those committees, but he didn’t believe in attending full meetings, just 10 minutes or so of each as he circulated around on “meeting night.”)

The problem is usually worse in small congregations.
Small churches have a small pool of leaders to draw from. In a small church where I used to attend, they had an annual problem finding people to serve as elders and deacons. One year the nominating committee couldn’t fill the slots so they went into the annual meeting leaving an elder slot open to floor nominations. The person who got nominated (by their friend) was awful.  Another year their solution was to reduce the number of elder and deacon ”offices” they needed to fill each year.  Rotating members OUT of positions every three years didn’t help. They were trapped by a historical form of government. (The long-term solution is to grow the membership, but that’s another story)

There’s yet ANOTHER problem afflicting volunteer congregational leaders: most don’t like to step on toes. They stay quiet about their qualms. They don’t like to challenge the murky consensus.  When they don’t understand something, or don’t quite agree with it, they defer. 

They will question a bill at a restaurant, but stay quiet during the financial report.

They will launch a new business, but are risk averse when it comes to church initiatives.

What’s really ODD about that is that some of our volunteer leaders are VERY COMPETENT leaders in their daily lives. I’ve seen small business owners and CEOs sit on their thoughts and hands during meetings. They might tell you what they thought AFTER the meeting, but not always during it. They’re intimidated. And they tend to defer to the pastor.

Ideas for HACKING the “Volunteer Leadership Problem”

Chew on these…

1. Change “Where” you recruit from. Broaden your pool of volunteers and skillsets by looking at people who don’t fit the traditional defintion of “active member.” Some of the very best leaders I have worked with were DRAWN INTO LEADERSHIP and more active participation because they were recruited to help lead. It’s backwards, but it works!   I’ve seen marginal members renew their faith BECAUSE they were asked to lead. Yet the nominating process in many churches works exactly the opposite. Many members are excluded from consideration because they are considered marginal members.  Could it be that they are marginal members because they are not asked to help lead?

2. Look for inspirational people to become leaders. Some people “just got it.” And they have success largely because others “catch it” from them. Most can succeed at tasks outside their skillset because they are good at motivating others to help them.

3. Shake up the Make-up of your leadership groups. In particular, do NOT assemble a committee to “be the workforce.” Rather, seek out those whose skills and eccentricities are suited to the THINKING and LEADING you require. Worker bees are easier to find, but often can’t see the forest for the trees (or flowers for the pistil).

Take Worship for example. Many worship committees are made up of a representative from the choir, an usher, the old guy who does the tape ministry, the lady who organizes the communion schedule, the choir director and the pastor.  Where are the creative people understand the “visual language” of a sanctuary?  But where are the theater/drama-oriented volunteers? Where are those who want to expand beyond what the choir director and choir representative’s vision of “church music” ?  

Form follows function. If you want your committee to function as a source of creative ideas and dynamic change, don’t form it with worker bees.

Or consider the Mission Committee…  They are likely made up of people who have a heart for mission, but have no head for promotion and sales. They don’t understand why SO FEW in the congregation are willing to do more than just write a check.  A very effective volunteer leader once told me that, “the church is in sales, but it is run by bookworms and clerks.”  

Another example….  Many Personnel Committees are formed by the Pastor. The chair is even selected by the pastor. So guess what, -they function as a group of friends to the pastors, where in many cases, they need to be challenging the pastor. This is one place where the church should have CEO-types, and skilled human resource people serving on the committee independent of their level of activity in the church.

4. Hack Your Meeting Agendas to allow “leaders to lead” rather than report.

I believe most of our volunteer leaders start with good intentions and then get beat down by poorly led meetings and mind-numbing agendas and reports. The church simply doesn’t have time or talent to waste on such poor use of leaders’ time.  There are books on the subject. Here are a few pointers:

a. Don’t waste valuable face-to-face time on what people can read. Put the mundane in writing and send it out ahead of time.

b. Place the church’s initiatives and larger issues at the forefront of your agenda, not relegated to “new business” at the end of the meeting when everyone is tired.

c. Carve out a spot in every agenda for study and discussion of long range goals and planning. Do this at every level of church management, from the Council, to the committees, to staff meetings.

d. Appoint a small group of qualified people to handle the church’s financial matters at a time and place of their own choosing, rather than subjecting the entire leadership team to mind-numbing minutae. Appoint a watchdog leader to work with the group -who’s job it is to report back to and interpret the finance group’s work and requests. In the old days, we called these “the trustees.” Problem was, we gave them power of the purse strings. I’m not giving it to them again..

5. PRIVATELY and regularly poll leaders and members as to their attitudes about certain issues. “Open meetings” do not always produce “open discussion.”  Many people will not say how they really feel in the presence of staff, or in large groups.  Preachers and leaders need to have ways to listen.

These last four suggestions recognize the need to “Raise Up Leaders in the Way They Should Go.”  We need to have regular program of leadership training. Yet in most churches, this need goes completely ignored.

6. Invite outside facilitators to train leaders and help them discuss church issues.

7. Bring in outside leaders to inspire your own. Invite managers and innovative thinkers from your community to address and inspire your leaders. Invite leaders from other congregations to come share what and HOW they are moving their church forward.

8. Begin a “reading program” for your church staff and key volunteers. Identify several books which they should read and discuss together. Do the same with a wider group of volunteers as time permits. People will do better with a “full tank.”

10. Make “continuing ed” part of every meeting. In many churches, meetings begin with devotions and then move right into business. What I’m suggesting is that the “first order of business is adult education.” Bring in articles related to issues your group is dealing with. If you’re a mission committee, share articles and reports from the mission field and from the newspapers. Most newspapers carry articles about food pantries and local poverty issues. Share them, to learn what others are doing, to gain new insights, and to stay connected. But also consider articles from divergent sources, such as Forbes and Parenting magazine. They hold insights into how to deal with today’s members. Let insights from other fields INFORM your work.

Recommended Books:

“Good to Great” Pastors… and an interview with the author about the church leadership problem which echoes sentiments similar to those found in this blog post, including ‘about’ volunteer leaders.  http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2006/002/7.48.html

Christian Chaos: Revolutionizing Congregational Organization by Tom Bandy

Read any title from Easum Bandy Associates…. reknown church change consultants. www.easumbandy.com

7 Habits of High Effective People by Steven Covey. A bestseller. Take its 7 pts and discuss how a congregation and its leaders could employ each “habit.”

 Change Your Church For Good: Tipping Over the Sacred Cows, by Brad Powell

How to Change Your Church (without killing it) by Jim Mellado, Gene Appel, and Alan Nelson

Recommended Magazines for Staff:

Net Results -the magazine from Easum and Bandy.  www.easumbandy.com

Leadership Magazine -the practical journal for church leaders. http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/

If you have resources you’d like to recommend, please post them in a “comment” to this blog.

<>< Neil

Volunteers are a church program’s lifeblood and biggest challenge. I’ve seen it from all sides, -as a minister on staff, a program leader & recruiter, and as a volunteer in the pew, -in big churches, middle-sized and small.  I’ve also experienced it vicariously through the thousands of churches I’ve been in contact with over the years who are using my software or doing the rotation model in their Sunday schools. In fact, after tech support, it’s one of the TOP things people mention in their conversations with me.

Here are some observations and advice….

1.  It isn’t just you or your church. Every church faces the challenge of getting and keeping volunteers. This is also comforting, because many of those churches have found the keys to success. No matter your situation -somebody has been there before.

2. It MAY be you!  There are many gifts… and one of yours may not be recruiting. And there are many churches, but some of them have dug a DEEP HOLE with regard to volunteer recruitment and management. And the deeper the hole, the longer it usually takes to fill in. This may be the toughest thing to take, especially if you’re the “cause” of some of the “ebbing.” But the sooner you get over it and get around it, -the better off your ministry will be. The best managers surround themselves with people who are good at things the leader can’t or doesn’t want to do.

3. There is a time and a season for every purpose…
Don’t panic (yet). -Some churches are in a volunteer lull. This can happen when a pastor or key leader leaves, or when people have been burnt out by some recent big push. Or it can happen because a program or the leaders have run out of steam. Like everything else in the church, recruiting success ebbs and flows.

4. Some churches’ “carrying capacity” is much less than their “caring capacity.” One of the reasons volunteers can get hard to find is that the church is trying to do too much. In my experience, the smaller your congregation, the worse the disparity between what you want to do, and what you can do. Time for some reality and prioritizing.

5. And just maybe….recruiting should be hard for some positions. Take “teaching children” for example. Why SHOULD it be easy to find the right people for something important?

Now for some harsh truth about “the reason for your season”…

• You need to discover whether you’re in a LULL, or RUT.  A dip, or a deep hole. (and why)
• You need to confess whether your past practices have created the current conditions.
• You need to confess whether or not your personality and reputation is part of the problem or solution. Enthusiastic recruiters can only correct the situation for so long. If you don’t break the bad habits, practices and perceptions about your program, committee (or about you), then recruiting gets harder. Not all CE staff/leaders are good at recruiting (any more than good preachers are also good pastors, or good CEOs are good at hiring people). Find someone who will tell you the truth. Then find  someone who is GOOD AT the things you are not and ask them to help.

Here are some ways to change things:

1. Change who does the recruiting. Involve other people who know different people and can tap their friends in the congregation. In some programs, the same-old recruiter keeps getting the same-old results.

2. Invite families to teach together:  Fathers and sons, Mothers and their mother. This gives them the added bonus of doing something together.

3. Avoid general appeals. They usually don’t work, and their sound of desperation makes people wonder if “something’s wrong.” Instead, have volunteers tell their story, and recruit in a personal way behind the scenes.

4. Don’t limit yourself to a limited recruiting window. Some people are not ready to volunteer right when you ask them. I see this particularly in August and September when parents are being assailed from the schools and other church committees, soccer practices, and things to do around the house to get ready for the Winter (up north).  Yet most church PERSIST in the fantasy of “Fall Kickoff” and recruitment.

5. Train teens to help. In many cases, you’ll also be able to get their parent to help the teen when the time comes to teach.

6. Involve the pastor in teaching. This sends a signal to other adults, and it helps the pastor feel connected and aware. They are more likely to talk about something they are INVOLVED in. And they become part of your recruiting team.

7. Churches and programs “with issues” often have a difficult time getting volunteers. I frequently hear from leaders and teachers in churches where turmoil is affecting recruiting. People naturally sit on their hands during these times. What often needs to happen is for a couple of truly passionate volunteers to take hold of the program during these difficult times, and commit themselves to seeing it through for the kids. Often, they make  personal appeals for help to their friends in the congregation. Most people will respond to their friends’ pleas, if they know the reality of the situation.

When recruiting for the computer lab…. invite newbies to come teach with you. Don’t throw them unprepared into the Lion’s Den.  The Mentor-Apprentice model for teaching training is the best ever invented. SHOW THEM.

The Year of Jubilee…

Sometimes the best thing to help a program get out of it rut is to take a hiatus from “the way you’ve always done it.” That’s the concept behind “the Year of Jubilee” …to “set the prisoners free” and “forgive debts” as the Old Testament describes it. See my blog post about that here: http://sundayresources.net/neil/2008/04/20/the-jubilee-solution-to-your-churchs-rut/

The Care and Keeping of Volunteers…

A lot has been written on this subject. Here’s my emphasis…

The quickest way to make recruiting hard is to not support the volunteers you already have. 

Word travels. People remember.

Many volunteer teachers who contact me for help say they feel “thrown to the wolves” with regard to materials, schedules, and equipment.  I’ve experienced it too as a volunteer. Sometimes you just feel like you’re out there on your own. And it doesn’t want to make you say ‘yes’ the next time. It wears on you.

The annual “thank you note” and recognition Sunday is not what’s needed. Recruiting and managing people requires an understanding of what motivates them…what their needs are.

Most volunteers ‘volunteer’ because:

1. They are personally asked.

2. They feel needed.

3. They are looking for a way to bolster and work out their faith.

4. They feel like it is “their turn.”

5. They are looking for fellowship.

6. They like to do what you’re asking them to do, or are at least intrigued by it.

7. And last but not least, …because they are regularly appreciated in person by YOU and others.

Seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it!  But in many churches, the volunteers get treated like worker bee’s. They get told what to do, or periodically neglected. Their leaders deal with them in a workman like manner, rather than tending to them as persons. Staff interact with them for a few minutes on Sunday morning and through emails. In a former church where I volunteered, the only interaction outside the program with other teachers was during the ‘training’ session they held twice in the 10 years I was there. Some teachers enjoy being in a group of like minded fellow adults. Others need a more personal touch. All need some sort of regular care. Yet ‘care’ is an after-thought in some churches. (There are so many easy solutions… one of the best being an annual barbecue at the pastor’s home. It’s more than fellowship: people want to be acknowledged by the Big Kahuna.)

Few of your volunteers actually have “free time” to give you (who has “free” time!?!). Yet that’s the excuse they give you if their other needs are not met, or if the program or leader has a smell about them.

How the rotation model tries to address volunteer issues….

The rotation model (www.rotation.org) is one HUGE response to the volunteer issue that works for many churches. The Rotation Model creates a reasonable schedule for volunteers to come in and out of all year long. It also lets them teach with methods they prefer, not the ones they don’t like. It allows them to repeat their lessons, thus cutting down VASTLY on their preparation time. And it brings them HAPPY students, …not students bored out of their skulls. However, it can’t overcome crappy leaders, poor implementation, and churches with serious “other” problems.

The “T” Word:   Training is dreaded by volunteers and often handled poorly by leaders. Yes, you probably need a “training event” for some fellowship, overview, and Q & A. But the Mentor-Apprentice method of teacher training is still the best one ever invented. “Come teach with me” is the best training you can offer, and it offers the adult-to-adult interaction which many volunteers seek. To be more blunt: If your program leader(s) is NOT in the classroom teaching with the teachers, they are not real leaders or trainers.  And program leaders/pastors must see this as a GREAT opportunity to “mentor the mentors.” More work? Yes. But better results all around.

There are some decent books about church volunteers. Some even worth reading.

I hope this blog post has been worth reading, and has given you some good ideas and food for thought.

<>< Neil

Accounting procedures and practices in many churches are SO loose as to be NEGLIGENT.

And the negligence is about MORE than just money or procedures. It’s about confidence and trust. As someone to whom churches have owed money, and as a giving member who has been asked to “give more,” it is distressing to know how some church handle their finances. And it has made me question the OTHER decisions they make.  Quite literally, HOW you “store up your treasure,” -how you manage it, will tell me where your heart is also. And to turn another biblical phrase, the mis-management of money is likely springing from the same root that other problems are already or will in the future spring from.

One glaring case in point…
At the church where I spent the last 10 years as a volunteer pastor in the pew, they had occasional bill-paying and cashflow problems, and didn’t seem to have enough money for certain important budgets -even though their giving grew nicely every year, even 10 to 20% in some years. A succession of treasurers and bookkeepers didn’t help.  Then last summer they started a $1.5 million dollar building campaign. Yet at the same time, some of us were aware of yet another bill-paying & income problem being swept under the rug. No so coincidentally, they had other financial and programmatic deficiencies in that church, and many of those problems eventually led to our loss of confidence in the pastor and leaders. And we weren’t the first  to leave because of them.

As givers we are told to give on faith. But we are also taught to invest wisely, …which leads me to this first point below…

Part of the problem is theological:
Pastors and leaders love to tell us to “give in accordance with what we have been given.” Or to “give sacrificially, as did the widow.” But they rarely quote the Parable of the Talents during the annual appeal, –the one where the servant who mishandled his master’s money was cast out.

We are told to “give on faith” –which is exactly what giving is like when the church has accounting problems. …The evidence of “things unseen” being an apt description of many church financial practices!  But is it “good stewardship” when the giver doesn’t hold the receiver accountable? No.

Part of the problem is knowledge:
Many church leaders, pastors included, do not know how to read a financial statement. They do not know the right questions to ask, and have little or no accounting background. Most members assume there is a “brain trust” somewhere faithfully looking over the numbers and paying the bills. Whereas the reality in many churches is that there is ONE MAN paying the bills from his house. Or one part-time, low-paid bookeeper doing what they are told, and being overseen by a pastor who has no bookkeeping experience. Or a committee made up of a well-meaning, but inexperienced and rotating cast of volunteers.

Part of the problem is perception:
Some pastors do not believe church finances are part of their job description.  Yet, nobody needs to understand the congregation’s finances more! Many members ASSUME the pastor is able to provide financial leadership to the congregation, and they look to them for help and cues. If they only knew.

Part of the problem is rooted in poor budgeting practices:
Many churches spend more than 75% of their budget on “fixed” costs, such as staff salaries, benefits, and utilities. In one case with which I’m extremely familiar with, the percentage was over 85%. This leaves precious little room for seasonal cash flow issues, and special purchases and repairs. Add to that a few accounting mistakes and a church (like the one where I formerly attended) can get in trouble quick. It’s the equivalent of being “house rich, cash poor” …and it forces many churches to juggle the payment of bills over many months.  (What gets cut? Program and Mission. What’s their solution? “Give more!”  Sound familiar? If we only had a little bit more money…) 

Part of the problem is people:
In many churches I’ve had dealings with, paying the bills and managing the accounts is the job of one volunteer who has done it for so long in their own peculiar way that they feel above reproach. They will have two people count the offering plate cash, but only one person balance the books.  Even with churches that have professional bookkeepers, they may be good at recordkeeping, but have little investment in or understanding of the overall picture. And they have a vested interest in not admitting mistakes.

I’ve seen this happen with groups of people too…  church council members afraid to ask questions, or raise an alarm -for fear of exposing their lack of understanding. And/or, financial issues kept quiet for fear of affecting giving. In one personal example, I heard several stories in my former church about financial inquiries during meetings being brushed aside. Pride goeth before the fall.

Aside: the problem is not particular to small churches. Many mid and large churches with paid bookkeepers have screwed up invoices with me, double paid, never paid, and otherwise wasted my time and theirs.

Part of the problem is low expectations:

Quite simply, many members just don’t expect much in the way of “professionalism” out of the church. “Quaintness” and “antiquatedness,” ”good ol’ boy” practices and a myriad of excuses (”well, we’re small”)  serve the low expectations of some members, and they become accepted practices. Again, we preach “giving” but need to preach “receiving” as well.

Some Solutions to start with:

1.  Grow the membership and giving, but do NOT commensurately grow the staff.  In business this is called “reducing overhead.”

2. Grow cash reserves.  Savings are an investment in the future which the master will be pleased to find upon his return!

3. Have an outside financial expert review all your accounting procedures.

4. List unpaid bills over 30 days on every report to the church leaders. It’s easy to do with today’s accounting software.

5. Simplify financial statements, and mail them out before the meeting. Better yet, make them available to all members… this will ensure you make them understandable -as a way to avoid their constant inquiries!

6. Appoint a church leader with financial experience to be the watchdog, not the Treasurer.

7. Insist that the pastor get financial training. Ask for it from your local denominational group.

8. Initiate an all church review of each budget. Even in small churches and small budgets, budgeting is a mysterious process that’s often full of guesses. I know from working with CE budgets over the years, that the process of creating one is full of wishes, not facts. Committees often start with what they “asked for” last year, not what they actually spent, and councils rarely scrutinize expenses. Bluntly put: in many churches large and small we have an adversarial budget process run by financial amateurs.

The review also needs to include staffing which is the largest fixed cost in all churches.  Staff salaries are often based on what we paid last year, not how well the tasks were performed. And rather than ask for more efficient staff work, churches are more likely to add hours to a position, or new positions, based on the staff’s assessment. And while church staff might be really good at what they do, few have ever been trained in time-management or staff management.  In the corporate world,  staff management, job review, and re-training are not considered “extras” -they are considered essential to the health of the organization.

More observations from my business dealing with churches…

As a businessperson doing business with churches, you might be surprised HOW OFTEN church credit cards are over their limit. The ‘watchdog’ should have access to the online account and be watching it.

You would be surprised how many churches large and small do not pay their bills on time, over even within 90 days. This would be cured to a large extent if the Leadership coucils were aware of which bills were unpaid, and that their church was a deadbeat.

Nary a month goes by where I don’t have to return several checks because churches pay the same bill twice. A review of how YOUR bookkeeper actually works, their “Standard Operating Procedures” …and their checks and balances, is in order.

One of the most time-consuming things for us has been to RESEND lost paperwork,  …paperwork that gets lost as it travels from volunteer -to committee -to treasurer for approval and signatures. Inefficiency creates mistakes, wastes time, and wears people out.

And I deal with church staff who are often EMBARRASSED when I contact them about an unpaid bill, yet they have been told by the Treasurer that it has been paid, only to discover that the Treasurer didn’t mail the check until the next month. I know of a church secretary who left her job, in part, because her social security number was on the church card, and when the church didn’t pay the bill, it went on HER credit report.

And because we take creditcard payments, I’m often contacted by churches which no longer have one because ”a staff member abused the card.”

 Church Accounting DEFINITELY needs to be “hacked.”

Go to www.faxzero.com and follow the prompts.

(You can also use internet based fax services to send and receive faxes over the internet, –allowing you to dump your fax machine, stop wasting paper, fax from any computer anytime, and never run out of fax toner/ribbon again. Just Google “internet fax services.” They’re reasonably priced.)

Why am I suggesting this service? Because sometimes I need to use it myself!

Sometimes you’re away from your fax machine.
Or… you don’t own a fax machine.
Or… your fax machine is broken.
Or… you forgot the little phonecord that plugs your computer’s modem into a phoneline that would allow you to send a fax (in this day of wireless and broadband who carries a phonecord anymore?)

[Yes, your computer has fax software in it -look in your Windows/Programs/Accessories area. But unless you have an old fashioned phonecord connecting your computer to the phoneline, you cannot send to a fax to a phone number over the phoneline using that software!]

Fortunately, there are numerous internet sites that allow you to send faxes through their website interface. They even allow you to ATTACH DOCUMENTS.  FaxZero.com offers what I need. They take your contact info and document and fax it for you. It’s all done through their magic servers.

www.faxzero.com asks you for your contact info, and for the info/fax number of the recipient. You can attach up to 3 files to the fax as well. And you can send up to TWO free faxes a day.  When they receive your fax, they email you asking you for confirmation. Click ‘confirm’ in that email and they send the fax. They even send you a confirmation that the fax process has been completed.

How can they offer this for free? They place an ad on the fax you send (big deal), and probably collect the fax number you’re sending to and sell it to fax spammers (another no-big-deal since every fax number is already part of the public record and gets junkfaxes sent to it already, bahhumbug).  So I only use it to send faxes to businesses, not friends!  (For example, I needed to fax a document to Verizon Wireless. )

“OK SMARTYPANTS… but what if I need to fax a copy of a document…. say, a copy of my insurance card?”

Easy…. I take PHOTOS of the documents with my camera or phone. Then I either email the picture to myself on my laptop, or connect my camera or phone cable to my laptop, then select “attach” on the fax menu at faxzero.com and browse over to my camera/phone files and select the picture of the document. This may seem strange to you, but did you know that ALL faxes are graphic images? They aren’t text at all. They are TIFF files (an old image format). The faxzero service is converting your cover letter and any images you attach to TIFF file formats anyway, –just like your machine would do, if you were using it.

BTW…photographing your license, insurance card, creditcards and other valuable documents is a VERY GOOD IDEA.

<>< Neil

This post shows you how EASY it is set up video chat. I use it to stay in touch with my college kids away at school. I use it to talk with an employee of mine who lives out of state. If you’re on church staff, you could be using Video Chat to enhance your meetings, stay in touch with your college students, and begin experimenting with live worship on the web, or live youth group for those who are unable to attend but want to.   See the end of this post for more ideas about how to use video chat to enhance your ministry.

One of the MOST LIKELY groups to do video chat with is your college students away at school. When your kids left for college, odds are they left with shiny new laptop that has a BUILT-IN webcam, ie, “video camera” and comes pre-installed with webcam software. And if they’re like most high school and college kids, they also have AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) or Yahoo! Messenger accounts which have the built in capability of transmitting live video from one user to another FOR FREE.  And…when you’re logged on to these services, they even ‘alert’ you that your ‘buddies’ are logged on to the net so you can hail them for a video chat.

I mean, IT’S ALL RIGHT THERE FOR THE PICKING, -for the smart youth group leader, christian educator, parent, grandparent, or pastor who wants to stay in touch.

I know it SEEMS like rocket science. But it’s not. Actually, it’s kid’s play to set up. You’ll look like a genius.

Here’s the screen pic showing me talking to my daughter away at Muskingum College.

Here’s how to do it…

First…. each user needs an inexpensive webcam. My two oldest daughters each have laptops with built-in webcams. My old laptop didn’t, so I went out and bought a Logitech webcam ($40), installed the software (1 minute) and plugged the thing in to my laptop’s USB port. A beautiful live video of myself showed up 3 seconds later (I really need better lighting). The camera’s come with a built in microphone. My daughter’s laptops have the built-in cameras and also have a built-in mikes. (I suppose we could use headsets if we wanted to be really cool.)

Now all we needed to do was sign up for a free service that allows video “chat” or video “calls” –whatever you want to call it. And here you go: ALL the major “instant messenger” services offer it (AIM, Yahoo, MSN).  If you already have one of these services, check into it. You might need to install TWO so that you can talk to your ‘kids’ on their service of choice.

MSN Live is highly rated for video, so I went to www.messenger.live.com and downloaded their free software. I had my daughters do the same, and now we can SEE & TALK to each other over the computer.  (Registration Notes: You create a screenname which looks like an email address and can be used as an email address, or not. And the first time you register, it can take up to 10 minutes after you register for the MSN server to know you’re there, and let others know you’re online to be connected to, -so be patient).

Seems like it should be scarier to set up, or hard, or expensive, –but it’s not. It’s plug and kid’s play. And the video quality is pretty good!

And here’s the best part: my computer tells me when they’re online. That’s how instant messaging programs work… when you’re signed on to their service (which usually happens when your computer boots up), and your “buddies” are also signed on, each of you gets a pop-up message saying “Hey, your buddy just signed on” …and then you’re literally one-click away from saying “hi” to them.  [Of course, you have to know your buddie’s screenname and put it in your buddy list. If this all still seems like rocket science, ask a 14 year old to help you. But I guarantee you, it’s easy.]

People who have accounts on MSNLive and Yahoo can talk to each other. You have to have an AIM account to talk to someone on AIM. And you can only talk to one person at a time on any of these free services.

Other ideas for Video Chat in the church…

-Broadcast your Church worship service to someone who’s homebound. All they need is a computer with an internet connection.  that computer can have a webcam, but it doesn’t need one. Just needs the webcam software and instant messaging software installed.

-Be part of an important meeting when you’re out of town. Have someone bring in their laptop and connect you to the meeting.

-Bring your laptop to a meeting and connect to a missionary or consultant.

-Set up a videochat with your group of kids next Sunday to talk to another group of kids in another church across the country.

-Have your Mission Team send back a video-tour of their work to a laptop in your church that’s hooked up to an LCD projector for all to see.

http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/    A blog with some funny stuff, insight, and technical helps.

www.churchmarketingsucks.com/archives/web_sites/ This site is awesome, and it has edgy truth about Church websites too.

www.sundaysoftware.com/webpage.htm  “Building a Better Church Website”  …my main article on the subject. Read it.

http://www.greatchurchwebsites.org/tw_tips.php  70 Tips for Church Websites.

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