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"Church BoardTalk"

Church BoardTalk, produced by Dr. Larry Perkins, discusses issues and practices encouraging good church board operations.

Archive for the 'BoardTalk' Category

Church Board Talk: The Significance of Attitude

Published by Dr. Larry Perkins on Friday, February 15, 2008 in Board, BoardTalk, Church, Leadership and Ministry. 0 Comments

When you are seeking additional people to serve as part of the church board, what aspect should receive most attention – skill, experience, character or attitude? Certainly Paul warns us not to ask a novice in the faith or someone who has not had experience in leading a family to fill this role. So experience is important. As well, Paul emphasizes specific elements of character that should be considered – gentleness, self-control, not a drunkard. Some skills are helpful, because Paul notes that the ability to teach is important for someone in such a leadership role.

But when all is said and done, probably attitude should hold first place. But having said that, we have to define what kind of attitude. I think the closest we come to defining the right attitude occurs in Philippians 2:1-5. Using Jesus as his example, Paul describes that kind of mindset or attitude that believers must exercise one to another. In this context he talks about love, humility and mutual submission (v. 4) and then illustrates this through the actions of the Messiah Jesus. Words like servant, humble, obedient define the attitude of Jesus in response to God’s will. Presumably, what is required for every believer must be exemplified in Christian leaders.

I think we find a similar clustering of attitudes in 1 Peter 5:1-5 – serving not lording, being examples, willingly involved. Then he says that every believer “must clothe himself in humility towards one another.”

What are the primary attitudes that will identify a believer whom the congregation can entrust with their spiritual leadership? Foundational is sacrificial love – for God and for others. Is this demonstrated consistently in the family, in the faith community, in dealings with non-believers? Humbleness comes a close second, i.e. discerning God’s view of him as a person, his giftedness, and his place in God’s program, and embracing this with joy, perseverance, and contentment. Thirdly, submission forms an essential ingredient – the ability to voluntarily rank oneself appropriately under God and in relationship to all others. For every person this will mean accountability to someone and leadership over another. Whatever the appropriate role, to accept it willingly and carry it forward in a loving, caring, serving manner will be the primary attitude to discern.

When the nominating committee starts its annual work, perhaps there should be some discussion about the desired attitude towards God and people that potential nominees must have, would be good. Often a person’s skills or experience will bring them to the attention of the nominating committee. But before concluding that such a person is suitable, consider their willingness to serve, their humbleness, their submission. Are these attitudes evident and the norm for them? Care taken on such matters will be time well spent for the good of the congregation.

Church Board Talk: Productive Behaviour

Published by Dr. Larry Perkins on Tuesday, January 8, 2008 in Board, BoardTalk and Church. 0 Comments

Behaviour will often make the difference between just being a church board member and being a productive church board member. People may know the rules about playing volleyball and participate in the game, but without passion, concentration, commitment and desire to work collaboratively, they will rarely excel and be productive with the team. Similarly a church board member may know the board rules, attend the meetings, and contribute occasionally, but this does not translate into productivity. To be a positive and constructive influence in the development of a local church requires each church board member to understand and adopt intentionally the behaviour that marks a productive church board member. Let’s consider three behaviours that will help any person become a productive church board member.

1. Enthusiastic and engaged: church board members serve primarily as volunteers. Time given to church board activities becomes part of their stewardship, a gift given generously. Many other responsibilities crowd the time available and often church board members face significant challenges to remain enthusiastic and engaged. Making time to read material before a board meeting, keep in touch with church life, educate oneself about board work requires commitment, an energetic giving of self. Being prepared for each church board meeting takes time and effort, but the results will be productive because good questions are asked, consensus is achieved, and the mission of the local church is advanced. Joy flows in the midst of such worshipful work. The church board chair and lead pastor together bear responsibility to encourage each church board member to remain enthusiastic and engaged in the church board’s work.

2. Generating goodwill: church board members are key promoters of the church’s mission and vision. They have many opportunities to speak discretely about the significance of the church’s work and build a positive ethos within the church body. A dispirited, cranky church board member can be a serious hindrance when he or she discloses concerns to the body in general, rather than seeking effective resolution within the church board context. Church board members function as primary advocates for the mission and vision of the church. When  a church board member is asked about a sensitive issue, she or he can respond by saying "the Board is handling this and it will soon be resolved," without revealing confidential information. Church board business must be dealt with within the context of the church board meeting and the behaviour of church board members in supporting this principle is very important.

3. Committed to building consensus: each church board member contributes a unique set of gifts, experience, professional competence, and spiritual wisdom. The chair has the significant responsibility to ensure that each member is contributing to discussions through questions, stating opinions, and careful listening. But at the end of the day, some decision will be required. Productive church board members participate with a view to achieving consensus. As discussion proceeds they are praying for the Spirit’s wisdom, they are considering creative solutions to challenges expressed, they are evaluating the proposal carefully in the light of the church’s mission, values and vision, and they are checking for potential conflicts of interest within their own context. Consensus is not compromise; it is achieving a decision that clearly is in the best interests of the church and the Gospel it represents.

Productive church board members know how to behave so that their participation enables the church board to conduct its work effectively, efficiently, and worshipfully.

Church BoardTalk: The Challenge of Sustainability

Published by Dr. Larry Perkins on Friday, November 16, 2007 in BoardTalk and Leadership. 0 Comments

At our recent "Best Practices for Church Boards Workshop" held in Langley, one of the groups attending had also participated in the first workshop we presented two and half years ago. What was remarkable to note was that none of the members of that church board were the same. Over that short period of time the whole board had changed.

I began to wonder what the average term of a church board member is? If there is a constant change in the composition of a church board, how can the congregation sustain its mission, vision and ministry? It is not just pastoral leadership change that can be debilitating for a local church, but significant and ongoing board changes can be equally detrimental.

Sometimes a significant turnover of church board members occurs because there is a church crisis. The entire board thinks it best to resign and allow a new leadership team to regain the trust of the congregation. However, such events thankfully are infrequent. More frequently the composition of a church board changes gradually but consistently from year to year. But this means that over a two to four year period half of the board members will be new. Such a rate of change requires the board leadership to pay particular attention to several factors.

First, careful orientation of new church board members to the work of a church board generally, and to the issues that a particular church is considering, becomes more critical. If it takes six to twelve months for a new church board member to learn how function well in and contribute substantially to the church board’s leadership, then reducing this time lag and enabling a person fully to participate more quickly is well worth the effort.

Second, discerning potential, new church board members becomes a significant part of the leaderships’ responsibility. Encouraging a person to accept the ministry of church board membership requires investing time, helping the individual to understand their giftedness, dealing with questions, communicating clearly the responsibilities, and engaging in prayerful discernment.

Third, planning and leading church board meetings that accomplish significant ministry, engage the mind and heart of the members, and effectively blend worship and work, requires dedicated attention to details. When church board members see the contribution their collaborative work is making to the health and advancement of the church, then they are motivated and eager to continue.

Fourth, balancing the workload among the various church board members becomes an important factor, because each feels that they are contributing to the work of the church board. If a person knows that their skills, knowledge, and/or competence is helping the church board make good decisions and establish effective policy, then motivation is increased.

Other factors could be elaborated. The message, however, is simple. We have to work hard at sustaining a church board and its ministry. If this work is done well, then many other aspects of church life will operate smoothly and happily, as God’s Spirit blesses and leads.

 

Church Board Talk: Relationships are Everything

Published by Dr. Larry Perkins on Wednesday, November 7, 2007 in BoardTalk and Leadership. 0 Comments

Dr. Lyle Schrag, director of our Northwest Centre for Leadership Development, led our sixth Best Practices for Church Boards workshop this past weekend. Seven churches participated. As I gave one of the presentations and facilitated a conversation among one of the church boards, the centrality of relationships to good Church Board operations became absolutely clear. In the world of Church Boards relationships are everything.

Almost every question asked centred on some aspect of relationship — board to pastor, board member to board member, board member to ministry staff. Every practice presented served to enable good relationships to flourish. Good policies nurture good relationships and provide pathways to use when they need to be repaired. When relationships break down, church boards become dysfunctional and board members lose the joy that their service normally generates.

Building and sustaining good relationships within a church board is a primary responsibility of the chair and should also be a significant concern for the lead pastor. Because church boards function within the body of Christ, the essential principles of Christian relations should be modelled by the members of a church board. They include being truthful, exercising courtesy, working together with humility, listening carefully, forgiving freely, and being patient. The Holy Spirit can demonstrate His active presence in the church body by His work among the board members.The standard set by the church board will be a powerful testimony and example for the rest of the congregation. But if the church board fails here, it sends a strong signal to the rest of the church that Christ’s vision for Kingdom community is unattainable. If those we entrust with our spiritual care cannot make it work, then how can others in the church community be expected to succeed?

Church board chairs can take some simple initiatives to foster good relationships within a board. First, plan with the board two or three events each year where the members and spouses get together just to build relationships. When board members build deep relationships, they are able to weather difficult passages more confidently and with greater trust.  Secondly, be commending publicly about the contribution that the board members are making. The people in the church probably have little awareness of the commitment it takes for board members to serve well. Keep the church board in the prayers of the church. Publicly be thanking them for their contributions. Finally, inject some humour into the meetings — wholesome, friendly humour. It is possible actually to enjoy church board meetings and also make them occasions for celebration, worship, prayer, and serious Bible study.

I can well imagine that when the Philippian church leadership team met,  they shared freely about God’s work among them, rejoiced in His gracious provision, prayed for Paul in prison, and cared for one another deeply.  The hostility  within their environment  required them to build and sustain close relationships. Yet Paul reminds us that even the Christians in Philppi had to work hard to sustain this, striving to "stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel" (Phil. 1:27). Relationships are key to developing a great church board.

Boardtalk: The Spiritual Ministry of the Chairperson

Published by Dr. Larry Perkins on Friday, August 10, 2007 in Board, BoardTalk and Church. 0 Comments

Referee? Dictator? Coordinator? Coach? Parent? The role of the chairperson in a church board gets stereotyped in many unfortunate and misleading ways. Perceptions of this role will significantly affect how people act when appointed and how individuals respond to a person in this role. As Jesus framed it, every role in his kingdom is a serving role — accepted and carried out for the good of others. Within this frame of reference, then, the role of the chairperson within a church board is fundamentally to serve the members of that board so that they can fulfill well their God-given responsibilities. A person accepts such a role as an expression of his or her calling by God as a believer and will rely upon the empowerment of God’s Spirit to do it with excellence. It is a spiritual ministry first and foremost.

A chairperson has many responsibilities, but many of these fit within several broad categories:

     1. Showing by example that church board work occurs in sacred space.     A church board’s primary goal is to ensure that the mission and vision of the church are carried forward in full conformity with its values. The board in this sense is critical to the health of the faith community and all its work then has to be considered as spiritual work. The chairperson is the key person who works alongside of the lead pastor to keep this spiritual focus always before the board. His or her own example will be a critical means by which to emphasize this spritual centredness. The structure of the meetings has particular importance in this regard, creating space for times for prayer and worship, reflection upon God’s word, sharing how God’s Spirit is shaping people’s thoughts, and celebrating how God is at work.

     2. Organizing the work of the board.     Often people think the chairperson’s role is totally administrative — maintaining the operations of the board. While this is important, it does not tell the whole story. It is the chairperson that keeps looking a year or two ahead and asking the question:  what does the board need to be considering today in order for the church to be healthy tomorrow? It is this filter that guides the chair in developing the annual agenda and the agenda for a specific meeting. Here is where the relationship between the chairperson and the lead pastor assumes critical importance. Both must be on the same page in these matters. As well, the chairperson has to ensure that the board is receiving the information it requires to make good decisions.

     3.  Mentoring the board — collectively and individually.    The chairperson cannot assume that the board knows what its work is. The education of the board — collectively and individually — is becoming more significant as the responsibilities the board carries increase in our culture. The chairperson plays a key role in guiding the board in its development. This requires the chair to engage in self-education about the chair’s role, the board’s role, developments in the church, etc. Here again dialogue with the lead pastor will be critical. Sometimes this will require the chairperson to work specifically with one board member who is struggling and needing particular assistance. Knowing how to provide this coaching will be important for nurturing good relations within the board.

     4.  Evaluating the board’s work.    How does the board know when it has accomplished its work well? The chairperson leads the board in continual evaluation of its work. If a board member does not seem to be contributing as well as might be expected, the chair is responsible to come alongside and seek to assist. It is the chairperson who ensures that all board members have opportunity to contribute and in fact are taking advantage of these opportunities regularly. Every few months the chair should be asking the board whether their work is advancing the mission of the church and contributing to its health. Because the work of the board is so critical to the spiritual health of the congregation, such evaluation is essential.

     5.  Ensuring collaboration with the Lead Pastor.     The relationship between the lead pastor and chairperson constitutes perhaps the most important linkage in the congregation. If this relationship is functioning in a healthy, respectful, postive manner, then there is wonderful opportunity for the church to develop. However, if this relationship becomes strained or dysfunctional, then the church is in trouble. These two people have to regard this relationship as a spiritual priority and bend every effort to nurture and cultivate it,  ensuring good collaboration occurs. It is a shared responsibility.

Good chairing is not an accident. It occurs through much prayer, dedicated work, and loving service.

Transparency – A necessity for healthy church board operations

Published by Dr. Larry Perkins on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 in Board, BoardTalk and Church. 0 Comments

How does a church board, the congregation and the staff know that the church’s mission is being accomplished? The simple answer is a commitment to transparency. But what does transparency look like in a church context? ‘Transparency’ for a board has internal and external components. Internally, a board is operating with transparency if the staff has enough confidence to share both good and bad news. In other words the board members have access to information that enables them to understand the real health of the organization. As well, transparency is occurring when board members have enough security to speak truthfully with one another. External transparency would involve the board’s disclosure of good and bad news to the members of the organization, as well as outside stakeholders (i.e. donors and clients), through annual reports and other regular methods of communication. Some board members may be uncomfortable with transparency. Confidentiality cannot be compromised within a board, but transparency, when done properly, does not compromise the board’s confidentiality. For example, no one outside of the board needs to know the content of a chief executive’s performance evaluation, but they should be aware that it is being done and it is resulting in a healthier and stronger organization. Sometimes the board may feel overwhelmed with too much information. Yet, board members have to know the hard facts in order to provide the best wisdom to the organization and also to carry forward their fiduciary responsibilities. The advantages of operating with transparency far outweigh the disadvantages. For instance, when an organization shares a major challenge, it invites its key supporters to become active participants in finding a good solution. When good and bad news is shared regularly, then the surprise factor is reduced. As well, when the pertinent facts are on the table, it enables advisors, both internal and external, to assist in the planning and strategic development of the organization. What are some things a board member or board chair might do to improve the transparency quotient? When the board meeting is concluding, members should ask for an opportunity to evaluate the meeting? They might consider whether the board had all of the necessary information to make good decisions. Were good, insightful, hard questions asked to make sure that decisions were thoroughly vetted? Does the board have a communications strategy that outlines how board decisions are shared with staff, donors and clients? Is this being followed? When things are going wrong, how does a whistle blower gain the ear of the right person and what protection is offered to such a person? Are conflicts of interest stated and known as decisions are being made? In Christian organizations transparency, honesty and integrity are significant values, whose practice is necessary for organizational health. Living them out is the challenge.