Church Administration Midterm

Church Admin is NOT...

"flying by the seat of your pants"

Why Manage Ministry?

- because minstry is about people, not programs
- because the body of Christ is a corporate entity/organism
- because the church has a mission and cannot accomplish it apart from a coordinated effort
- because it is a divine gift

Fourfold Basic Elements of Church Administration

- Scripture
- Ideas
- Things
- People

Church Management Tasks

- Christian Thought: integrating Bible and Theology
- conceptual biblical thinking: planning
- management: organizing
- leadership: staffing, directing, and evalutaing with a focus on the people (participants)

Six Functions of Management

- integration
- planning
- organizing
- staffing
- directing
- evaluating

Church Administration and Management

Seeing that the needs of people are being met... as they work at accomplishing their responsibilities... in achieving a common purpose

Contemporary Approaches to Church Administration

- classical
- behavioral
- management science
- contingency
- theory X
- theory Y
- theory Z

Christian Perspective of Adminstration

- Ministry
- Servanthood
- Spiritual Gift (steering)
- Stewardship (shepherding)
- Spiritual (Holy Spirit-guided)

What is a mission?

- flows out of a personal theology/philosophy of ministry
- answers: why, who, what, and how?
- provides the leaders with directon, focus, life-transforming power
- allows the leader to say no to what may seem like wonderful opportunities
- protects and defends a leader from making untimely mistakes

A Church's Mission Should Include:

- "Why do we exist?"
- by understanding the mission of the church from a biblical basis, you have this question answered
- best NT example of mission: Gream Commission from Jesus in Matthew 21:18-20

A Church's Mission Should be Built Around:

- congregational care
- outreach and evangelism
- witness and mission

A Mission Statement Basically States...

"WHO does WHAT for WHOM and WHY"

Strategic Planning

"a process that involves matching ministry purpose and capabilities to ministry opportunities"

Aspects of Stategic Planning

- mission
- vision
- situational analysis
- long-range objectives
- strategies
- measurements

Strategic Planning Model

1. analysis and prayer
2. mission development
3. vision development
4. core values
5. internal/external scan
6. goals and objectives
7. implementation
8. evaluation

A Mission Statement Should Be...

- short
- memorable
- easy to understand without commentary
- dictating the ministry's direction, focuses the ministry's future, and shaped the strategy of accomplishing its goals

A Vision Statement Should...

- tell what the community will look like as the mission is realized
- is more specific (than a mission statement) and communicates the heart of an organization, while clear and challenging in its mission
- it inspires and is caught more than taught

Core Values include...

- what makes this church unique
- speaks to what is the soul of the community

Qualities of an Internal Scan

- physical resources (location, building)
- human resources (staff, volunteers)
- financial resources (cash flow, savings, investments)
- attitudinal resources (climate, culture, morale)

"S.W.O.T." Analysis

Internal Analysis and Resources:
- Strengths
- Weaknesses

External Scan
- Opporunities
- Threats

External Scan is...

Assessing your environment - opportunities and threats

- an opportunity is an instance or event that may enhance the direction of your organization to the extent that you would want to capitalize this prospect
- a threat can be antagonistic in nature, real or percieved danger, or it could simply be a challenge of which the team should be made aware

Development of Goals and Objectives

- written as final outcomes
- written with their completion in mind
- goals and objectives should be SMART

SMART

- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Trackable (time-oriented)

Implementation

- ask, "What needs to take place specifically to help make this a reality?"
- extract every imaginable element that might assist or hinder the progress of these goals
- make a list of these goals and share them on all administrative levels
- assignments: to do, by whom, by when, with what?

Evaluation

- often overlooked unless weaved into the planning process
- all activites and goals should be evaluated at predetermined intervals (weekly, monthly, etc.)
- "proper evaluation will help us rejoice and celebrate the growth that He gives and helps us to keep our focus to do the best things"
- ongoing evaluation leads back to assessment - recylce through Strategic Planning pt. 2 as needed

The End Result for a Strategic Plan Includes...

- why the organization exists
- what it is trying to accomplish
- how resources will be utilized to accomplish objectives and fulfill its purpose

Purpose of an External Scan

- vital to guage the environment within which the minstry operates
- only way to manage change
- "takes the pulse" of the environment

7 Factors to Consider in an External Scan

1. economic trends (income, employment, economy)
2. democraphic trends (age, education, population)
3. community issues (urban/suburban, commercial)
4. changes in services offered to people in the community
5. trends in competition for prime-time Sunday mornings, evenings, and weekday evenings
6. church attendance trends in the community and regions
7. changes in social values (culture?)

Aspects of an Internal Scan

- a complete study of the church's emphasis on its. minsitries, management, policies, and procedures
- data collection and analysis to determine strengths and weaknesses
- building a data base
- know the people you serve
- identification of unique strengths
- possible weak spots
- the means for realistic goals and objectives

An Internal Scan Reflects on...

- demographic of the congregation
- financial resources such as operating funds
- equipment and space
- sociological profile of the church
- power structure of the church
- church organization and management
- present programs and their leadership

Minimizing weaknesses and capitalizing on strengths increases...

... the ability of an organization to operate in its external environment

Purpose of Objectives

- provides direction
- basis for evaluation

- to focus on a specific set of target activities and outcomes to be accomplished
- the success or failure of a nonprofit organization is based on its ability to set goals, as well as on tools with which to measure progress

Definition of Objectives

Clear, concise, written statements outlining what is to be accomplished in key areas in a certian time period, in objectively measureable terms

Obejective are NOT...

- fate; they are direction
- commands; they are commitments
- determining the future; they are the means by which the resources and energies of the operation can be mobilized for the making of the future

Management by Objectives (MBO)

"“the system of management whereby the superior and the subordinate managers of an organization jointly identify its common goals, define each individual’s major areas of responsibility in terms of the results expected of him, and use these measures as guide for operating the unit and assessing the contributions of each of its members.” – George Odiorne

Ministry by Objectives

Step 1: Leadership revisit the mission and vision of the church
Step 2: Leadership decide what the church will do and not do to accomplish the mission and vision
Step 3: Conduct a structural analysis and make necessary changes to achieve goals
Step 4: Managers and subordinates meet to translate each of these goals into measurable objectives
Step 5: Communicate the plans and review them on a regular basis
Step 6: The periodic review
Step 7: Department Assessment
Step 8: Cumulative Assessment

Management by Extrapolation (MBE)

- "if it ain't broke, don't fix things"
- keep doing the same things the same ways because it seems to work well enough and it has gotten us this far
- stands on the belief that the future will take care of itself

Managment by Crisis (MBC)

- the strength of any really good manager is their ability to solve problems
- there are always problems, the church leaders should focus on the problem of the day
- reactive, NOT proactive
- events of the day dictate management decisions

Managemetn by Subjectives (MBS)

- when there is no clear mission or objectives
- each manager does their best to accomplish whatever they think is important

Management by Hope (MBH)

- decisions made with the hope that they will work out and that tomorrow will be a better day

Characteristics of Good Objectives

- clear and concise
- written
- name specific results in key areas
- stated for a specific time period
- stated in measurable terms
- consistent with overall organizational objectives and purpose
- attainable, but sufficient challenge to stimulate effort (appropriate "God gap")

Criteria for Each Objective

- relevance
- practicality
- challenge
- measurability
- schedule
- balance

Suggestions for Writing Objectives

- start with the word "to" followed by an action verb
- specify a single major result
- target date for accomplishment
- MUST relate directly to the mission/purpose of the organization