I've recently had a number of conversations with church leaders wondering about monthly financial and overall performance reporting. Each month I've prepared a "Leadership Team Monthly Report." I'm sharing the report's contents and some other thoughts on reporting in today's post. I've written about KPMs (Key Performance Measures) and the importance of measuring results in previous posts. Needless to say, the … [Read more...]
My First Year As Executive Pastor
Recalling How We Went About Accomplishing This Very Important Leadership Transition In Our Church
I was having a conversation a while back with a senior pastor and his new executive pastor on several topics. One of the questions they asked me was, "What was your first year in the role like? What should we be doing?" Having joined the staff 18+ years ago, it was fun to reflect on how my first year went. I thought I would share my response ... First of all, my decision to become an executive pastor, serving … [Read more...]
What Are Your “Core Values?”
A Reminder For Those Churches That Haven't Yet Taken The Time To Put Their Values On Paper ...
Having a list of "core values" is an essential part of defining the nature of any organizational culture. Core Values are also a critical part of any "strategy." Stating those things that help define your philosophy or approach as a church (or any other organization for that matter) is an important part of the overall strategy. Around here, we say these are the things we're "willing to die on the fence over." They … [Read more...]
How To Write A Staff Policy Manual
A Few Words Of Guidance For Those Engaged In Writing This Very Important Set Of Policies And Procedures
I feel a little strange doing a post that is supposed to help church leaders organize and write a Staff Policy Manual. Why? It took me 7 years to write one for my church! That's bad. Right? Regardless, what I came up with has served our church very well, and I wanted to share. So, how do you write a Staff Policy Manual? The first order of business is to put a good outline together. What should your manual … [Read more...]