A Few Questions about the Business of Church

My college degree is in accounting. My master's degree from seminary is in church administration and communication. I have done additional post-graduate work in church business administration; I am a certified Fellow in Church Business Administration. I have been a member of the National Association of Church Business Administration since 1992. I just returned from that group's annual meeting in Long Beach, and I have a few questions:

• Why is one of the largest gatherings of church administration types getting grayer?
• Where are the administrators of non-denominational churches?
• Do these administrators network in any fashion?
• What is the value of peers coming together, digitally or in person, to support one another?
• Is a new model of "church administrator" coming into being?
• Isn't the operation of whatever you call "church" becoming more complex? How do you manage it, then?

Just thinking...

Business Activities in the Church

It is my privilege to work with churches of all sizes, organizational styles, and structure. But no matter what the church, there are some "business activities" that they must deal with in some form or fashion. The following list of activities require management skill:

• Financial
• Human Resources
• Information
• Office
• Food Service
• Image
• Facilities

You can probably add more. Whether it is a one-staff church or a church with 300 staff members, most, if not all, of the above activities take place every day. Here are some implications for those who are responsible for managing these activities:

• Leaders who have the responsibility for management must be intentional not only about their primary assignments but also regarding the issues that other members of the organization face
• Effective managers regularly collaborate with other people through significant processes to facilitate smooth systems operation and to prevent signs and sounds of discontent and malfunctioning organizations
• For an organization to be effective, it must pursue excellence

How does your church handle "business" practices?

The Business of Church

I just returned from the annual meeting of the National Association of Church Business Administration (NACBA). I've been a member of this group since 1992, when I had the privilege of completing the Fellow in Church Business Administration at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta.

When I graduated from college with a degree in accounting, I knew I had been called by God to work with churches in the area of business and administration. My wife and I packed up our belongings and left with our 6 month old son to head to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1981, where I obtained a Masters in Religious Education, with a concentration in Business and Communication.

From 1981-2004 I served on the staff of three churches in various positions, with combinations of communication, education, discipleship, and administration. These were three different types and sizes of churches, in three different states, in three different ministry settings. But there was always a common denominator:

The church is not a business, but it needs to follow business principles to make it most effective in its true calling.

I'll be exploring this idea the rest of the week.