Over the last two months, we have been conducting a thorough review of our training program for Church Boards (better known as Best Practices for Church Boards). For four years, over 50 Churches and over 300 church leaders have participated in our Board training initiatives. Throughout the experience, we have learned more and more about the unique dynamics of Church leadership. This has led us to elevate the training to higher levels. Beginning this Fall at the November 7th Best Practices for Church Boards Basic Workshop we intend to present a comprehensive schedule of Workshops that will address a distinct checklist of Church Board competencies. The Fall workshop will address several of those competencies as it has in the past. But, our intention is to present a cycle of Basic workshops that will engage the full Church Board leadership experience. More on that to come …
But, for now, one of the key issues that emerged in our study is that Church Board leaders often struggle to define their key responsibility. In their book, Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards, Richard Chait, William Ryan and Barbara Taylor identify three functions or types of Board governance. The “bedrock” task of a Board, given within Type 1 (Fiduciary mode) is to “ensure that nonprofit organizations are faithful to mission, and accountable for performance…” (p. 7).
To “ensure” faithfulness and accountability calls for a board to be able to measure strategic goals. On the surface, many Church Boards struggle to know how to measure the goals, but there is a deeper issue at stake: to know what goals are to be measured.
In an article entitled Monitoring Your Organization’s Performance: The Dash Board Instrument (Board Matters, Article No. 20, www.governance.com.au), Tom Holland says that Boards must identify the information that they need staff to give them on a regular basis so that they can adequately monitor and evaluate the success of the organizational mission. However, Boards are often frustrated with a myriad of distractions: data overload, inappropriate levels of detail in information, information with an administrative rather than missional perspective … unproductive information which lacks strategic relevance.
Holland continues by presenting the concept of a Dashboard as an analogy of an instrument that a Board creates to monitor the critical measurements that gauge the healthy progress of the core and essential mission at hand. To build an effective “Dashboard” however, the Board must have a clear idea of what constitutes critical measures.
In order to do that, Boards must develop one of the most vital skills they can exercise as a group: the ability to ask strategic questions. There is an old axiom that a person is to be judged by their questions rather than their answers. In his eNewsletter, Leadership Wired, (Questions That Sustain Your Leadership) John Maxwell writes, the willingness to ask questions coupled with the discipline to seek out answers separates leaders from followers … influencers question assumptions, inquire about the environment around them, and probe into the future … they have an insatiable appetite to learn, and they convert their knowledge to action at light speed.
For Church Boards, there are a number of questions that must be asked:
1. What are the top priorities of our mission as a congregation? What is it that God has for us to do?
2. What key aspects of our ministry do we want to monitor that will make a difference in people’s lives and advance the kingdom of God?
3. What are the best ways to display the outcome of our ministry efforts?
4. What will we do with the reports we receive? How will we celebrate the fruit or address the deficiencies of our ministry?
I would imagine that the answers to the first two questions are the most important and deserve the careful and prayerful reflection of Church Leaders. The Great Commission that defines the strategic purpose of the Church is focused on people rather than programs. We are to “make disciples” which means that our task is measured in terms of human life rather than organizational structure. And, the benchmarks of a successful ministry are identified best by naming names and gathering testimonies.
In his book, Missional Renaissance, Reggie McNeal provides an illustration of the sort of measurements that reflect a people, rather than a program, development culture. Some of the items he sets behind the dashboard as a gauge for ministry include (adapted from his list):
- Number of people reporting improved marriages over time
- Number of people reporting improved family life over time
- Number of people engaged in strengths identification and development
- Number of people who have identified a sense of God’s calling and have created and are following a life development plan
- Number of people serving other people in some venue
- Number of people practicing intentional blessing strategies for those around them
- Number of people being mentored
- Number of people serving as mentors
- Number of people able to articulate life mission .. core values
- Number of people reporting improvements in spiritual life over time
- Number of people growing in financial giving to kingdom causes
- Number of people pursuing job skill … ministry skill development
- Number of people reporting addiction recovery progress
The list Church Boards construct must reflect their church’s mission and vision and be appropriate to both. The consequences of the exercise will determine the measurements within the strategic questions bringing insurance of mission faithfulness and performance accountability. As McNeal writes: to pull this off requires a retooling, a reallocation of every resource the church and church leaders employ … prayer, people (both leaders and ministry constituents), time, finances, facilities and technology. But, once retooled, the Board fulfills its calling to be focused and engaged in the greatest venture of all.
Developing a Church Board’s Culture
Yes, your church board does have a culture — probably an implicit set of values, modes of operation, ways of decision-making, and habits of interaction. When you are involved primarily in one church board it is hard to recognize this reality. However, if you had the opportunity to be the proverbial “fly on the wall” and observed ten different church boards in operation over time, you would soon discover that each has a specific culture. The things they have to do are the same, but how they operate, the internal dynamics and interactions, the way decisions are achieved — these will all create a distinctive culture.
Culture reflects the unique giftings and personalities of the board members, that board’s history, its leadership, how the board is perceived by its members, and the values that its faith community embraces. The board chair possesses a special responsibility to help the board understand its culture and discern ways to develop a culture of trust, accountability, and excellence.
Church boards struggle with self-image and self-understanding. What is their place and role in the ministry of the church? When a church board cannot discern how its work has value or contributes to the achievement of the church’s mission and vision, then its culture will be tentative, conflicted, and lethargic. To change such a culture a board chair will emphasize the value of the board and help the board discern its significant contribution to the church’s mission. Connecting these dots is incredibly motivating for a church board.
The environment within which church boards operate often is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous — both within the church and outside the church. A board culture that is focused on the future and always considering those things that matter most to the health and vitality of the church will find itself able to navigate such turbulence with confidence in God’s plans.
Relationships matter in church boards. Developing a board culture where the participants value one another and enjoy a genuine partnership to achieve the same mission is incredibly empowering. When everyone is moving in the same direction towards the same goal, the focus is on what unites, rather than on what divides. One of the ways to build a culture of trust within a board is to give opportunity for members to share their stories and express their heart-passion for their church — their dreams of what God might do. Unity flourishes when people discern commitment to common vision.
And then there are the “rules of engagement.” Every board has them, whether they have consciously expressed them or not. For example, do you as a board chair enable robust dialogue and debate that is task-focused and not relationally-focused? Do you foster discussion about the best solutions rather than interpreting different opinions as reflections of a board member’s character and motives? Is the board committed to evaluating progress towards the vision and to do it honestly, consistently, and fairly?
A church board’s culture is a precious resource and deserves attention and careful cultivation. How the church board interacts and operates will often set the tone for the entire ministry within the church. Ignore the issue of culture and your church board will undoubtedly lead with a significant limp.
Do they trust you?
When he first was appointed to his church board, Jack look forward to his new responsibilities. While he had never served in this capacity before, people in the congregation were very encouraging. But that was ten months ago. People now seemed more distant, less friendly, somewhat guarded in their conversations. He wondered what was happening.
What Jack experienced occurs frequently — those in leadership are regarded as THEM, not US, by people in the congregation. Suspicion grows quickly and maintaining trust requires vigorous, consistent effort, particularly by those in leadership. Often lack of trust seems to grow like mold in dark places, suddenly appearing when you least expect it — sort of like dust bunnies under the bed. It just appears and catches you offguard, when you thought things were going well.
How does a church board collectively and its members individually build and sustain the trust of the congregation in its leadership? First, a culture of transparency is essential. Do not assume that people in your congregation know and understand what the church board does. For many this is a mysterious thing that happens, about which they hear snippets of news from time to time. Perhaps it would be good occasionally in a church meeting for a board member to share a little bit of his experience (hopefully positive) as a servant of the church in this ministry. Does your board chair share a report at each church meeting about the key matters the board is discussing as they prayerfully nurture the health of the church? While somethings of necessity must be dealt with in confidence within the board, most of the work of the board can be shared by the chair in fully appropriate and transparent ways.
Second, keep nurturing friendships. Each of the members of the board has a circle of influence within the church body. It is important that they continue to cultivate those relationships. You can close the distance some people feel with respect to the board when they realize that their friend, someone they have confidence in, is serving diligently on their behalf as part of that ministry team. These friends also serve as a sounding board to glean insight and keep in tune with the heart beat of the congregation.
Third, work within the approved structures. If the board does not discipline itself to abide by the bylaws and policies the congregation has established, why should it expect to hold the confidence of the congregation? It is presenting a poor model to the rest of the ministry groups in the congregation and fostering a spirit of anarchy. If the board is conscientious, aware of its guidelines and committed to following them, this presents a good model and declares to the congregation that the board is operating effectively and submissively, disciplining itself to serve the congregation, not itself. If the board has concluded that some bylaw or policy should be changed, then it brings a well-developed recommendation to the congregation for timely review and discussion. The board does not act arbitrarily.
Fourth, keep listening with an open mind. Keep inviting people to share their perspectives. Listening is an incredibly empowering vehicle for sustaining trust. Does your board ever invite other leaders in the congregation to visit and share their perspective on particular issues? Do you know what your “stakeholders” are thinking or desiring to achieve?
Trust is the manna that sustains daily our service, but requires constant renewal.
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co-sponsored June 26-27. Sixty-five people registered and enjoyed two days of high-powered interaction with medical and ministry experts from Canada and the United States. The Liver and Intestinal Research Centre directed by Dr. Frank Anderson provided both financial support and organization leadership.