Normally the primary responsibility of a church board is very focused — to ensure that the mission of the church is being accomplished. To engage this responsibility, however, the board must exercise active leadership and not maintain a passive role in the leadership of the church. In taking hold of this responsibility a church board [...]
All articles with the category "BoardTalk".
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Wouldn’t you like to sit with other church board chairs to dialogue about the challenges and opportunities you face in your role?
In some of my recent reading about governance I have come across the claim that boards can “govern their institutions into the future.” While I have not seen this concept applied directly to a local church board, I think it is relevant. It speaks to intentionality. Church boards, if they understand their role and their context [...]
How does a church board collectively and its members individually build and sustain the trust of the congregation in its leadership?
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.
Our perceptions frequently shape our attitudes and behaviours. What we name something influences in turn our perception of it. Just consider why many churches today are so sensitive about the names they choose to identify themselves! Names shape perceptions. I think this is particularly apparent in regards to church boards.
If we define the primary spiritual leadership team of a [...]
Debate continues as to whether the church is best defined as an organism or an organization. The tendency is to see the term ‘organism’ as more adequate, because it seems to emphasize the dynamic, relational, social realities that mark a local church in its best expression. Conversely, the word ‘organization’ conjures up images of the corporation [...]
If the church leadership discerns that Carver Policy Governance would be beneficial for their local church to adopt, how does it prepare the congregation for this shift? Or is the congregation unaffected by such a change in governance modality?
Some communication with the congregation is advisable. In our current Evangelical [...]
The Carver Policy Governance model requires both the church board chair and the lead pastor to understand their respective roles clearly and be supportive of each other in those roles. This is especially important when a local church seeks to implement the Policy Governance model.
Carver states very clearly that the Board chair’s primary role is [...]
John Carver states with absolute clarity that "Policy Governance offers not a mere improvement in board leadership, but a revolution in boardroom behaviour" (Reinventing Your Board, revised edition, 17). These are strong words. Any church board that might consider adopting Policy Governance as its framework for governance leadership must discern very carefully whether it wants to [...]
According to John and Miriam Carver the person who chairs the board "ensures the integrity of the board’s process and,…occasionally represents the board to outside parties" (Reinventing Your Board, revised edition (2006), page 110). Within the context of a local church the board chair usually has very few specifications to provide guidance in discharging this [...]
One of the key principles embedded in Policy Governance is that the board holds one person accountable for achieving the institutional ends — the Chief Executive Officer. For the CEO this is double-edged sword because on the one hand it gives tremendous flexibility within well-defined boundaries, but on the other hand puts great responsibility on [...]
What is the essential principle or presupposition that guides the Carver Policy Governance model? A volunteer board in a non-profit institution must “provide strategic leadership, it must clarify policies and expect organizational activities to give them life.”1 The key question the board must answer, according to Carver is this – What human needs are satisfied [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
