I'm running into similar questions in terms of setting up a system for managing our congregation's local archives, especially setting up electronic storage systems. In particular, I'm now debating the merits of various external hard drive and cloud storage options. From what I gather, it looks like there's a "rule of three": store things in three mediums, with one being geographically separate from the others. I'm thinking that looks like an electronic file of minutes would be archived in an external hard drive, cloud storage, and then printed for a physical binder/file.
The key challenge I've seen mentioned with electronic storage is that hardware/software has major updates every 5-7 years, so that's how often you need to update storage, e.g. buy a new external hard drive.
As far as distributing minutes to the congregation, our church posts a paper copy to a bulletin board with other news. Not high tech, but it's visible.
A few years ago the deacons in my church developed a binder/handbook which gets passed to deacons for their term of service; departing deacons pass theirs onto those just coming on board. It includes lists of tasks for each area of responsibility (treasurer, benevolence, chair, secretary, etc.), as well as guidelines for developing the yearly budget, benevolence policies, and a brief history of the church. It also includes the various IRS tax identification numbers, benevolence forms, contact information for special offering recipients, the church by-laws, and the yearly calendar of special offerings (denominational causes like CRWRC, local charities, etc.). This entire document then gets reviewed and updated every year or two to reflect any changes in the church.
Our congregation votes on the next year's church budget at our annual December meeting. The deacons solict funding requests from the various committee heads during the fall and then work to craft a budget that balances needs, anticipated giving, and church goals. The congregation receives a basic line item budget two weeks before the meeting, so that they have time to review it and voice any major concerns before the actual meeting. We often get lively discussion that requires that the deacons provide more detailed explanations of budget items, but in my experience we've always ended up with a budget that gets (near) unanimous support by the time it reaches the congregational vote.
Our church is fairly small (about 100 adult professing members), so generating "buy-in" isn't as difficult since almost everyone is involved in at least one church activity receiving budget funds and many sit on committees that have to submit their funding requests each year.
We're in a similar situation. We currently pay $150 plus local travel but are wondering if we need to increase it. I am also curious if there are geographic differences. We are in an urban area (Washington, D.C.), so in general salaries and expenses are both higher.
While a different name, the past few years we've held a "Longest Night" service that has a similar feel/intent. It's traditionally been on the winter solstice (the literal longest night), but we've moved it up this year because of scheduling challenges.
Esther, that exactly the type of scenario I would like to see come to life! The challenge is that right now neither pastors nor lay members get the training they need to make it successful. Paid staff can be a wonderful blessing, but they can also be a crutch if it means church members don't have the opportunity to lead in community.
What kind of lay leadership development resources would you like to see widely available? Bbooks? Webinars? Guides for establishing mentoring/discipleship relationships?
At our church we take one physical offering, which includes both the general fund and a rotating special cause, ranging from local organizations to denominational agencies (the deacons determine the schedule). In addition to weekly giving envelopes for members, we have generic envelopes that attendees can use to designate their offering towards the special cause and/or the general fund.
That sounds exactly like our congregation! Add in elder/deacon duties to that list, and for some that makes for a very rare Sunday "off." I think smaller congregations also have a tendency to trust those who are proven 'time-givers' and ask them to do multiple things, rather than risk an unfulfilled duty on someone 'unproven.'
I think the challenge in encouraging people to focus their time-giving on areas where they're gifted is that sometimes a church may have a need and no particular person who feels gifted in that area. Encouraging people to stretch themselves as volunteers might also help them discover a new area of passion. At the same time, I think volunteers can quickly become overwhelmed and withdraw if they're continually asked to do something that doesn't fit well with their gifts.
If a congregation as a whole could agree on one method, I think "doing more of one and less of everything" could work (I remember a Banner article a few years ago about a church that addressed volunteer burnout by having everyone pick one ministry to nourish themselves and one ministry to give of themselves, and call it good). However, I think the fear is that some members will use that as excuse to not do anything, and the church will be left scrambling again.
Rather than an issue of not wanting the wisdom that comes from experience, I think it's an issue of wanting diverse experience and the wisdom that comes from multiple viewpoints engaging each other and probing and discerning God's will together. As a young adult I do value the experience of those who have lived longer than I have, but I also value the opportunity to question them and more deeply and personally discover how I can translate that wisdom for my life. At the same time, I hope the questions of young adults like me can help those with more experience review and reevaluate their understandings and perhaps glean additional wisdom they would not otherwise have developed.
Scott, I'm glad for your interest! Synod does in fact have young adult advisors, which are chosen in February/March by the Board of Trustees. The program began at Synod 2009 with youth observers and is open to young adults ages 18-26; Synod 2010 formally approved an "status upgrade" from observer to advisor, so these young adults now have privilege of the floor during synodical debates. Each young adult also serves on one or more synodical committee and fully participate in those discussions. In the past they have also had the opportunity to participate in leading synodical worship.
I was blessed to serve in this capacity during Synod 2009 and Synod 2010, and it was a wonderful time of growing and learning about our denomination. In fact, the Synod 2010 young adult advisors were so impacted by the experience that they developed a proposal for a Young Adult Summit that would introduce more young adults to a Synod-style time of discussion and leadership development. After further development, our revised proposal will be coming before synod this year (see BOT Appendix B in the 2011 Agenda for Synod).
In you're interested in additional reading about the role of young adults in the CRCNA, I encourage to read a manifesto developed by over 30 young adults in August 2010, laying out their vision for the denomination and their participation in it.
The BOT solicits recommendations from a variety of sources, including the affiliated colleges. They also try to have a mix of new and repeat advisors every year; the general age range for advisors is 18-26. In my experience, the BOT usually selects nominees at their March meeting.
Posted in: Smartphone App for Sunday Giving?
So this is a Canada-only app? Are there plans for a U.S. version?
Posted in: Council Meeting Minutes - Accessibility
I'm running into similar questions in terms of setting up a system for managing our congregation's local archives, especially setting up electronic storage systems. In particular, I'm now debating the merits of various external hard drive and cloud storage options. From what I gather, it looks like there's a "rule of three": store things in three mediums, with one being geographically separate from the others. I'm thinking that looks like an electronic file of minutes would be archived in an external hard drive, cloud storage, and then printed for a physical binder/file.
The key challenge I've seen mentioned with electronic storage is that hardware/software has major updates every 5-7 years, so that's how often you need to update storage, e.g. buy a new external hard drive.
As far as distributing minutes to the congregation, our church posts a paper copy to a bulletin board with other news. Not high tech, but it's visible.
Posted in: How to do elder/deacon orientation and hand-off?
A few years ago the deacons in my church developed a binder/handbook which gets passed to deacons for their term of service; departing deacons pass theirs onto those just coming on board. It includes lists of tasks for each area of responsibility (treasurer, benevolence, chair, secretary, etc.), as well as guidelines for developing the yearly budget, benevolence policies, and a brief history of the church. It also includes the various IRS tax identification numbers, benevolence forms, contact information for special offering recipients, the church by-laws, and the yearly calendar of special offerings (denominational causes like CRWRC, local charities, etc.). This entire document then gets reviewed and updated every year or two to reflect any changes in the church.
Posted in: Is it right for the congregation to vote on the annual church budget?
Our congregation votes on the next year's church budget at our annual December meeting. The deacons solict funding requests from the various committee heads during the fall and then work to craft a budget that balances needs, anticipated giving, and church goals. The congregation receives a basic line item budget two weeks before the meeting, so that they have time to review it and voice any major concerns before the actual meeting. We often get lively discussion that requires that the deacons provide more detailed explanations of budget items, but in my experience we've always ended up with a budget that gets (near) unanimous support by the time it reaches the congregational vote.
Our church is fairly small (about 100 adult professing members), so generating "buy-in" isn't as difficult since almost everyone is involved in at least one church activity receiving budget funds and many sit on committees that have to submit their funding requests each year.
Posted in: What is the Going Rate for Guest Pastors?
We're in a similar situation. We currently pay $150 plus local travel but are wondering if we need to increase it. I am also curious if there are geographic differences. We are in an urban area (Washington, D.C.), so in general salaries and expenses are both higher.
Posted in: Does Your Church Hold a Blue Christmas Service?
While a different name, the past few years we've held a "Longest Night" service that has a similar feel/intent. It's traditionally been on the winter solstice (the literal longest night), but we've moved it up this year because of scheduling challenges.
https://www.facebook.com/events/358913358228103/
Posted in: Do Lay Leaders Really Matter?
Esther, that exactly the type of scenario I would like to see come to life! The challenge is that right now neither pastors nor lay members get the training they need to make it successful. Paid staff can be a wonderful blessing, but they can also be a crutch if it means church members don't have the opportunity to lead in community.
What kind of lay leadership development resources would you like to see widely available? Bbooks? Webinars? Guides for establishing mentoring/discipleship relationships?
Posted in: How many churches no longer take special offerings?
At our church we take one physical offering, which includes both the general fund and a rotating special cause, ranging from local organizations to denominational agencies (the deacons determine the schedule). In addition to weekly giving envelopes for members, we have generic envelopes that attendees can use to designate their offering towards the special cause and/or the general fund.
Posted in: Are Your Volunteers Too Busy?
That sounds exactly like our congregation! Add in elder/deacon duties to that list, and for some that makes for a very rare Sunday "off." I think smaller congregations also have a tendency to trust those who are proven 'time-givers' and ask them to do multiple things, rather than risk an unfulfilled duty on someone 'unproven.'
I think the challenge in encouraging people to focus their time-giving on areas where they're gifted is that sometimes a church may have a need and no particular person who feels gifted in that area. Encouraging people to stretch themselves as volunteers might also help them discover a new area of passion. At the same time, I think volunteers can quickly become overwhelmed and withdraw if they're continually asked to do something that doesn't fit well with their gifts.
If a congregation as a whole could agree on one method, I think "doing more of one and less of everything" could work (I remember a Banner article a few years ago about a church that addressed volunteer burnout by having everyone pick one ministry to nourish themselves and one ministry to give of themselves, and call it good). However, I think the fear is that some members will use that as excuse to not do anything, and the church will be left scrambling again.
Posted in: Youth in Synod
Rather than an issue of not wanting the wisdom that comes from experience, I think it's an issue of wanting diverse experience and the wisdom that comes from multiple viewpoints engaging each other and probing and discerning God's will together. As a young adult I do value the experience of those who have lived longer than I have, but I also value the opportunity to question them and more deeply and personally discover how I can translate that wisdom for my life. At the same time, I hope the questions of young adults like me can help those with more experience review and reevaluate their understandings and perhaps glean additional wisdom they would not otherwise have developed.
Posted in: Youth in Synod
Scott, I'm glad for your interest! Synod does in fact have young adult advisors, which are chosen in February/March by the Board of Trustees. The program began at Synod 2009 with youth observers and is open to young adults ages 18-26; Synod 2010 formally approved an "status upgrade" from observer to advisor, so these young adults now have privilege of the floor during synodical debates. Each young adult also serves on one or more synodical committee and fully participate in those discussions. In the past they have also had the opportunity to participate in leading synodical worship.
I was blessed to serve in this capacity during Synod 2009 and Synod 2010, and it was a wonderful time of growing and learning about our denomination. In fact, the Synod 2010 young adult advisors were so impacted by the experience that they developed a proposal for a Young Adult Summit that would introduce more young adults to a Synod-style time of discussion and leadership development. After further development, our revised proposal will be coming before synod this year (see BOT Appendix B in the 2011 Agenda for Synod).
In you're interested in additional reading about the role of young adults in the CRCNA, I encourage to read a manifesto developed by over 30 young adults in August 2010, laying out their vision for the denomination and their participation in it.
Posted in: Youth in Synod
The BOT solicits recommendations from a variety of sources, including the affiliated colleges. They also try to have a mix of new and repeat advisors every year; the general age range for advisors is 18-26. In my experience, the BOT usually selects nominees at their March meeting.