Back when I served in the United Methodist denomination, the General Church would put out training resources for churches and committees (GBOD Guidelines). It would cost about $80 for the entire set of these booklets. The General Church and the various Conferences would also put on workshops and webinars.
One of the drawbacks in that denomination is that much of the training was around keeping denominational rules and not around helping the church “succeed.” Many people attending these workshops or webinars came in with low expectations…likely attending because their pastor wanted them to attend. I led a lot of these workshops, and the greatest compliment was, “This was better than expected.”
Instead of waiting on your denomination to provide training that helps your church, here are a couple of ideas that you can take on right now.
Hire a Coach or Consultant
This is the most costly training but usually the most effective. There are a lot of great coaches and consulting companies that work closely with churches to help them improve. The great thing about their services is that they are customized to each church. Here are a handful of them that I’m familiar with:
- Dirt Roads Network: Specialize in serving rural and small-town churches.
- Exponential: Specialize in serving churches called to multiply.
- The River Network: Specialize in serving new churches.
- The Unstuck Group: Specialize in serving churches that plateaued or are starting to decline.
Invite a Church that is Where you Want to Be
In my experience in leading workshops and webinars, I have learned that the best ideas will rarely originate with me. Usually they will come from the participants themselves. Since all I’m doing is sharing with participants ideas that I learned from other participants, why not remove the middle man? Why not look in your region for a church that is a step or two ahead of you in some area? Most will be more than happy to help for likely little to no cost. Here are some examples:
- Swapping Audit Committees: All churches should have an annual audit. You can get a lot of good ideas just by swapping audit committees. You will see under the hood on reporting, policies, and financial management to give you ideas on what will work in your church.
- Audio, Video, and Web Advice: These people in a church are usually very open to sharing ideas and experiences. If you have a church in your area that is doing well online or has amazing sound or use of screens, just ask their tech volunteers or workers. Likely they will be excited to help your church.
- Invite the Pastor to Consult: If a church in your area has made significant improvement, likely the pastor played a significant role. Many pastors have a Kingdom mindset and want all churches to succeed. Take the pastor out for lunch and ask them if they would be willing to talk to your church’s leadership. Be willing to pay a stipend.
Find a Book or Video
In many of the churches that I have seen turn around decline, they often had a church council or board that learns together. There are lot of great books, podcasts, YouTube videos out there. If the church council or a committee commits to working through one of these resources together, it will make a difference over time. I hesitate to make a list because there are so many good books and the most important thing is to commit to one book and working through it together. What I have done is include a list of my training videos/posts below.
Useful Links
- Committee Training YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy3_Fkz8_LMqwQmHjiPrx9TXkZ1V_CZy7
- Church Committee Post: https://jctaccounting.com/2021/01/08/church-committees-its-about-stewardship/
- Finance Audit Post: https://jctaccounting.com/2021/01/15/finance-the-audit/
- Finance Policies Post: https://jctaccounting.com/2021/02/05/finance-adopting-financial-policies/
- Finance Fundraising Post: https://jctaccounting.com/2021/03/05/finance-funding-the-budget/
- Finance Budget Post: https://jctaccounting.com/2021/04/02/finance-game-changing-ideas-for-church-budgeting/
- Trustees Property Management Post: https://jctaccounting.com/2021/01/22/trustees-caring-for-the-property/
- Trustees Insurance Post: https://jctaccounting.com/2021/02/19/trustees-insurance-needs-of-church/
- Trustees Bequests Post: https://jctaccounting.com/2021/03/12/trustees-bequest-and-investments/
- Trustees Legal Issues Post: https://jctaccounting.com/2021/03/26/trustees-legal-responsibilities/
- SPRC Pastor Support Post: https://jctaccounting.com/2021/01/29/sprc-building-up-the-pastor/
- SPRC Intermediary Post: https://jctaccounting.com/2021/02/12/sprc-being-the-intermediary/
- SPRC Policies Post: https://jctaccounting.com/2021/02/26/sprc-personnel-policies/
- SPRC Pastor Compensation Post: https://jctaccounting.com/2021/03/19/sprc-pastor-staff-compensation/