Church administration is not the most exciting task to undertake in pastoral ministry, but make no mistake—it is a necessary one. Without it, the church and/or ministry will lack the proper organization to function effectively. Under the administration category, this article outlines 3 areas for reviewing and revising your church’s governing documents (Constitution & Bylaws, policies, procedures, etc.) to help you achieve greater effectiveness. These will not be merely step-by-step tips, but rather an adaptable framework to consider when addressing such, with practical points of advice to carry out under each.
CONTEXTUALIZATION
In most cases, a church’s governing documents follow a general template that looks very similar. Jeff Crabtree, former KBC Regional Consultant, led the effort in developing a tool to evaluate governing documents. However, one of the first points of strategy in reviewing and revising your church’s governing documents is to consider the context of your church. There is no other church like the one God has called you to pastor, so it is important to keep this unique DNA in mind when considering this part of church ministry. Here are a few helpful points to keep in mind relative to contextualization.
1. Seek to understand before you are understood.
In other words, take time to process the existing documents. Heard very often in “starting well” discussions, it is important to take your time in implementing change. Think in terms of two years, not two months, when considering such a change. Remember that you are joining the church as much as they are joining you in this gospel assignment.
Undoubtedly, you will notice changes that could be made with the fresh eyes you bring to these documents. Exercise care in how you initially respond to what you see. Clarify before you commit to bringing change. Know why things are the way they are before trying to tweak them. Know why certain words are used the way they are and seek to identify historical points of interest that could describe why things are the way they are.
2. Know the “why.”
Knowing your “why” brings clarity, purpose, and passion. Along the same lines, it is imperative to know the “why” when processing potential revisions to your church’s documents. Because of the uniqueness of your church and the context the church is in, many things are the way they are for some reason. Areas such as leadership framework, service schedules, age of the church, past conflict(s), earlier leadership personalities, and the demographics of the community are just a few of the many factors that could explain the contextual makeup of governing documents. Each of the aforementioned will dictate “why” you have the governing documents you have.
Let’s consider a basic example of how this may affect reviewing and revising. If a staff position in the church were removed, it would be important to clarify whether this change is permanent or temporary. Could the position be reinstated if finances improve or the church experiences significant growth? Know the story of why things are not functioning the way they are presently. If the position will be reinstated, then it would be important to review the job description, responsibilities, etc., and leave it within the documentation. If it will not be reinstated, then edit the document to show that it no longer exists. Ultimately, asking simple, clarifying questions will go a long way in establishing trust and understanding your context.
While you can consult other churches’ documentation to bring revision to your own, you are wise not to do so in contradiction to your unique, God-ordained context. Use tools, guides, and examples to help guide revisions, but avoid changes that don’t make sense in your context. You want a governing document that is right—and useful. Starting well means you will understand your context, especially when strategizing changes to such important documents.
COLLABORATION
You have probably heard this before: if you want to go fast, go alone…but if you want to go far, go together. When reviewing and revising your church’s governing documents, it is important to involve a team that can provide valuable feedback and insights efficiently. Note, in most contexts, these individuals should be approved by the church for such a task. This could be called a team, a special ad hoc committee, or just a committee, but it will involve intentional collaboration. It is tempting in beginning a new ministry assignment to sit behind a desk by yourself and “fix” all the issues you find with a governing document, among many other things. However, that is not the wisest nor most sufficient route to take for long-term viability. Here are several points to consider in this strategy:
1. Involve individuals who know the culture, have the competency, and will consider the context of the church.
Understanding that the church’s governing documents will provide direction and organization for the congregation, this team/committee will represent the larger body to maximize impact. This leads to a second point.
2. Make collaboration large, yet small.
Here is what I mean… when considering reviewing and revising your governing documents, one must ask, “Is doing this on the floor of a church business meeting the most effective time for such?” I understand the nature of business meetings and have participated in more than I can count throughout the years of ministry. Generally, however, it is not a good time to revise (or create) governing documents on the floor of a business meeting where you have a large number of people who may not be prepared to discuss. Emotional additions or corrections to governing documents could set you up for failure in the future; therefore, avoid that if possible.
Collaborating with a smaller team of individuals that the church approves and appoints for such a task makes it both large and small. The more representation you can include on such a team, the better the morale of the overall changes will be, because, relationally, those individuals on the team can communicate the change within their circle of influence. Thus, this will cut out much of the work for the pastor in addressing side issues and, ideally, make congregational approval easier. This small group will have had the chance to contribute and thus advocate amongst the larger congregation. To gain broader church approval, create a small space for collaborating on changes to your governing documents.
3. Consider placing folks who show different strengths in ministry on the team/committee.
Keeping the unique context in mind, certain individuals will bring different God-given strengths that will collectively strengthen the process of revising your church’s governing documents. An example of this is praying about adding someone to the team with financial expertise to help sort through financial issues. Pray about placing someone with experience in administration, perhaps like a school principal or administrative assistant, on the team to help collaborate because of their strengths in leading and/or organizing. The more diverse the gifts you can bring to a collaborative group, the stronger your documents will be.
4. Finally, the strategy of collaboration allows you to personally shepherd the process and pray for those helping shape very important documents within the church.
Starting well means building trust, and here is a prime opportunity to empower those in the church to flourish and contribute. This will go a long way in showing you trust them and want the best for the church and the future. You could sit behind the desk, have a conversation with a fellow pastor, and provide revisions to your church’s governing documents to be rubber-stamped by someone. However, the overall impact achieved in isolation will not provide anything the church trusts, much less follows through on. Collaborating with a group approved by the church will simplify the process and enable efficient, effective work.
COMMUNICATION
Up to this point, you have done a lot of necessary, behind-the-scenes work. You have met. You have prayed. You have considered the best for the congregation the Lord has assigned for you. Upon completion of a collaborative effort, the pastor will need to strategize how to communicate the review and/or revision(s). I am convinced that most who have gone through the process of working with governing documents would conclude that by the time you get to this point in the process, all are weary and tired. However, it is imperative not to drop the ball here and ultimately communicate well. Here are a few tips to help in communicating with the church for ultimate approval.
1. Communicate clearly.
It is important to clearly identify any changes to the governing documents. This can be done by using a red font with a strike-through to indicate what is proposed to no longer be in effect, and using another bold, black font to communicate the change. Part of communicating clearly is actually having written documentation of the governing documents. While “handshakes-as-contract” meant something 20-30 years ago, our cultural dynamic has changed.
Indeed, most individuals who will make up your congregation, and those you are seeking to reach, operate from some form of governing documents daily, whether it is policy, procedures, or bylaws. Due diligence should be taken to ensure the congregation is proactive and healthy in this regard. Unclear documentation will lead to a lack of integrity in the church. Just be clear in your revisions. Hide nothing.
2. Communicate consistently.
When you are tired of announcing something, the congregation is just beginning to hear it. Depending on your context and current protocol, you will want to announce the date and time of the revisions to the church well in advance for congregational approval. You will want to have printed copies available for individuals to review. You will want to put upcoming dates for reviews, questions, and/or congregational approval (if needed) in the bulletin. It would be wise for the pastor to inform the deacons or elders on such matters and get their buy-in. If your leadership does not hear from you, it could present challenges from within the congregation. Any way you can use to communicate, use it. You will not regret over-communicating.
3. Communicate continuously.
Part of reviewing and revising governing documents raises the question: “How often should this take place?” This answer will vary from church to church. Generally, every 2-3 years is a suitable time frame to pull your leadership team together and collaborate on the existing document. A good rule of thumb is that there will typically be no substantial changes needed. Once you have a working governing document, reviewing and revising should be relatively simple. It is important, though, to simply keep in mind that communication must be continuous. Starting well means you will plan to revisit this appropriately in the coming years.
4. Communicate corporately.
Every member of the church should have access to the governing documents. New members and existing members should receive these documents. Finding a way to get these into the hands of new members, or at least provide an electronic link, will be important. It may sound simplistic, but a part of the strategy is not hiding the documents you have strengthened.
Finally, a church should strongly consider inviting legal counsel from organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) to assist in making sure your governing documents are prepared thoroughly. At the time of this blog entry, the Kentucky Baptist Convention (KBC) has partnered with ADF, and KBC churches receive a discounted rate for the use of their counsel and expertise. You can visit the link here for rates, along with all the other benefits. It is a great ministry and highly recommended.
Contextualizing, collaborating, and communicating are all essential parts of a strategy to review and revise your church’s governing documents. While the work under each of these components will look different, if these are a part of your overall strategy in starting well you can have a framework of making sure this important aspect of church administration is done efficiently.
Photo by Pixabay
