KevMcCord

Picking The Next Tech Project

If you find yourself in the rare position of having to decide which technology project to do next at your church, pick the one that's most likely to work (technically) and succeed (missionally).  Look for the project that has:

1. High Excitement From the Pastor/Executive Team
2. High Excitement from the Ministry Team
3. Positively impacts the largest number of people at your church
4. Negatively impacts the smallest number of people on your staff
5. Has the clearest set of requirements
6. Has the lowest degree of complexity 

The trick is the last two criteria.  You (Tech Guru) may not be able to control the first four things, but you can impact the last two!

1. You are in a position to clarify requirements.  This means getting to the bottom line things the new technology must do.
2. You are in a position to decrease complexity.  This means finding working models your church can afford and copying one of them.

Chances are...

1. You're smart enough to improve on something someone else is doing or to make it fit your church.
2. You lack the time, experience, and resources to re-invent the wheel

Then again, do you really get to pick the next project?

Church Technology Projects

How we do it:

• Pastor is going to announce "such and such" to the whole church in three months so we need to go research (no time), buy (no money) implement (no long term plan) something because a gazillion people are going to go online and do this the day we launch it (also the day it will be announced).

How we should do it:

• We've had some pretty good results with this new technology we put out there quietly last month.  It was pretty obvious we needed it last year when we decided we weren't ready to automate that thing pastor wanted us to do.  Good thing pastor asked the elders for a budget and gave us enough permission to get a simplified version of our ultimate goal online.   Turns out we didn't need for it to [insert flashy feature here]. Pastor is ready to promote it to the church as part of next month's teaching series and we're sure it will work.

There are churches that do it right most of the time.  There are churches that talk about doing it right next time.

It's been my experience that pastors are reasonable people (as a rule).  I find it is often the people in the middle, those between the doers and the deciders, who over-promise.

The Multi-Church Site

There is a new phenomenon in the church world called "Multi-Site Church."  One church meeting in many locations.  Ok, the Catholic church has done this for centuries, but they didn't have a cool name or HD video to "pipe in the pope" weekly.

This post is not about multi-site churches.  It's about "Multi-Church Sites."  Cheap retail space in strip malls creates interesting neighbors.

I regularly drive by a shopping center that really illustrates a multi-church site.

I maintain that the above arrangement would be IMPOSSIBLE if the church in the middle wasn't 7th Day Adventist.  As it is, I would say that it takes great faith and spiritual maturity to share your parking lot with another church.  The chorus for "I stand in awe of you" is running through my mind.

Multi-Site Church: Ministry Directors

In a multi-site church there are generally ministry directors (aka leader, pastor).  This is someone who is tasked with leading a ministry department.  The department may be children, youth, worship, small groups, discipleship, etc.

Once a church has 3 or more sites, the ministry director may find her role changing.  This is normal, but the transition can be painful.  Someone who was really great at leading a department on a single campus may not easily re-cast their role in a multi-site environment.

My wife directs a children's ministry at a multi-site church.  She and I recently discussed the following four major responsibilities and four major phases in supporting a campus at a multi-site church.

Responsibilities of the Ministry Director with regards to a Campus.

1. Train the Team
2. Resource the Campus
3. Encourage the Team
4. Maintain Church Standards

You will notice that Recruit and Overseeare both left off this list.  These tasks are better delegated to a Ministry Coordinator who is assigned to that campus.  Both the campus pastor and the ministry director should assist the ministry coordinator in these efforts.  While it is optional, I believe the ministry coordinator should report directly to their Campus Pastor while maintaining close ties with the Ministry Director.

Phases in the life-cycle of a Campus

1. Pre-launch / Expansion
2. Post-launch
3. Maintenance
4. Crisis (could be departmental or campus-wide)

Levels of Effort for the Ministry Director with regards to a Campus should be adjusted for each responsibility depending on the phase the campus is in.  The following matrix illustrates one possible allocation of effort.  Don't get caught up in the allocation.  It is subjective and it matters how you define the responsibilities.

Before allocating your effort, define the responsibilities and phases for your church.  By defining these, it will be easier to understand if a campus is being fully supported in a manner appropriate to the reality of that campus.

Senior Pastor: Too Important to Fail

It is clear to me that whatever other flaws there are in the American Evangelical local church, a key flaw is often this.  The Senior Pastor is generally thought to be too important to fail.  If he is too important to fail then he must never even appear to fail.

• Banks know how important a senior pastor is to the financial viability of a church.  That's why they ask for KeyMan Insurance to protect the mortgage if he dies suddenly.

• Church boards know how important the senior pastor is to the future of the church.  That's why they rarely opt to promote an associate when there is an opening.

• The staff knows how important the senior pastor is. That's why they are willing to work as hard or harder than he does and get paid a fraction of his salary.

• The people know how important the senior pastor is.  They often decide on the relevance of their church by the wit and wisdom of their key teacher.

If you are a senior pastor I have one big question for you.

How are you teaching and showing your church that YOU ARE NOT ALL THAT IMPORTANT?

If you aren't a senior pastor, I'd like to hear how your senior pastor gets that message across.

Church Office Year End Stuff

Ecclesiastes 3:22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

This week we start to implement the year-end plan.  This is mundane stuff as it is all about details.  Still, I enjoy most aspects of my work and this is no exception. 

It is strange to go from officiating a worship service, to counseling the suicidal, to troubleshooting a ministry analysis report, to drafting a proposal, then into the details of the church office all in one week.

Today is almost all about the details. I have to answer such deep questions as:

• Are all offerings entered?  Did we put the right date if they were 2008 offerings received via mail in 2009?
• Do we have a letter from Pastor Guy to include with the contribution statements?
• How many statements will we print this year?  Is the team thinking of the project supplies and time needs?
• Have we edited the housing allowances in the payroll system?
• Are there individuals whose status is changing from regular employee to minister?
• Have we ordered stationary and otherwise prepared for the W2-W3 and 1099 printing?
• Did we post any non-cash compensation given to employees in 2008?
• Did we mark all vendors as 1099 when appropriate?
• Did we collect a T.I.N (SSN/EIN) for all 1099 vendors?
• Did we eat black-eyed peas to start the new year off right?

I'm so glad we don't have to close a fiscal year as well

I find it increasingly hard to remain distracted by these details.  I can make this stuff go away in about 2 hours and then I can get back to what matters.  That's the  beauty of working with a competent team and having a bunch of automated routines and reports ready to answer the above questions in seconds.  That's the payoff for staying put for 5 years

My Resignation To Follow

Is your resignation letter typed up?  Mine is.

I decided a long time ago that I was called specifically to serve my senior pastor as an administrator of my church.  They day he retires or resigns I will do the same.  I won't abandon my post.  I'll simply offer my services back to my church as a consultant with a month-to-month retainer.

Logistically I needed to prepare a few things to make this plan work.

1. I need to be prepared to explain this change to the church leadership.
2. I need to make sure my wife understands this and how it will impact our family.
3. I need to be prepared to have my offer to change capacities rejected.
4. I need savings to weather such a situation.
5. I need to have a big network of friends who would want to offer me a job or some contract work.

6. I need to have a consulting practice setup.  I already had this, but you might consider setting up a blog, a D.B.A, and a bank account for this purpose.

I would look forward to meeting the new senior pastor.  Even if we liked each other we might not want to work together as closely as I work with my senior pastor.  He might not like blog posts like this one, or this one, and most especially not this one.  Not many pastors do ;-).  In fact, given those three blog posts it is a wonder I still have a job.

PS.  Pastor Guy isn't going anywhere so I'm not either.  This post occurred to me because of the controversy I've seen in OTHER churches recently.

Loyalty Embezzled

If I took the money entrusted to me because of my position in an organization and used it for my own personal purposes I would be guilty of embezzlement.

I propose that the same can be done with loyalty.  I propose that loyalty can be embezzled by anyone in a position of trust.  Pastors are given more trust than most.

When someone gives loyalty to their pastor that pastor has the duty to direct that loyalty into constructive purposes.  In the church our purpose is the great commission and our methods need to be checked against the 1st and 2nd greatest commandments.'

When is the loyalty entrusted to a pastor diverted to selfish purposes?

1. Loyalty is embezzled when the pastor uses it to build his reputation.

2. Loyalty is embezzled when the pastor uses it to protect himself from his critics.

3. Loyalty is embezzled when the pastor uses others to move his agenda forward while maintaining a safe distance.

4. Loyalty is embezzled when it is used to force people to take sides.

5. Loyalty is embezzled when it is used to conceal the truth or to reveal private pain.

Virtually every pastor has critics.  Success does lead to criticism.  Change does lead to criticism.  A leader is tested and proven when he is criticized.  In itself, the existence of criticism is not vindication.  It is an opportunity to demonstrate character and strength.   The pastors I admire would ask those most loyal to show restraint, patience and charity in confronting their critics.

Virtually every pastor also has supporters.  Some are simply called to love their pastor and have a special joy in encouraging him or her.  Some are personally blessed by the pastor's ministry to the point where their loyalty is unshakable.  Still other people want desperately to be close to the pastor in order to feel close to God or important in their church.  The pastors I've grown up around recognize this last group and they are very careful to surround themselves with people who challenge them rather than with people who coddle them.

What does a pastor's use of loyalty tell us about him?

1. How your pastor decides to use the loyalty entrusted to him is evidence of his character.

2. How your pastor allows those loyal to him to behave is evidence of his maturity.

3. How clearly your pastor can separate loyalty to himself from loyalty to his position is evidence of his humility.

4. The degree to which your pastor re-directs loyalty towards Christ is evidence of his authenticity.

5. The frequency with which your pastor intentionally tests the loyalty of others is evidence of his self-control and his self-confidence.

Those who embezzle money will often do some very good things with the money they embezzle.  The same is true of those who embezzle loyalty.  I've seen churches fire an embezzler of money instantly.  Those who embezzle loyalty are sometimes tolerated and occasionally even admired.

Printing Without a Safety Net

Oasis church had a bad experience trying to get out of a lease on a printer/copier.  I decided to buy the next machine outright and to go without a maintenance contract as long as we possibly could.  We're treating this 10k machine just as we would a 2k laptop.  We don't get any special extended service plans for our computers and we're just going to treat this printer/copier the same way. 

This post is my update on how the original experiment is going.

We've had our Cannon ImageRunner for 15 months now.  During that time we could have spent about $1k per quarter on their maintenance plan.  We actually spent $1k total on service calls.  We purchase our own tonor (color too).

Sure it will get worse, but I'm not leasing and paying property taxes.  I'm not stuck in a lease that auto renews if we forget to send notice.  So what if my staff has to empty the tonor refuse (nasty job).  So what if a couple of times I had to open the machine up and figure out why something was stuck.  So what if the machine will wear out sooner.  Sure, we'll have to pay to replace some parts.  We already have a few thousand dollars savings to offset that trouble.

If I had to buy a bigger machine that I couldn't afford all at once I'd want to finance it through our Credit Union.  I'm feeling pretty good right now about the risk we took.  In 24 months I might feel differently.  If I could find a company that just charged a fair rate for onsite repair and wasn't trying to sell me the other stuff I'd be interested.  Otherwise, we'll go it alone for now.

Being Briefly Thorough

Some people are brief.  Some people are thorough.

With emails to a large group about policy matters it is particularly tough to strike a balance.

I love the concept of http://five.sentenc.es/. It works well for personal emails and for some professional communication.  However, my responsibilities as an administrator require that I go into enough specific detail to ensure people can be held accountable to what I am clarifying.

Here are some thoughts on being brief in emails about policy matters to a group of people.

• Avoid examples that require a lot of explanation and setup.
• Avoid explaining the exceptions.
• Don't try to sound professional.
• Don't try to placate people, coddle people, or re-assure people.  If these things are necessary you should be meeting in person.
• Read your message before you send.  Cut out as many adjectives as possible. 
• Make sure you aren't saying the same thing twice.  Re-order sentences and paragraphs if necessary.
• Check to be sure your message has not evolved beyond your subject line.
• Avoid using "PS." especially if you have a long signature
• Avoid handling more than just one topic in a single email.
• When replying, copy the key thought or question from the original message and then reply.  Restating the thought or question can introduce your own assumptions.  Do this only if the original thought or question is unclear to you.
• Do not reply to "all" if you aren't sure what you are being asked.  Reply to the sender only for clarification then hit reply all once you understand what you are being asked.

Here are some thoughts on being thorough in those same emails.

• Link to outside resources if instructions are beyond one page.
• Bold the main thought in the paragraph asking one question:  If the reader only reads the bold line, will she know enough to know whether she should then read the entire paragraph?
• Think of the busiest person who will receive the email.  Figure out what you want that person to remember when you next talk to them.  Put that concept at the beginning and end of the email message.
• If the message has ongoing significance, make sure that email message makes enough sense so that a year from now it can be located in a search to answer the question or direct the reader to the answer.
• Format your email properly with spaces between paragraphs, bullet points and other items that visually direct the reader to the most important content.
• Think of the most common situation where the information will become critical to the reader.  Make sure that situation is covered.  If you have an example make this your example.

Here's a simple guide to sharing a change to a policy or guideline with your team.

SUBJECT: The... Policy Has Changed

Dear Team,

The leadership met and a change has been made that impacts you.  Please read this email carefully.

The old guideline/policy was:

Copy and Paste

The new guidelin/poicy is:

Copy and Paste (bold/strikethrough the change)

This will affect anyone who...

If you find yourself needing to...  then please be sure you...

Click here to read the entire manual.  This policy is found on page XX.

Email me if you have questions.

Serving with you,

Kevin McCord
Administrative Pastor

In case it matters I will generally err on the side of being thorough.  This is because of my responsibilities and my disposition.  However, I value brevity and strive for it when possible.