Article Resources

                 

Charitable Contributions and Grants Beyond the U.S. Border

Once upon a time, a U.S. charity received written curriculum materials from a school organization located in a very poor and far away island country. The kind and cute children identified in photographs submitted were clearly engaged in learning; a charitable class and purpose were identified.

I’m a Pastor With Depression.
For Years I Thought I Had to Hide It.

I was serving as associate pastor to a small church in southern Wisconsin, just a year out of seminary, and I couldn't get out of bed. I slept all the time. I couldn't eat. I couldn't see any future ahead of me.

4 Surprisingly Effective Strategies For Dealing With Difficult People

That person whose name you dread reading in an email. The one you let go to voicemail so you can brace yourself before talking with him in real life. The one who makes your blood pressure rise just a little when she takes a chair at a meeting next to you.

5 Core Essentials in Church Finance 

Church business administrators wear so many hats covering so many diverse departments, it can be a real challenge to balance it all. There are only so many hours in the day and sometimes it just does not get done...

What It Takes to Be Fully Engaged

If you are missing that last understanding—if it is not true of your board members, staff, and church members—then the Greatest Commandment is mere theory, and, we are definitely not alive at a heart level. 

GOT A PROBLEM? Solve It with One Word

If there is one thing organizations and individuals have in abundance, it is problems. They come in every conceivable type, size, frequency of occurrence, and magnitude of difficulty in solving. What is a “problem?” One definition states, “A problem is a difficulty, obstruction, or obstacle that hinders...

Five behaviors that undermine team effectiveness

Team members are hiding, pretending, or trying to put something over on the rest of the team. Years ago, I was a new manager in a leading computer software company. 

Getting Buy-in of Your Suggestions - Preparation is the Name of the Game

As a church business administrator or other type of ministry support leader, most of your day is probably filled with “routine” tasks and duties – making sure the building is clean and ready to go; seeing that offerings are counted, recorded, and safely deposited...

Holding Your Staff Accountable

Whenever I have an opportunity, I suggest that the starting point for bringing health and effectiveness to a church’s ministerial staff is the critical work of clarifying mission, vision, and purpose in the congregation.

Going beyond Paperless…

Everyone gets excited about the idea of going paperless.  It is a good thing after all, Is it not? Save some trees, embrace technology, streamline processes, declutter your church office.