By: New Churches

Source: Churches Taking Responsibility

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by Patrick Bradley: Almost every state has an ongoing nonprofit annual report requirement for nonprofit corporations such as churches. This is business you need to take care of regularly. Or this could happen…

Almost every year I get a panicked phone call or email from one of my churches. They’ve gotten a notice that their corporation was suspended or dissolved and they don’t always understand why. The nonprofit annual report has always been the problem. Or, rather, them not filing one when it was due.

In case you were still wondering, getting your corporation get shut down by the state is not a good idea. It’s usually fixable, but what a hassle! You’ll spend about as much time getting it reinstated as you did filing the original paperwork to get incorporated in the first place.

Filing your nonprofit annual report on time is a much easier way to go.

…

Did this help you? Would you mind forwarding to a friend in ministry that might need it?

The post What Happens When You Don’t File a Nonprofit Annual Report with Your State appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: What Happens When You Don’t File a Nonprofit Annual Report with Your State

The post What Happens When You Don’t File a Nonprofit Annual Report with Your State appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: Children’s ministry safety in your church plant is serious business. But it doesn’t have to be mysterious. Here are 20 practical steps to stellar children’s ministry safety:

No question, Jesus holds children in high regard. I’d say that churches in the US do, too, though we haven’t historically done the best collective job at protecting kids in our churches.

I pray that never happens in your church. To that end, here are some things you can do that aren’t terribly expensive (many are free) that can significantly reduce the chance that abuse will occur. It’s our job as church leaders to do everything we can to create safe environments for kids in our churches.

Children’s Ministry Safety for Your Workers

Staff and ministry workers are the first line of defense in keeping our kids safe. Make sure to get trusted people into those roles and get them trained:

Create a volunteer application form that includes a consent to run a background check – make sure every applicant fills it out & signs it
Run background checks for every adult that will be with the kids, and rerun background checks annually
Train volunteers in abuse awareness (your insurance company and/or background check provider can help with this)
Know whether your volunteers are mandatory reporters and train leaders in reporting procedures
Train volunteers in all of these security procedures
Do something to identify your children’s workers (ID badges, T-Shirts, etc.)
Get at least one person trained in first aid and have a basic first aid kit in the children’s area
Have a children’s ministry floater (or several) that can bounce between classrooms and generally be available to help

Children’s Ministry Safety for the Parents and Guardians

Parents should be in the loop and feel good about their child’s safety:

Create a brief handout that explains your children’s ministry practices & policies to parents – make this available at your check-in table especially for parents who bring their kids for the first time
Create a plan for giving new parents an escorted tour of the classroom their kid(s) will be in
Create a check-in and check-out process to make sure kids leave with the right adult(s) – also coach your classroom workers with a polite but firm script for when the process needs to be enforced
Work out a system to notify parents during the service – considering texting them since pretty much everyone has a mobile phone these days

Children’s Ministry Safety and Your Facility

Chances are good you’re meeting in a rented facility, which often presents unique security challenges:

Work out how to keep kids corralled in their “rooms”, especially if that’s a hallway or the flat area in front of the movie theater screen
Figure out how to secure any exits or potential hiding places from both unauthorized entry and from kids sneaking out – while not blocking fire escapes
Make a plan for keeping unauthorized adults out of the rooms (including parents) – again, coach your people with a polite but firm script
Decide ahead how you’re going to accommodate a kid needing to go potty – the classroom teacher shouldn’t be alone with the rest of the kids and the kid going potty shouldn’t be alone with an adult
Determine how to manage teacher-to-student ratios for different age levels – when is each classroom too full to take more kids and when is a classroom shut down for lack of supervision
Create an emergency/fire escape plan and train your teachers and workers in what to do

Children’s Ministry Safety for the Church

Should an incident occur, you need to have a plan in place for what to do:

Create reporting procedures for everything from kids needing a band-aid to kids going fisticuffs to alleged abuse
Know how to contact your church insurance carrier for help handling a crisis

Wow, that’s a whole lotta stuff to get in place for your church plant child security procedures! But when it saves one kid from being abused or helps one kid escape an abusive situation, it will be worth it. Don’t you think?

The post 20 Steps to Children’s Ministry Safety for Your Church Plant appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: 20 Steps to Children’s Ministry Safety for Your Church Plant

The post 20 Steps to Children’s Ministry Safety for Your Church Plant appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: Turns out there are lots of church plant health insurance options. It’s still a little complicated, but you have more options than ever to choose from. Here’s an overview as a springboard to your research.

If you’re a new church hiring staff or an established church that’s never offered health insurance before, you have two basic paths to choose from: offer nothing (but pay employees well enough that they can get an individual plan), or offer an employer plan to church employees.

Individual Plan Options (Church Offers No Plan)

Small businesses with fewer that 50 employees are not required to offer health insurance. So in lieu of a group plan, the church could increase employees’ pay up front to offset the burden. You just don’t get to stipulate that it must be spent on health insurance. And it is taxable income to them.

In all of these scenarios, church employees would have to arrange for their own insurance.

Employees’ options include:

1. Get Insurance through an Obamacare Exchange

Start at healthcare.gov  It will help you find your state’s exchange or direct you to the federal exchange if your state doesn’t have one. You’ll have lots of options to choose from. Bonus: ministerial housing allowance does not count as income for Obamacare, so you’re more likely to get a government subsidy to help pay your premiums.

…

The post 11 Church Plant Health Insurance Options (yes, eleven!) appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: 11 Church Plant Health Insurance Options (yes, eleven!)

The post 11 Church Plant Health Insurance Options (yes, eleven!) appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Source: How to Fire Your Best Friend

The post How to Fire Your Best Friend appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: If you’re sending out direct mail to announce the launch of your weekly services, save $450 and don’t open a church bulk mail permit (but still get all the benefits using this secret).

There are two permits required to get the lowest postage rate for your church plant’s mailing:

the church bulk mail permit
the nonprofit pricing classification

Any business or organization can open their own bulk mail permit (account), but it costs $225 to apply and another $225 each year (find current pricing here).

The secret trick is that the bulk mail permit doesn’t have to belong to you.

Pros of Not Having a Church Bulk Mail Permit

There are several direct mail vendors that specialize in helping churches. They each have their own bulk mail permit, so you just piggyback on theirs. You still need your own nonprofit pricing classification, but they’re already paying their own $225 a year so you don’t have to.

This is a no-brainer. You don’t want to print and prepare your own direct mail anyway. It requires way too much work and industry knowledge that you don’t have time to learn. The only thing the $450 really gets you is your own indicia (keep reading).

Let a vendor that specializes in church mailings do all the work. You’re already $450 ahead if you do, not to mention all the meetings you can have with people because you weren’t spending your ministry time preparing the mailing yourself. You have way more important things to be doing!

Cons of Not Having a Church Bulk Mail Permit

There is only one minor drawback that I’m aware of: the indicia (that non-stamp stamp thingy) has to be the vendor’s.

So instead of:

[your town] permit ##

…it would read:

[vendor’s town] permit ##

If you’re planting in Wisconsin but the vendor is in Hawaii, some recipients might get confused, but probably only the few detail-oriented people who will actually notice.

The good news is that the return address on the cards will be your church’s. In fact, it has to be.

If you can live with using their indicia to save $450, go this route. But remember, you still need to file for own nonprofit pricing classification.

More on Church Plant Postal Permits

How Much Money CAN Church Plant Postal Permits Save You?
How to Get a Church Nonprofit Authorization Number, including how to apply online (coming soon!)
If you’re going old school, Which USPS paper forms to file, plus filing tips

The post How to Save $450 by NOT Getting a Church Bulk Mail Permit appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: How to Save $450 by NOT Getting a Church Bulk Mail Permit

The post How to Save $450 by NOT Getting a Church Bulk Mail Permit appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: In addition to your community service and word of mouth marketing, you’re thinking about sending out direct mail postcards to your community to announce the Grand Opening of your church plant. You could potentially save thousands of dollars in one mailing with church plant postal permits.

A 1st class postcard stamp costs 35¢ these days (Summer 2018). You do get priority delivery, but if you want to mail 20,000 pieces, you’re looking at a tab of $7,000 just for the postage. Yikes!

Church Plant Postal Permits: Bulk Mail

The US Post Office allows any business or organization to get a bulk mail permit. If you’re mailing more than 200 identical pieces, you get a discounted rate. Their pricing formula defies understanding, but the gist of it is that the more work you do for them (sorting, etc.) the lower the postage price they give you.

If a business hits all of the post office variables right, they can get postage in the 16¢ – 20¢ range! Now 20,000 postcards can cost you as little as $3,200. Woohoo!

There are some trade-offs, though:

One of the factors is mail route ‘saturation’: every box on the carrier’s route must get a card
You don’t get priority delivery: the carrier technically has a 2 week window to deliver the cards (but they usually hit on days 2 and 3)
There’s a $225 application fee and a $225 annual fee, so you’re out $450 in the first year (find out how to save the $450 below)

The Double Discount for Nonprofits

But wait, there’s more! The Post Office offers nonprofits an even lower rate, a sort of double discount. Now if you hit all of their formula just right, your postage can be as low as 8.3¢ each (as of 2018). So mailing to the same 20,000 families now costs only $1,660 in postage. Woah!

Applying for the nonprofit discount is tricky, though, because new churches are in a catch 22: you want the discount to announce your Grand Opening, but the Post Office says you’re not a church until you’ve had your Grand Opening.

Having your 501c3 Determination Letter from the IRS smooths this over, but most brand new churches won’t get that back from the IRS in time.

The USPS came to a compromise, though: “If an IRS exemption letter is not available, a complete financial statement from an independent auditor (such as a CPA) substantiating that the organization is a nonprofit [can be submitted].” Wow, that’s not burdensome to young churches at all.

We’ll deal with all of that in this series:

More on Church Plant Postal Permits

How to save $450 by not applying for a bulk mail permit but still getting all the benefits
How to Get a Church Nonprofit Authorization Number, including how to apply online (coming soon!)
If you’re going old school, Which USPS paper forms to file, plus filing tips

Photo by Ethan Hoover on Unsplash

The post How Much Money CAN Church Plant Postal Permits Save You? appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: How Much Money CAN Church Plant Postal Permits Save You?

The post How Much Money CAN Church Plant Postal Permits Save You? appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: A church planter challenged me recently on whether church boards have to use Robert’s Rules of Order to conduct meetings. I started digging around and opened a whole can of worms.

His question came from a common place: I haven’t met a church planter yet that likes (understands?) Robert’s Rules. But it also came with a theological challenge – where are Robert’s Rules of Order described or modeled in the Bible?

Good question.

Biblical Reference Points

Without an in-depth exegesis of all subject passages, I don’t think the Bible has overwhelming instruction about how to run church board meetings. For that matter, it doesn’t have a lot to say directly about Church Boards as such.

The New Testament has plenty to say about, and to, Elders, and describes leadership by a plurality of Elders. But it seems to only hint about how they made decisions as a group (for example, see Acts 6:1-7).

So for our purposes here, let’s define a church board meeting as “how the church leaders make a group decision”.

What are Robert’s Rules?

Created in 1876 by US Army officer Henry Robert, he based them on how the US Congress conducted business and passed laws. You’ve experienced some version of them when you hear things like:

“I move that we approve…”
“I second the motion.”
“Let’s table that discussion.”
“All in favor, say ‘aye’.”

This way of running church board meetings is the most common in the US. But rarely have I seen it strictly followed and enforced.

Other Models Available

Turns out there’s not just one or two other options, but a whole spectrum of approaches to running board meetings. Here are some top alternatives very briefly described:

Consensus Process

Every article I’ve found has associated this approach with the Quakers.

“Consensus decision-making is a group decision-making process in which group members develop, and agree to support a decision in the best interest of the whole.” Wikipedia

PRO: buy-in is high because everyone agrees to the decision after being heard

CON: can take considerable time to reach consensus

DEMOCRACY 2.0

If you like the spirit of Robert’s Rules, this one might be for you.

“DEMOCRACY 2.0 is a new ultra lightweight rules of order system for democratic meetings, tailored to fit the needs of small to medium-sized non-profits, and designed for practical use by ordinary people facing everyday realities.” SocialFish

PRO: based more on principles than rules, easily understood

CON: it’s still based on democratic process, which may or may not fit your theology

Dynamic Facilitation

“A dynamic facilitator follows the group’s interest and energy wherever it goes, so a group often ends up in a very different place than they started, frequently with a collective breakthrough of some kind.” Co-Intelligence

PRO: great at outside-the-box creative solutions to impossible problems or difficult people, fosters true dialog and everyone being heard

CON: requires trained/skilled facilitator

Martha’s Rules of Order

This is a sort of hybrid approach that embraces both consensus and formal voting, “a way to decide whether or not an issue [is] important enough to warrant taking the extra time to reach consensus.” TopsSoft

PRO: simple, combines best of both consensus and Robert’s Rules

CON (potentially): it was originally created for condo/HOA boards so it’s built for a voting membership

Bottom Line

So where I land on whether church boards have to use Robert’s Rules of Order is: no.

But it’s not only just the Bible that’s at play here. Perhaps the main reason for having a “church board”  in the US is because the group of believers wants to be organized under the laws and benefit from the tax code of the government. Romans chapter 13 seems to make allowance for that.

And anyone who serves on the board of any US nonprofit has a duty to lead and serve well. Random decision-making methodology and sloppy records won’t cut it.

Pick some system and use it. Include that decision in your meeting minutes. Be intentional and consistent in how you make group decisions. And above all, keep good records!

The post Do Church Boards Have to Use Robert’s Rules of Order? appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: Do Church Boards Have to Use Robert’s Rules of Order?

The post Do Church Boards Have to Use Robert’s Rules of Order? appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Today’s post comes from Jeff Brodie. Jeff is the Lead Pastor at Connexus Church, where I’m Founding Pastor. Jeff’s my successor as Lead Pastor.  He’s doing a phenomenal job leading our church community, and he’s also a loving husband, father and friend. This post is originally appeared on Jeff’s blog (where it’s no longer available) and is one of the most requested articles I’ve ever linked to.

So…here it is. 

I think you’re really going to by surprised by and appreciate his powerful insights on the changes you need to make to your church’s constitution to be ready for the future. 

By Jeff Brodie

Ever feel like your church struggles to keep the mission moving forward? Does it seem like decisions get bogged down? It’s a common issue in many organizations, and it’s hurting many churches.

I think the challenges many churches face in the areas of decision making and forward progress often have to do with two things:

leadership
church governance

Improving leadership is the attractive challenge that everyone likes to talk about, but I think church constitutions and governance can be just as critical when it comes to building the future of your church.

Your leadership can have incredible vision and strategy, but an outdated constitution and governance system can slow you to a snail’s pace. This is true for denominational churches, congregational churches and almost any church that has a constitution and governance system based on a tradition more than a decade old. Antiquated governance systems are plaguing much of the Church today.

Many church leaders are working with constitutions that were written in entirely different times; decades or even centuries earlier.

Most leaders don’t want to push the board or members to overhaul and update the constitution because it is messy, difficult, and painful. Changing the system seems more painful than reaching fewer people. Over time the church increasingly, even exponentially, loses its effectiveness.

BUT here’s what’s at stake

By refusing to improve your constitution and governance system, you are handcuffing the next generation of leaders in your church.

By refusing to improve your constitution and governance system, you are handcuffing the next…Click To Tweet

You are feeding the cycle that got you here in the first place, and the next generation of leaders will suffer. In fact, this is the type of thing that pushes young leaders to start their own churches, rather than lead existing churches. They realize that old systems get in the way of the ministry Christ calls us to today. Time is being wasted and the Church’s mission is critical.

When we launched Connexus 10 years ago, the leadership team asked themselves “How do we create a constitution and governance that fuels our mission and helps push it forward?” This team worked extremely hard to create a constitution with a governance system and bylaws that fuelled our organization’s mission and vision. It was a lot of hard work, and to be honest, keeping it updated isn’t exciting, but it’s important.

When working on constitutions, bylaws, and governance systems remember 2 things:

There are legal regulations that governments have in place for churches. Hire a lawyer when you are uncertain.
The scriptures have some clear guidelines around leadership/governance that you should pay attention to.

With those things in mind, here are some characteristics of a healthy constitution and governance system that will take you into the future.

1. Keep Accountability Clean and Clear

Checks and balances are based on quality of people, not quantity of people.

There’s a misguided school of thought out there that says, “the more people you are accountable to, the more accountable you are.”   The reality is that if you are accountable to 100 people, you aren’t really accountable to anyone. Keep the organizational accountability group (board or team) small and focus on making sure the circle includes high-quality leaders who get your vision and mission at their very core.

In our case, currently, 4 elders are responsible to keep the lead pastor and the church accountable. The elder selection process is intensive and includes a thorough interview. The lead pastor is accountable to the elders, and the staff and new hires are ultimately the responsibility of the lead pastor. It’s very clean and very clear.

Your board’s accountability depends on the quality of people, not the quantity of people.Click To Tweet

2. Give Invested People Input

The most invested people should have the most input.

Leaders need valuable input from their community. Unfortunately, many churches are structured so that anyone who holds a member’s card and a pulse can influence the whole church. When setting up venues to get input from your community, things should be structured so that people who are most invested in the church’s mission with their time and finances have the most input.

For example, our staff meets with a group of Ministry Team Representatives (20-30 people) every quarter to get their input on where we are headed and bounce some ideas off of them to see what they think. These people are highly invested in our mission. They aren’t a decision-making body, but their input is incredibly valuable to our staff and elders. At that meeting, they also get up to the minute updates on things like finances and attendance trends.

The most invested people in your church should have the most input in your church. @jeffbrodieClick To Tweet

3. Keep Decision-Making Nimble

If you can’t take advantage of opportunities within 24hrs, you are too slow.

Slow decision-making means missed opportunities. Be sure that if the key leaders in your church see an opportunity that can move your mission forward, they can make the decision quickly. If your circle of elders can’t make a major financial decision in less than 24hrs, you need to rethink your decision-making model. I’ve seen incredible opportunities missed by churches because of this one structural flaw alone.

If you can’t take advantage of opportunities within 24hrs, you are too slow. @jeffbrodieClick To Tweet

4. Have Minimal Congregational Involvement

Involving everyone in leadership decisions is irresponsible.

Large-scale decisions (building purchases, major hires, etc.) can be emotional rollercoasters. People change their minds, finances fall through, and a “sure thing” can become a “mirage” very quickly. Always be transparent with finances and inquiries from people, but to take your entire congregation on every twist and turn along the way is irresponsible. You want to keep your congregation informed, but keep it to a minimum until plans are firm. Don’t take them on the rollercoaster along the way. If your structure demands that you have to over-inform your people, change it.

Involving everyone in leadership decisions is irresponsible. @jeffbrodieClick To Tweet

5. Vision and mission must be crystal clear and laser focused

It’s obvious, but must be stated, a great constitution and governance system only work if your vision and mission are crystal clear. Clear enough that people can tell quickly whether they are onboard with you or not.

Tip: If everyone who comes to your church gets onboard, your vision isn’t defined enough.

If everyone who comes to your church gets onboard, your vision isn’t defined enough. @jeffbrodieClick To Tweet

There’s so much more I could cover, but this is a start. What principles have you found that have been helpful in your constitution or governance model?

Scroll down and leave a comment.

The post 5 Essentials Every Church Constitution Needs To Thrive In The Future appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: 5 Essentials Every Church Constitution Needs To Thrive In The Future

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by Patrick Bradley: If you’re on the hunt to rent meeting space for your church, you need to know how to review a worship facility lease. Here’s how:

Lease contracts come in all shapes and sizes. Don’t just hope that they’ve included all the important details. Likewise, don’t just hope that they didn’t put any onerous clauses in there that will hurt you or the church.

The worst lease drafts I’ve seen over the years are ones that were obviously adapted from for-profit, commercial use. Some things are different with a nonprofit (like not having business owners). If they just copy everything over 1:1, you’ll get a bit of apples and oranges going on.

Read the Whole Thing

It’s a legal contract and you’re responsible for all of it if you sign in. It may be laborious, but read through the whole thing once.

Note the Particulars

Now go back and make sure you understand the particulars. Use my FREE worship facility lease checklist to make sure they’ve included all the important stuff and left out the bad stuff. You can check each item off, or better, copy the particulars over to the worksheet portion to make sure you’ve got everything straight.

A tool like this will help reveal blind spots and help you avoid surprises in the lease.

Get Counsel

Even with the free worship facility lease checklist, you should consider having a real estate professional and/or lawyer review the lease. At least work your local network and your network of supporters to see if there’s a Kingdom-minded professional that might be able to look at your lease pro bono.

If you’re nervous about not knowing how to review a worship facility lease, don’t be. There are tools to help and people that want to help, too. Happy hunting!

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Source: How to Review a Worship Facility Lease (with FREE Worship Facility Lease Checklist)

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