Category: Governance
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What is a Church Plant Management Team?
Autonomous church planters should come under the authority of a church plant Management Team. Here’s what a Management Team is: The New Testament makes a strong case for congregations being overseen by a plurality of Elders. But when you’re starting a new church from scratch, you won’t have Elders (and typically shouldn’t – more on…
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12 Church Sub-Calendars You Need Today
Church sub-calendars are a great way to keep everything organized at your church. Setting them up is relatively easy and it solves the following 3 problems. Whether or not you’re a program-driven church, there are things that happen in the life of your church each year. Keeping them all straight is important. If you use…
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How to Fire Church Plant Staff, part 2
As you continue to work through how to fire church plant staff, be sure to keep it a very human process by communicating well. Letting someone go from your church staff isn’t going to be easy. And how you communicate it will have a huge impact on how it goes with the employee and on…
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How to Fire Church Plant Staff, part 1
I wish I could say this never comes up, but some of you planters are going to need to know how to fire church plant staff. In my church planting circles there are legendary but true stories about this, like planters having to fire worship leaders 2 weeks before launch. And there are too many…
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4 Keys to Creating a Church Emergency Response Plan
How does your church plant go about creating a church emergency response plan? There are 4 keys to having a solid plan in place. Gone are the days of burying our heads in the sand. I know this is a potentially touchy subject, but it’s one that every church needs to put at least some…
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Don’t Lose Your Church Tax Exempt Status
The following is a guest post by my friend and operations guru, Greg Hubbard. He helps church planters through his ministry at the Orchard Group which focuses on planting churches in global cities. Churches frequently pay money to people out of a desire to be helpful and gracious. But you have to be careful when…
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Can Church Boards Vote by Email?
Similar to our discussion last week about virtual board meetings is the question, “Can church boards vote by email?” When you’re pressed for time to make a decision between regular board meetings, it seems quick & easy to shoot out an email and have all the directors email their vote back in. There’s a little…
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Are Virtual Church Board Meetings Legal?
As schedules get busier and video conferencing software gets better, more church plant management teams are wondering, “Are virtual church board meetings legal?” Remembering that I am not a lawyer and not qualified to dispense legal advice, let me simply point you to what I found in my own quest for answers: Check Your State’s…
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Avoid this Pastoral Housing Allowance Penalty
The pastoral housing allowance can be a great tax deduction for pastors. But if you don’t prepare for the surprise swap up on your taxes, you may end up paying a housing allowance penalty. I have seen church planters fall prey to this and wind up with a huge tax bill come April. To be…