Building Healthy Board/Pastor Relations

Buller Centre for Business

Jan 2015

BullerCentre.com

Workshop Questions

What accountability should there be between senior pastor and board?

How can the roles of pastor and manager be reconciled?

How can a church develop successful hiring, supervisory, and assessment practices for the senior pastor — and for other staff?

What special challenges arise when staff members are also members of the congregation?

Workshop Schedule

9:00intros

9:15clarifying accountability

9:30Ed Neufeld: biblical ideas about leadership

10:30coffee

10:45reconciling roles

11:15hiring, supervision & assessment

11:45a possible assessment tool

12:00lunch: things you’ve always wanted to say

1:00wrap-up

Clarifying Accountability

What accountability should there be between senior pastor and board?• not the same in all traditions

ideal varies reality varies flexibility varies

9:15 - 9:30

Intros

9:00 - 9:15

Intros

This workshop is based on the assumption that a healthy church needs a healthy board/pastor relationship at its core.

In your experience, is this true? What are the signs that this relationship is

healthy? What are the signs that it’s unhealthy?

9:00 - 9:15

Intros

How important, do you think, are each these factors to having a healthy board/pastor relationship?

agreement on theology shared spiritual life personal friendship good processes

9:00 - 9:15

Clarifying Accountability

Secular management ideas about accountability: in a healthy organization, everyone is

accountable to someone

to understand accountability, ask 3 keys questions: for what?

to whom?

how is it done?

9:15 - 9:30

Clarifying Accountability

What accountability should your senior pastor have?

• for what?

• to whom?

• how should it done?

What accountability should your board have?• for what?

• to whom?

• how should it done?

9:15 - 9:30

Biblical Ideas About Leadership

Ed Neufeld Professor of Biblical StudiesProvidence Theological Seminary

part-time pastor with Kleefeld Christian Community since 1990

http://www.providenceseminary.ca/seminary/faculty_staff/faculty/ed_neufeld/

9:30 - 10:30

Biblical Ideas About Leadership

9:30 - 10:30

coffee

10:30 - 10:45

Reconciling Roles

How can the roles of pastor and manager be reconciled?

10:45 - 11:15

Reconciling Roles

Pastor’s Roles(in a “typical” church)

Manager’s Roles(secular situations)

hire, supervise, evaluate, and (sometimes) fire staff

(sometimes) set budgets

meet budgets (sometimes) set

performance targets meet targets

10:45 - 11:15

Reconciling Roles

Pastor’s Roles(in your church)

Manager’s Roles(in your church)

10:45 - 11:15

Hiring, Supervision & Assessment

How can a church develop successful hiring, supervisory, and assessment practices for the senior pastor—and for other staff?

11:15 - 11:45

Hiring, Supervision & Assessment

How are we doing? Why?

Senior Pastor Other Staff Senior Pastor Other Staff

Hiring

Supervision

Assessment

11:15 - 11:45

Hiring, Supervision & Assessment

Good (secular) management practices: hiring

• planned

• documented

• merit only

assessment• annually

• everyone

• written

11:15 - 11:45

supervision• regular

• graduated

• not primarily evaluation

planning

» goals

» actions skill & judgment

development

» coaching

» mentoring

What of this should we adopt in churches?

Hiring, Supervision & Assessment

What changes—if any—do we want to make?

How will we implement those changes?

Senior Pastor Other Staff Senior Pastor Other Staff

Hiring

Supervision

Assessment

11:15 - 11:45

A Possible Assessment Tool

Gina van der Linde

11:45 - 12:00

lunch

Things you’re always wanted to say.

12:00 - 1:00

Did we address these questions?

What accountability should there be between senior pastor and board?

How can the roles of pastor and manager be reconciled?

How can a church develop successful hiring, supervisory, and assessment practices for the senior pastor — and for other staff?

What special challenges arise when staff members are also members of the congregation?

Building Healthy Board/Pastor Relations

Thank-you!

BullerCentre.com