Powerful Tips
Welcome to the Best Practices Adventist Ministry Podcast. I’m Dave Gemmell.
What words come to mind when I say ‘church board?’ Some may say Waste of time. Church Fight! Never Ending. Nit picky. Other’s might say: uplifting, Unifying, Productive, Fun. How would you like to move your church board from the first group to the second? You’re in luck. Today’s title is 3 tips for Church Boards. I’ve gathered tips from experts and interspersed them with powerful tips that came when I asked Adventist Pastors in an online group to share. and they really delivered.
Here’s the guests on this month’s show in order of appearance:
Tip #1, Be Prepared
Andre Goncalves of Dallas First Church of Seventh-day Adventists believes that having the right people on the church board makes all the difference. It starts with the organizing committee and the nominating committee.
Another person who is essential is someone who has the skills in keeping minutes. Why are minutes important? Karnik Doukmetizian, General Counsel for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists gives tips from a legal perspective for Church Boards on minutes, abiding the laws of the land, solid supporting documents, and secret ballots. These are short excepts from his presentation at the 2015 CALLED convention for pastors.
South Atlantic pastor Everton Ennis, serving New Jerusalem Seventh-day Adventist Praise & Worship Center as well as Newnan first, shares his passion for relationships and preparation for church board.
Lowell Cooper, former vice president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is considered in Adventist circles to be one of the greatest experts in conducting productive meetings. In this podcast he gives powerful tips on room preparation, agendas, and organizational polity. His interview comes courtesy of the Making Committees and Church Boards More Effectiveepisode of the Ministry in Motion weekly video series, hosted by Anthony Kent and Ivan Williams.
A big part of preparation is getting out the agenda and supporting documents early enough for each board member to be prepared. David Salazar, Youth Ministries Director of Washington Conference, shares his powerful tips.
Tip #2, Make Quality Decisions
Many board meetings grind on and on about trivial things. Does every tiny decision need to go through the board? David Hamstra, Pastor at Edmonton Central Adventist Church, gives some great tips on why and how a church board should delegate some of its decision making.
Matthew Shallenberger, associate pastor at Ooltewah Seventh-day Adventist Church, points out some of the unintended consequences of trying to preserve unity at all costs by requiring consensus or supermajorities.
On the other hand, Matthew and I also knew that if a consequential action carries only by a slim majority it can lead to a church split. The trick is to try to guess how consequential a vote really is, in advance. Hopefully we’ve done our homework and talked one on one with most of the influencers. But what if we guess wrong? We’ve unleashed a church war. So here’s an idea; what if we let the board itself weigh in on how much unity is needed on the vote? I’m intrigued by a technique that Karen Lewis, pastor of the Pathways Adventist Church has developed. She also gives a description of what its like to nudge a church board toward becoming a theocracy.
And much of the process of discussion and listening to each other if done well, can itself build unity. James Winegardner, pastor at Keene Seventh-day Adventist Church likens it to combing your hair.
Tip #3, Stay Mission Focused
Tyler Kraft, pastor of Tracy Adventist Church, learned a valuable lesson from a member who coached corporate executives how to run meetings. The tip is to know that a decision is meaningless unless it is followed up by an action plan. The end of every meeting should answer the questions how is who is going to do what by when.
And listen to Dust Serns give a complete rundown on his church board meetings at LifeBridge Church emphasizing how he keeps his church plant mission focused.
I hope this episode has been as insightful, and inspiring for you as it was for me. These stories all remind us that the toughest times can lead to significant discoveries. Thanks for joining us for NAD Ministerial's Best Practices Adventist Ministry Podcast. We're available on all your favorite platforms. So please like, share and subscribe, so you'll be notified when new episodes are posted. We're here to help you grow. Keep going. But most of all, keep growing for God's glory.
-Dave Gemmell, Host of Adventist Ministry Podcast
