Learning Leadership (Tyler)

Learning through mistakes is just a natural process of learning. I don't believe any great idea was created from perfection. Great ideas were created through imperfection as perfection was desired and sought after. It is the same with leadership. As we "shoot for the stars", we will realize that the stars are so much farther than we originally thought. And so, we will fail. We won't "launch" as far as we originally thought. We will crash and burn. But, if our desire and our will to grow is strong enough, those failures will not stop us. They will encourage us to continue to relaunch and relaunch until eventually we break through the atmosphere and find ourselves amongst greatness. The same principle applies to seeing others fail. You wouldn't attempt to fly the same way that others have flown if you know that way would fail, would you? No! Of course not. You would be grateful for their mistakes and learn from them as they have. You should expect others to do the same to you. It is not taking advantage of your mistakes, but instead, growing from them and helping others. Failures and mistakes are mutually beneficial. Through a series of failures and mistakes, one begins to form what it truly means to be a leader.

Formal Leadership Theory (Tyler)

Leadership Substitutes Theory

The leadership substitute theory could do really well at Davis Wesleyan Church. The environment of that church is set up perfectly for a leadership substitute. In fact, the way the church is designed, the leadership substitute theory would actually be the only way the church could be ran efficiently. Aaron is the only "leader" in the church and while it is a small church, it remains a difficult task to attempt to organize and arrange everything for the church by himself. Luckily there seems to be a leadership substitute concept that is integrated into the church in order to relieve some of the pressure on Aaron. There are many people in the church that simply accomplish so many tasks because they have the natural ability to lead. This ability is so necessary for the survival of the church. If it wasn't for the leadership in the congregation, there would be so many things that would fall through the cracks. Something that I believe that Davis Wesleyan Church could do better is to specifically assign people to certain tasks. There are so many leaders that are willing and able to accomplish different things for the church, but they have not been asked or told how or what to do. If the leadership at Davis could simply instruct some people and guide them in some of their tasks, then there would be so much more completed. The amount of drive and willingness that I see in the community at Davis is astounding. They love their church. They love their pastor. There is so much willingness to serve and lead. I couldn't think of a more perfect environment to implement a leadership substitute theory. It would flourish. It just needs to be implemented in a careful and efficient fashion.

Week 12 (Michael Berens)

Week 12 (Michael Berens)
Tuesday 6, 2009
Formal Leadership Theory

360 Degree Leadership
Bill Hybels 360 is a leadership theory that describes how leadership is all around you. It says that you are always under a leader, over a leader, and next to a leader. It is not leadership that is only focused on the people “below” the leader, but also in other directions. The 360 Degree Leader is anyone who desires to lead those around them in any direction. Co-Workers can lead each other. Subordinates can lead their supervisors. Supervisors can lead those that are “above”, “below”, and “across” them. What matters is that you are a leader.

This theory is easily applied to Exit 59. At Exit 59 the leadership of the church is in the laypeople. There are pastors that are hired. They are bi vocational pastors though, so the amount of work that needs to be done is large and vast. The different chores around the church alone would take up someone’s whole week. The children’s ministry could not be done unless there were numerous volunteers. Even cleaning the church needs volunteers. Exit 59 also wants lay people to dream up their own ministry and run them. We want to empower not hand hold. Since there are so many things running at the same time, leadership is distributed among many people. It is a 360 degree leadership naturally. If you come into the church to volunteer or work, there is good chance that you will lead others, be lead by a pastor and lead alongside a team all at the same time. That is the point of Exit 59. It is about empowering lay people so that they will go out into other churches and serve them well as leaders, co leaders, and sub- leaders.

Week 11 (Maxwell's book) Michael

Michael Berens
Week 11
04/02/09

Maxwell Book

From the book: 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

The Rule:
The Law of Process, which is the idea that leadership develops daily, not in a day.

Exposition:
This rule states that a leader will develop over time, not in an instant. Though it may seem like a leader understands a new concept in leadership, they may not know not how to apply it. It takes time to realize the full extent of being a leader. When it comes to communication skills with people, it takes a long time until a leader understands the different people types and how they need to be communicated to. Some may need facts to understand a lesson. Others may need abstract stories and analogies to understand a lesson. A leader realizes this and develops a holistic understanding of the people they are leading. It is known that even communication takes time to learn and grasp.

Maxwell Book (Tyler)

360 Degree Leader

There are many principles listed in John Maxwell's 360 Degree Leader. One of those principles is called the "lead across" principle. Essentially this principle represents the idea that one must lead others on the same level as them.

Exposition: Leading across is something that many people and churches avoid because it involves “mentoring” or giving your peers advice. People don't usually like to hear advice from someone who is on the same “level” as they are. It seems condescending and as if you are receiving advice from someone who isn't at a place to give advice. Even if this isn't the case, there are still hesitations among people. But, it is important to not only teach those who are considered our peers, but also to be willing to be taught by our peers. There are people who have experienced things that we could never experience before and they are willing and able to teach us. We need to be able to both learn to lead and learn to learn across our “levels”. By allowing others to teach and lead us, we are able to grow more as leaders in the church.

Mistakes Ministers Make (Tyler)

I interviewed Lauren R. a church member of Davis Wesleyan Church on Sunday, March 29th. about some of the mistakes a new staffer could make on their first job. Here is what she said:

1) Have a Prideful Mindset - If you come into a pastoral position with the mindset of "I am doing the congregation a favor", you will fail. Put yourself at the same level as the congregation.

2) Be Shy - On the flip-side, if you are scared of the congregation, they will not get to know you and trust you. It is a catch-22. You are scared of the congregation and they are scared of you.

3) Make Drastic Changes - If you have a change mindset, great. But don't go making changes that are going to scare people. Slowly ease people into the ideas that you want to bring. It is a slow, but progressive process.

Week 11 (Mistakes Ministers Make) Michael Berens

Week 11
Michael Berens
March 31st 2009

Mistakes Ministers Make

I interviewed Nancy Campbell (Darren was also there)
March 11th,2009

1. Don't assume More Authority than you have
New Pastors come into the game biting off more than they can chew and getting themselves stuck

2.Don't Over Work yourself
New pastors always seem exhausted, probably becasue they are not use to all the pressure

3. Dont Neglect internal Life for business
It seems like a lot of pastors forget to be filled and they just give and ive until they are empty/

Extra
4. Dont forget Ministry is about relationships
at the end of the day, Ministry is about people, not about getting the job done.

People Work (Tyler)

Learning to work with people is not a subject that is learned in a class. It cannot be "taught" necessarily. Working with people is "learned" in a few different ways. One of the most common ways is through innate ability to work with people. The term, "a people person" exists because there are simply people that know how to work with people. They have always had the ability to deal with people and their issues and know how to handle them. This is not an ability that they were taught in a class. They simply just reacted on their instincts. However, not everyone has this ability. It is a difficult thing to learn, but it can be learned. Mostly it is learned through experience. It is impossible to learn how to work with people if you are never around people. So the first way of learning to work with people is actually working with people. The important step in this process is choosing where to expose yourself to people and deciding how to present yourself. Because you will make mistakes while trying to learn how to work with people. You will offend people and people will offend you. It is a process that you must work through, however. When you offend someone, you will learn what you said or did and learn not to do it again or at least you will learn to do it in a more tactful manner. There you go, first lesson learned. Its the school of experience. If someone offends you, you will begin to understand why and make sure it doesn't happen to you again. Second lesson learned. These lessons will just continue to be learned as you spend more time working with and around people. You can read books about it in order to externally experience working with people. But, it isn't until you truly work with living and breathing creatures that you know how to truly work with people. If I was a senior pastor asking professors for students that know how to work with people, I would be asking professors for students that seem to be around the most people a lot of the time. People with people and social skills will know how to work in a staff and make a staff work with others. It is an important principle that is simply learned in experience.

Week 10 (People Work) Michael

Michael Berens
People Work
03/26/09- Thursday

Michael’s Personal Top tips for working with people
1. Be a listener: being listened to is one of the biggest satisfaction. Just knowing someone has heard and understands you can change a hot temper to a calm and collective conversation. If someone is sad, they just want to be listened to as well. Listening and then learning to speak in the right time is a lesson that we all will always learn.

2. Find common ground: Finding commonality between each other is that start of true connection. Even if you are completely different people, genders, whatever, there is always at least one thing you have in common. Take mothers for example. Everyone came from a mother; therefore you can talk about mothers. Once you dig into the minor subjects it can lead to find other commonality, which will help later on. It is much harder to hatefully fight someone you know and love than it is to fight someone random.

3. Put yourself in the footwear of another. When there are disagreements or off putting, out yourself in their mind. Think about what they are feeling and thinking about that lead to this. Maybe there are external situations that we cannot know about. If they are moody, maybe they have had a rough day and need a friend. If they are weird maybe they have not had good social contact with other humans and need a friend. Putting yourself in their footwear can lead to a true relationship. After all Jesus walked in our footwear and out skin just to have a relationship with us.

Solo Pastor (Week 10 Replacement Post)

I interviewed Aaron Cloud on Sunday, March 22 about the difficulties and joys of being a solo pastor. Aaron is on a staff of one person. He is the senior pastor, youth pastor, and small group pastor. While this may seem like a blessing to many people who are constantly involved in arguments amongst the different staff pastors in a church, there are certainly downsides to being a solo pastor. What makes Aaron's situation unique is the fact that he not only is the only pastor at the church, but is also the youngest person who attends the church. Aaron finds himself in a difficult situation every single day that he wakes up. He isn't able to "bounce" ideas off other pastors. He isn't able to relate relevant information to peers his own age. He simply is alone. The term "solo" pastor takes on a whole other meaning. It is difficult for someone who has constantly been surrounded by people his own age for the past 22 years and then all of a sudden have the exact opposite. So, some of the positives of a solo pastor are listed here:

1) You make your own schedule and there is no scheduling conflicts with any of the other pastors on staff, because you are the only one.

2) You are free to be as clean or messy as you want in the office because you are the only one there. Obviously if the Board asks you to keep a clean workspace, then you would follow those wishes, but for the most part, you are free to do whatever.

3) You have no conflicts with anyone else about issues that you normally find in a typical office space. You only conflict with yourself.

However, as I mentioned before, there seem to be more negatives than positives when it comes to being a solo pastor (at least in Aaron's case):

1) It is lonely. We were created to live in community, and when that is taken away from you, you find yourself missing a huge hole in your body and soul. So, there is a tremendous sense of loss and a need for community.

2) It is narrow focused. Without the ability to bounce ideas off others, you tend to only listen to your own points of view. When that happens, you begin to travel down a slippery slope of only believing yourself.

3) It is lonely. Seriously, this is the worse part.

4) It is easy to become stagnant. When there is no one there pushing you to do better, you become pretty stagnant and not able to move very quickly. I think our natural inclination is to go slow and not progress. Without someone there pushing us, we become stagnant and don't progress.

These are just a few thoughts....

Week 10 (board Meeting) Michael

Michael Berens
Week 10 replacing Week 3 (Board Meeting)
03/24/04
Board meeting

I attended Exit 59 Church on Sunday, the meeting Lasted for 2.5 hours
The decision making process for Exit 59 utilizes Roberts rules of order. It. looks like this;
Suggested item, someone seconds it, then discusses. Finally there is a vote on the subject by hand.

There are dozens people on the board at different times. All the church staff is included in that circulating group of board members. There are main people that attend every month. Jeremy Dillard who creates the agenda and Lisa Crandall who keeps the minutes.

Because Exit 59 looks a little different the board runs a little different. Only really big issues ever make it to the board. The big things usually deal with large sums of money or large program start-ups. This week there happen to be a large program start up.

A new missions department is opening up at out church and a new missionary was to be approved by the board to join the program. Everyone was in accord for her to be approved and for the new missions department to pass. Chris Demarse told me that this is usually the case, but people can disagree depending on the subject matter. Chris also told me that at these meetings feelings could be shared because it is definitely like being in a family rather than a business. After a motion, second, discussion, and a vote, the person was accepted to the missions department. After that the group discussed how to accept more people into the program. They were also trying to figure out how to make the process easier in the future.


I learned that if a church runs like a family it makes everything seem friendlier. I can see that passions can run high if everyone is a brother or sister, so that could lead to over zealous fights. I did not see that here, but I could see that since feelings are shared, feelings can be hurt. It works for this church, but I cannot imagine it working in a different setting. Robert’s Rule of Order help the process of feeling sharing and opinions more faster.

Seven Characteristics of a Church Leader

1. A good leader has an exemplary character.

It is of utmost importance that a leader is trustworthy to lead others. A leader needs to be trusted and be known to live their life with honestly and integrity. A good leader “walks the talk” and in doing so earns the right to have responsibility for others. True authority is born from respect for the good character and trustworthiness of the person who leads.

2. A good leader is enthusiastic about their work or cause and also about their role as leader.

People will respond more openly to a person of passion and dedication. Leaders need to be able to be a source of inspiration, and be a motivator towards the required action or cause. Although the responsibilities and roles of a leader may be different, the leader needs to be seen to be part of the team working towards the goal. This kind of leader will not be afraid to roll up their sleeves and get dirty.

3. A good leader is confident.

In order to lead and set direction a leader needs to appear confident as a person and in the leadership role. Such a person inspires confidence in others and draws out the trust and best efforts of the team to complete the task well. A leader who conveys confidence towards the proposed objective inspires the best effort from team members.

4. A leader also needs to function in an orderly and purposeful manner in situations of uncertainty.

People look to the leader during times of uncertainty and unfamiliarity and find reassurance and security when the leader portrays confidence and a positive demeanor.

5. Good leaders are tolerant of ambiguity and remain calm, composed and steadfast to the main purpose.

Storms, emotions, and crises come and go and a good leader takes these as part of the journey and keeps a cool head.

6. A good leader, as well as keeping the main goal in focus, is able to think analytically.

Not only does a good leader view a situation as a whole, but is able to break it down into sub parts for closer inspection. While keeping the goal in view, a good leader can break it down into manageable steps and make progress towards it.

7. A good leader is committed to excellence.

Second best does not lead to success. The good leader not only maintains high standards, but also is proactive in raising the bar in order to achieve excellence in all areas.

These ideas are adapted from Barbara White's thoughts on Leadership. (http://ezinearticles.com/?expert_bio=Barbara_White)

Week 9 ( Leadership Qualities)

Michael Berens
Week 9
03/19/09

Leadership Qualities

1. Recognizes the value in other people, so continually invests in others
A leader should always be ready to help and encourage those around them. This helps the group as a whole and the individual that needs help.

2. Shares information with those in the organization.
Someone that is open and honest will go a lot further than a conniver. It could hurt the leader in the end if they are honest, but at least they were accountable to God.

3. Has above average character
A leaders character should be far above the rest. It should be something that people want to follow after and model after. If the leader is not a model, why are thy in the spotlight?

4. Uses their influence for the good of others
Someone who has good influencing skills should be able to influence for the good and the bad. If that is true then it is a matter of choice to not hurt others or step on them with the power a leader has. It is important to serve rather than be served.

5. Is skillful and competent
The leader cannot just be a face. They must be able to teach and act. If they are just a face of leadership they will be found out and sunk. A house built on sand is faulty and breaks eventually.

6. Not afraid for others to succeed (even greater than their own success)
A leader should be seeking out the furthering of others and the group. A leader should serve and be ready to lay down his nice position in the mud, so others can be served. A leader should be ready to be last.

7. Serves others expecting nothing in return.
Servant hood is the key. To serve is to expect nothing in return. Leaders should be up front as much as they need to be, other than that they should be serving from behind the scenes where no one can even give them credit for their skills.

8. Continues to learn
A leader should always be ready to learn from books and from people. They should not be so stuck in an opinion that they turn everyone away over a silly subject. They should also be advanced in knowledge and training so that they can lead the diverse peoples that might come under their wings.

9. Remains accessible, approachable, and accountable to others
These three things in combo make up a great person in general. If a leader was doing this anyone would want to follow them. If we expect people to do this, why wouldn’t their leaders be the first to be accountable and open.

10. Is visionary: Thinks for the organization beyond today.
A leader should see the breadth of life. They should look to the past, present and future for decisions. They should look at the mistakes from the past and see the changes that will affect the future. They must lead in sight and Ideas as well.

This is adapted from Ron Edmondson’s good leader characteristics
http://www.ronedmondson.com/2009/02/10-characteristics-of-good-leadership.html

Week 9 (Firing a Teacher)

Michael Berens
Week 9
March 17th, 2009

Firing a Teacher

I interviewed Chris Demarse and Darren Campbell on Wednesday the 11th of 2009.
I interviewed them at Darren Campbell’s house at a staff meeting.

As soon as I said the word “fire,” They cringed and said that our church is not necessarily a firing church. It is more of a finding out what their gifts are. If they are doing unwell in a position and is failing then maybe they do not have the teaching gift. It is then a matter of testing what their gifts are and how they can be used in a ministry setting. A spiritual gifts test can be used for this. Prayer should also be used. Once it is found it should be encouraged. A “hand hold motto,” may be a good idea for this person, as they may seem disgruntled in some way. So it is not really about firing. It is more about finding out what their gifts really are.

Firing a Teacher (Week 9)

I interviewed Pastor Cloud about this topic, and he informed me that he has never had to experience firing a teacher of Sunday school or otherwise. So, I decided to look up some various articles on the internet that covered this topic. Also, I happened to do a Wikipedia article on the same topic:

1. Prayer: Before rushing out and fring a volunteer, the careful minister of Christian education will spend time asking God if, when, and how the person should be terminated. Prayer should be focused on both the best interests of the ministry and the person.
2. Documentation: Write down the problems that have been observed as they occur. Though the Christian educator should avoid bringing this information into the conversation when dismissing a person, at least as proof of the fairness of the decision, the documentation does help a pastor avoid emotionally based decisions. It helps maintain objectivity.
3. No surprises: Firings should not catch the person being terminated off guard. Some type of ministry performance review should be provided for all volunteers, and in this process areas of concern or failure should be brought to the attention of the offending party. Then if the person does not respond to such suggestions he
or she should not be shocked by the firing procedures. A similar procedure is outlined in Matthew 18:15-17.
4. Don't rush: Rapid termination of a volunteer rarely is done well. Emotions may blur good judgment. Facts get confused. Task orientation sometimes hinders sensitivity to people.
5. Don't renew: If possible, rather than fire a volunteer, it is better not to invite the person to teach or sponsor for another year. This means that each volunteer should have an automatic "sunset" on his or her commitment. A ministry cut-off date usually occurs at the end of a school year or at the beginning of the next one. Absence of renewal, however, does not mean an absence of communication. The volunteer deserves the right of an honest appraisal even if not asked to continue in the current capacity.
6. Don't delay: In situations where moral or theological problems are involved, the Christian educator must act with all deliberate speed. As soon as the facts are verifed, action should be taken. Remember, however, this type of action is not designed to destroy the volunteer. On the contrary, every effort should be made to be redemptive - both for the person and for the ministry.
7. Private appointment: Firings should not be done publicly. A specifc time should be established when the CE minister (or other supervisor) and the volunteer can evaluate the ministry effectiveness of that person.
8. Self-evaluation: Rather than dumping a load of complaints on the volunteer, the wise supervisor will first ask the person for an appraisal of the year's ministry in the light of the job description and ministry objectives. A majority of the time the volunteer will be harder on himself than the supervisor would have been.
9. Confront if necessary: If the volunteer appears blind to the weaknesses which seem obvious to others, then the person will need to be told of specifc shortcomings. This must be done in a spirit of love and respect.
10. Affirm positive qualities: Sometimes the self-evaluation or loving confrontation will obscure the positive contributions that a person has made. Such activities should be complimented specifcally and genuinely to avoid this problem.
11. Allow resignation: After the problems have been examined, ask the volunteer what should be done. If he or she resigns, accept the resignation with humility of spirit. If the person still does not get the picture, the Christian education leader will have to ask for the resignation.

Week 9 (Tuesday)

I interviewed Pastor Mary, on Monday, March 16th in her office.

1. Figure out their passions – talk to them about the passions
2. Encourage them and walk alongside them
3. Send others to encourage them
4. Match gifts and talents to their passions
5. Listen to people for interests – then try to match

Other Tips:
- Have help
- Spiritual Gifts Tests to match gifts and talents to passions
- Leadership training and resources

Michael Berens (Conflict)

Michael Berens
03/12/09
Week 8
Conflict

1. God has taught us to love. That sounds like the church buzz word these days and it may be. The truth about love is that true love really creates an opportunity for God to work. If we are loving in Humility and Peace seeking then God can move with more ease.

2.We have free will. With that free will we fight each other. We can choose to believe one thing and do another. If everyone is doing this, it creates tension. The tension relaxer comes when we submit our selves to a greater will. If two people in a fight really stopped to ponder what God’s will was for that specific situation, there might be a better chance that a resolution would come faster. The very notion that people would think outside themselves is enough to ease some tension.

3. Gentleness was mandated by Paul in 2 Timothy 2. He said teach people in gentleness. He also said to be teachable. With the open heart of learning and the ability to teach in love, conflict should be one sided. If both sides of the conflict have this attitude then there may be no more argument at all. The churches of Paul’s day had lots of conflict. Paul knew what he was talking about. Be teachable and teach in gentleness. Got Paul Thanks.

Motivating Volunteers (Tyler)

I interviewed Aaron Cloud on March 9th, 2009.

Aaron gave me a short list of tips that would be helpful in motivating volunteers:

1) Golden Rule: Treat volunteers the way you would like to be treated. This is the most important of the tips that were given, because it drives the other tips. If you treat the volunteers with respect then they will respect you back. If you treat them with disrespect, then how can you expect respect back from them? Treat others the way you wish to be treated.

2) Time Off: Do not overwork volunteers. Even the volunteers who claim to desire to want to work really hard, don't allow them to burn themselves out. A volunteer who is burnt out is a volunteer who is useless. So, regardless of their desire to work, allow them to have time off. Force them to have a vacation and go enjoy themselves.

3) Face-To-Face: In large churches, especially, it is easy for a pastor or full-time staffer to organize volunteers without actually ever seeing them. They go from phone call to phone call signing people up for volunteer voids and then before you know it, they haven't seen a single person face-to-face. The personal contact is a necessity in order to create relationships between people. Meet people face-to-face.

4) Work Alongside: This goes with the face-to-face contact, but more importantly, you must serve with the volunteers. You have to do what the volunteers do in order for them to respect you and feel motivated. By showing them that you care about what they do, you are showing them that you care about them. Get your hands dirty. A supervisor that never gets his hands dirty is someone that isn't respected.

5) Schedule: If you give volunteers a schedule they will feel more in control of their time. If they know when and where they have to volunteer next, they will be more reliable and willing. So often, churches will call volunteers in the last minute, and they will not be able to come. Or, if they can come, they will not be effective. It is a bad situation for the church and the volunteer. So, motivate them by letting them know when they are supposed to volunteer next.

These are just a few of the many tips that Aaron had. Essentially, you just need to respect volunteers and view them as people and not tools.

Week 7 (Thursday)

1.When you’re at college if you don’t get along with someone, it’s so easy just to go to your room and shut the door (unless it’s your roommate, then you just avoid them until the last possible moment). At church, you can’t ignore them, you see them all the time, and there is no getting away from them.

2.When you’re at college and you don’t get along with someone, you can just ignore them by walking away before they talk to you, never leave your room, hang out with other friends, etc. However, when you are at the church, you can only go so far with that before you hurt the other person.


3.When you are at college, it’s so easy to be friends on a superficial level with those who fit your personality and form a clique that fits you. However, when you are in a church you don’t always have that option, you work with those who you have to work with and sometimes you may not always like the people you have to work with in a group setting.

Church Conflict Story (Tyler)

I interviewed Aaron Cloud on February 24th. It was difficult for Aaron to come up with an example of conflict in his church. It is a small church in which the majority of people are related to each other or in some way close friends that have been there for a long time. However, there are small "kinks" in the system that seem to cause some strife every once in a while. One of those examples involved the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army had asked Aaron if they could give a short presentation before the congregation one Sunday in order to share some of the wonderful things that they are doing. Aaron asked the board and the board approved it. However, there is a woman in the church who is not a part of the board, but feels the need to know everything that is happening in the church every Sunday. Well, somehow the word did not get to this woman that the Salvation Army man was going to be speaking. Well, she didn't like it one bit when that man went up to talk. She was "thrown off" and had no idea what to think. It really wasn't that big of a deal, but they created some emotional strife among the members of the board and the congregation. In fact, during the testimony of the Salvation Army man, this woman verbally said, "Good grief". Now, this seems harmless, but it is still harmful to the congregation and the visitor. It was sort of a shame to see and experience. After church she actually approached Aaron and said, "I have four members of my family on the board and not one of them told me that the Salvation Army man was coming today! What do you think about that?" Aaron really didn't know what to say so he simply apologized. I was impressed with how Aaron and the congregation handled her, but I was a little disappointed in the way she acted both publicly and privately. I'm not sure the S.A man knew what was going on, but he certainly felt some tension. It is a shame that conflict can arise and ruin what potentially could be a great moment for the church.

Week 7 (Michael Berens) Church Conflict

Week 7
Michael Berens
Church conflict story
Tuesday February 23, 2009

I spoke with Chris Demarse on February 4th, 2009

At a church near here there is a rotation of worship leaders that lead every couple of weeks on Sunday mornings. Mainly there are younger College aged students that lead, but there are a few older men and women. One particular couple that lead together on a pretty regular basis were beginning to have some problems. They seemed to do ok until emotional issues started to service. Apparently at previous churches this couple had been scorned and burned. Like humans do, they carried it with them and brought there past hurts into their worship. They started to become unruly and it was very evident that whatever sores they had were being wiped onto the church they were in now.
What is a pastor to do? Well talking was one of the pastor suggestions, but somewhere along the way it never happened. The couple did not get scheduled to lead again for the next few months and were very upset. Their worship was extremely distracting and hurtful in the service and they did not understand that. A younger pastor now has to talk to them about their emotional past hurts and their worship leading. That is a hard situation to be in.
It is not resolved yet and is breeding discomfort in the relationship that couple has with the church. Something needs to change for them to be able to come back and be leaders again. Something needs to be resolved in their past.

Week 6 (Thursday)

When I enter into the ministry full-time, I’m sure that there will be a shift back towards 70s, maybe, or else it’ll just stay the same. The change in approach to administrative work came probably because of the baby boomers coming into their careers and wanting to look more important or something like that. They wanted to be “official” by doing office work, hence the home office was taken to the church office and made to look more professional. The pastor stopped spending all his time in preparation for sermons and began to take care of administrative tasks as well. If anything happens during my time, I would love to see the administrative tasks that the pastor does be lightened or become more balanced, some pastors spend a lot of hours doing administrative tasks and not too much time preparing for sermons. That is where I hope it will go eventually.

If I was to think of an ideal situation when it comes to hours spent in doing church work, this would be my ideal world. I would want to spend as little as possible in Administration tasks (1-7 hours), and would prefer to spend most, if not all of my time preparing for ministries and sermons (39-33 hours). I am not really interested all that much in administrative tasks, because sometimes I think that they are nothing more than a time waster, but that’s my opinion and my perfect world, unfortunately that’s not the world we live in today.

Week 6 (Tuesday)

I interviewed Pastor Mary Eileen Spence on Sunday, February 15

1. How do you set boundaries in your schedule so you are not totallycontrolled by others?
a. She sets boundaries every time she’s in the office; however, she sometimes breaks those boundaries. She has gotten better over the years concerning the boundaries she sets. Makes a set time (or tries to, doesn’t always work) for meetings on a weekly basis. Sets aside 3 days a week, for several hours to do administrative work. She sets aside time in the early morning hours for devotions and exercise time, because otherwise she might not ever get it in.

2. Two best pieces of advice for a new church staffer to efficiently get their work done in the time available.
a. Set times for answering telephone calls and coorespondence and doing mundane administrative work. Do them all at once if possible. Try to respond to someone the same day or at the very least the next day. Get the monkey off your back.
b. Close your door at work or your home office. Avoid the temptation to do home tasks when in your home office, at the office the door closed usually means no interruptions. However if someone does interrupt, be quick in assessing whether or not its something that needs to be attended to or to invite them to set an appointment.

Office Work (Tyler)

My "ideal" office work situation is going to look different, because I don't really see myself in the traditional view of a local church. If I am hearing God's call correctly, I'm supposed to make my ministry a coffee shop/bakery of some sort. Because this is the case, my time spent in the "office" will look a little different. I think that mostly I will be available to pray or discuss things any time that I'm not making bread or coffee. I'll be pretty available to love and talk at all points during the day. I'm pretty excited about this fact. There have been many times where I have gone to talk to my pastor about an issue that I felt was urgent and he simply told me that I would need to come back during his "office hours". This really hurt. When did ministry begin to have "office hours"? Even our professors in the religion department don't have office hours, technically. They have an open door policy that says, if my door is open, you are welcome to come in. I love and would embrace this philosophy. If my door/building/business is open, you are welcome to come in and feel love and compassion. People that seem closed out usually are closed out. Pastors can easily shut themselves out from the world and reverse the very thing they have been called to do. In this individualistic society, it doesn't surprise me to hear of this shift in culture, but it does disappoint me. As a future pastor, I hope to be one of many people reversing this shift.

Week 6 Office Work Michael Berens

Week 6
Michael Berens
Thursday, 19, 2009

Office Work

I think the shift in the church was a shift that culture induced. The shift from the seventies to the eighties was a bi product of the increase in communication over the phones. Also people had more of a business mind about church during the eighties and nineties. Recently, another change is brewing. The relational church is on the move. The church still may utilize the phones like they use to, but face-to-face, intimate interaction is what people want. Authenticity does not translate on the phone. People want to know that their pastor is real. I wonder if more pastors will be hired to be conversationalists rather than entrepreneurs.

In an ideal church I would be in the church office about 25 percent of the hours I am required to be in. I feel like my ideal life as a pastor still involves being bi vocational. I would still like to work a job outside of the church. I see this as a means fro getting a paycheck and a way to be connected to the community around the church. Even if the hours only add up to a short percentage of the week, it is still worth it to be involved in something outside of the church office. The other part of the 75 percent of not being in the office will be meeting with people over meals and coffee. I would also like to do a daily community project for the least, last and the lost. It would be a way that I could continually serve rather than just a Saturday to appease my serving quota. Finally the actual 25 percent that I would spend in the office would be to tend the administrative tasks. Phone calls, emails, and preparation for the up coming Sunday would fill the majority of that time. Whatever other time is left goes to creating the church staff family and relationships. It would be about a fifty hour a week commitment between my side job, church business, and relationships.

Time Management Advice

Michael Berens
Week 6
February 17, 2009

Time Management Advice

Chris Demarse
February 11, 2009

Boundaries
1.Chris mentioned that he has certain days where he can meet with people. When someone asks him to meet he brings up those two days and gives them a time within that structure. This helps with sporadic meetings and also helps create freedom on other days. Sometimes on the days he meets with people he becomes over booked and figures out another time if it is pertinent, otherwise he sticks to the two-day rule. Being bi-vocational is a time nightmare if he is not careful. Besides meeting with people, he does random things for the church that a normal church staff would have other pastors do. So he does not plan as well at nights, other than having set times throughout the week to especially be with his wife. Wednesday night is staff meeting, Thursday night is bible study and Sunday night is either board meeting or prayer at the church. Other than that he tries to keep free for his wife, if he can. The church does call at odd times. If a pipe bursts or a wall needs to be mended he goes. So these boundaries are more for meeting with people rather than small church tasks that continually need to get done.

Two pieces of Advice
2.The first is that you need to have a plan and try to stick to it as best you can. It can be tentative, but when you make it, say I am going to stick to it. The second is; learn to say no. The problem with new staff members is that they don’t understand that they cannot handle taking every project the pastor throws out at staff meeting. Take only what you can and say no to the rest until you get what you said yes to, done. New staffers can get lost in the sea of jobs and responsibilities right away. Ease into understanding the new schedule and work load.

Time Management Advice (Tyler)

Who did you interview and when? (I interviewed Pastor Aaron Cloud and the date was February 16th, 2009)

1) How do you set boundaries in your schedule so you are not totally controlled by others?
One of the ways that Aaron sets boundaries in his schedule is by blocking out times in his actual calendar. By doing this he is able to actually declare himself as "busy" during certain times of the day. For example, he has a time slot from 12-4 every Tuesday and Thursday as "busy". He actually uses this time to do study and catch up on some internet research. This is important time to him that allows him to stay grounded and true to himself. If he didn't have this time, then he would be overused and abused. It is a difficult time being the only pastor of a relatively small church in the middle of nowhere. There are many issues that are tied to the difficulty of this fact. One of the issues is the fact that living in the country, Aaron has to travel great distances in order to simply visit a group of people. I have been with him on a weekend when he put in close to one hour worth of travel. This was a startling fact for me. I don't know where I will "do" church, but if it is in the country, I need to be prepared to travel a ton. The travel time is something that Aaron anticipates and includes in his boundaries. If he knows that there is going to be a lot of time spent traveling, then he is going to have to include that time in his visiting. If he says that he is going to visit multiple people, then he needs to factor that into his boundaries. It would be extremely easy to become controlled by others in serving a small church. Because he is the only pastor, he is the only person that people call on when there is an issue that needs taken care of. So, his boundaries could be easily jumped if the congregation desired to get in touch with him. If someone in the congregation decided that they needed Aaron to come to his house, they know where to reach him and what his hours are. While this is convenient for them, it is a direct line to Aaron's time. He must be careful, and he intentionally sets up strict boundaries in order to prevent the abuse of these boundaries.

2) Time Management Advice
Two of the best pieces of advice for a new church staffer that Aaron recommends is both publishing his calendar and scheduling time for himself. Aaron mentioned that when he took his church leadership class, Dr. Drury mentioned the fact that he would block out entire hours in his daily schedule that was purely meant for writing and research. So, Aaron practices this as well (like I mentioned above). He blocks out that 12-4 time slot in order to have time saved for himself. If it wasn't for this time he would be constantly busy with ministry stuff. One of the ways he lets people know that he doesn't have entire hours dedicated to just traveling and ministry is through letting his calendar be public. When people see that he has events planned for studying and relaxation by himself, they know that this is his time and not theirs. This has come in handy in being able to tell people "no". Instead of Aaron saying, "no", he can simply tell them to look at his schedule and see if he has time. If he does, then he can say "yes". If he doesn't, then he can say "no". He lets the calendar do the talking.

Week 5 - People (Thursay)

If you are typing up a bulleting an you are printing the songs for the week inside the bulletin, you could think of the needs of the elderly people in your congregation. What I mean is that you could print off the songs and the bulletin in large print so that a person who has a hard time seeing can read the words. Another way is dealing with answering the phone; instead of sounding harsh and judgmental, you can try to be more accommodating; even if people might not always be the nicest when on the phone. Basically what I am saying is that when you are doing administrative work, do it for the LORD, but also have the right attitude when you are working on those things; and remember to try and meet peoples needs when you are doing administrative work (larger print, louder volume when on the phone, etc).

People Essay (Tyler)

It is a difficult thing to involve people in what is essentially a people-less task. Administrative tasks may deal with people indirectly, but it is hardly ever directly involved with focusing directly on people. As I was thinking about how to make people more involved in the administrative side of ministry, a couple of ideas came to mind. One of my ideas was practical and one of my ideas was more philosophical. The practical idea involved the minister doing the administrative task in some social setting. Now, I don't mean going to a party and pulling out your laptop to “get some work done”. But I would suggest a pastor on his office hours doing his administrative paper-work at a coffee shop. Some of the greatest ministry I have ever seen has been at a coffee shop just sitting there reading or typing. If we could get this type of contact in a simple coffee shop interaction while completing administrative work, I think we are killing two birds with one stone. You are ministering to people, and you are getting work done. I'm not sure how truly impactive this could be to people, but it is certainly a step in the right direction. I'm sure there are better ways and more creative ways, but doing administrative work in a coffee shop is a start. Secondly, my philosophical idea deals with doing administrative work as a way to create and facilitate the focus back on people. If it wasn't for administrative work, then it would difficult for some of the church programs that deal solely on the development and growth of people with one another to succeed. You need to sometimes just crank away at a project that you know will be successful at bringing people together. It may seem ironic that you must get away from people in order to complete this task, but sometimes solitude is necessary in a situation like this. So, while there is no actual human contact, the work that you are doing will create human contact that is improved because of the time you spend in administrative work. It's almost like agreeing to go through a lonely time to create a lot less lonely times.

People (Michael Berens)

Week 5
Michael Berens
Thursday Essay
02/11/09

People

I think that it is about an understanding that the things that Church administration accomplishes eventually lead to helping people. Of course church revolves around people. That is why a church prints out a bulletin, or creates a database for people to meet each other. Church Administration gets a bad rap for being the boring parts of being a pastor, but I think it is just part of the stepping stones that are part of the path of leading to God’s kingdom.

If you were to meet with people the whole time that you spent in ministry, I think you would burn out. Church administration relieves a pastor of giving himself or herself too much socially, emotionally and spiritually. It breaks up the work of a pastor’s shepherding. God may give grace, but I think that God also gives administrative breaks in the relationship building process.
Church administration can be worship in itself. If you look at what the Levites had to do in the temple (exodus and Numbers), you would see that most of the things they did were routine jobs that involved cleaning and packing up the tabernacle. To them the honor of taking care of the Tabernacle was worshipping God the way they were supposing to. The special stuff they got to do, like teaching torah and entering the holy of holies, one day of the year, has a much smaller section in the first five books of the bible. The Levites worshipped God in every process and in turn helped the people.

If we see that Church administration is a means to an end then it becomes a lot easier to do. If we realize that it is important to serve the “people” by dong some of the mundane church work, then we see that Church is not just having coffee or sitting at a table. It is about paying the water bill so that you can fill up the baptismal pool fro everyone to be baptized in. It is about making sermon DVDs so that people can hear the word all week. Eventually, when your mind transfers to the “means to an end” approach, then church administration becomes a lot easier to do.

Hours Worked in Ministry (Tyler)

I met with pastor Aaron Cloud on February 8th, 2009. We were able to sit down and talk after he had just given his message to his congregation.

I asked him about an average week as a pastor and what he does as far as ministry hours are concerned. Something that makes Aaron unique is the fact that he is actually only part-time according to his pay-scale and expected hours. However, this does not show in the amount of work he actually puts in. Regardless of the fact that Aaron is only paid part time, he works his job as if he is a full-time employee of the Wesleyan Church.

Here are a few of his hours broken into different categories:

Study(Alone): 7 Hours
Aaron spends a decent amount of his part-time work doing study. He finds this to be one of the more enjoyable aspects of ministry and likes to dedicate a decent amount of time to it.

Administrative/Office Work: 2 Hours
Because it is a rather small church of about 40 people, there is not a whole lot of administrative work to be done at the church. Aaron considers paying his bills for the church and helping the church treasurer with money issues as one of his administrative duties.

Services: 2 Hours
There is a brief youth service on Wednesday nights and then a typical Sunday morning service every Sunday. Aaron usually considers Sunday to be a full 8 hour work day because of his preparation on that day and the house calls that I will talk about in a little bit.

People: 6 Hours
Aaron spends much of his time with people. Because he lives in a rural area, there is need to travel great distances and this takes up a majority of his time. Then he chooses to stay with most people from between a half hour and an hour. These visits (even if they are only twice a week) are very time consuming, but necessary.

What Else: 2 Hours?
What I listed above is pretty much an accurate description of the duties that Aaron has to deal with on a typical week. If there is a hospital call/visit, that usually adds a few hours to his week, but besides that, it is pretty predictable and typical.

1. I noticed the comment that Michael made concerning Chris being bi-vocational. This same fact applies to Aaron. While he isn't bi-vocational, he is only part time. It is sort of a shame that he is only paid part-time, because he works as if he is a full time employee. I know he doesn't mind and that he loves his job, it just doesn't seem entirely fair.
2. Aaron spends much of his time traveling, and yet still considers it time spent in ministry. The simple fact of traveling to see someone who lives out in the middle of nowhere says something about Aaron's heart. It doesn't matter where you live, God loves you and Aaron wants to share that love.
3. Finally, Aaron works with such a humble heart. He loves the people that he minsters to, and if it wasn't for the bills that he must pay, he would do it for free (don't let the district know I said that). He has such a compassionate heart, and each and every hour that he spends is worth something, and I find that to be inspirational.

Week 5 - Hours Worked in Ministry (Tuesday) - oops forgot the observations

Oops, I forgot the observations.

1. You spend A LOT of time doing ministry, whatever form it may come in; there is no off button to your ministry as a pastor.

2. You have to be willing to either share the duties or find some way so that you don't burn yourself out, because if you are not careful it could lead to a burn out rather quickly.

3. The majority of the work it seems is Administration based or people based. Sure you may spend time getting ready for the service, but overall you are working for the people.

Week 5 - Hours Worked in Ministry (Tuesday)

I interviewed Pastor Mary Eileen Spence on February 1, 2009.

Study: (part of services)
Administrative/Office: 12 hours (5-6 hours in meetings or committees)
Services: spends a minimum of 12 hours
People: 6-8 hours
What Else? Remaining hours spent on visitations, other administrative work, etc.

Spends a total of 40-50 hours a week on ministry in general.

Here’s what she said, see if you can make heads or tails of it.
“As far as the hours specifically spent on some items I am not sure I can give that to you accurately. I know I spend a minimum of 12 hours preparing for worship, bible studies etc. Over the week I probably spend at least 6-8 hours meeting with people for various reasons on an individual basis. Most weeks I probably spend 5-6 hours in some sort of committee or other called church meetings. On average I spend another 12 hours on administrative type duties. With any remaining hours I try to do visitations. I probably spend much more time on administration than I think, especially in answering e-mails since so much of our communication is now done this way. If any area suffers it is probably the area of visitations, especially to our homebound and nursing home patients. This past week I spent a day with my clergy peer covenant group which is done on a monthly basis. I am sorry I can not be more definitive on some of these times but I do know. I also know I probably spend at least 45-50 hours each week doing ministry. I have very few weeks that actually equal out to 40 hours a week.”

Week 5 Hours Worked in Ministry

Michael Berens
Week 5
Tuesday 10, 2009

Hours Worked in Ministry

Met with Chris Demarse
On Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

Study: 9 hours
The church also meets with other churches to study together for the scripture passage that week for three hours

Administrative/ Office: 3-4 hours
He does emailing, scheduling volunteers and writing devotional stuff.

Services: 6-7 hours for Sunday worship 3-4 for Thursday night Bible Study

People: 3 hours for staff meeting; 7 hours for one on one meetings, such as worship leading and practicum students

What else: 15 hours
Because it is a smaller church He does Maintenance and other church management duties that take up around this time. He also does coffee management and equipment maintenance. He also does odd jobs that come up unexpectedly for the church. They call him a Jack-of-all-trades,

Three observations

1. It takes many extra hours to do the small things in the church, even if you are bi-vocational. You would think that working another job would take up all your time and energy, but I guess there is always room for things to do.
2. The smallest, most insignificant things that you do in the church may take the longest. Something like mopping a floor in the sanctuary can take four hours. Meeting with a student or someone new to the church may only take one fourth of that time. What seems more important? It needs to be done and someone has to do it.
3. Studying and the worship service planning may take up most of my time as a pastor. That seems right but I have heard that administrative things take the most time. Maybe because it is a bi-vocational church that gets flip flopped and the time given is to the social aspects of the church.

Week 4 - Staff Report to the Board (Thursday)

A Staff Report to the Board or a Staff Report to the Pastor should include details of what is going on in their ministry. If it’s the youth pastor, they should include such things as: average attendance, how many accepted the Lord as their savior, upcoming youth events, results on last youth event, ministries that are attached to the youth ministry. I have seen a staff report that was very, very vague. There was basically just a list of what might be going on, the results from the last youth event and when the next youth leadership team meeting was. It wasn’t very detailed, and the youth director wasn’t even there to present it. If you are giving a report, I think that you should attempt to be there to give the report yourself, though I don’t really know all that much on boards and reporting to the board.

What that report should accomplish is tell the board what exactly is going on, how the ministry is going so far, is there any signs of growth or is there a decrease. It should be as detailed as necessary so that if you aren’t there, the board can understand what your report is trying to convey. But as I said, I know little to nothing about boards and reporting to them, I guess that where taking this class comes in.

Staff Report to a board: Michael

Week four
Michael Berens
02/05/09

Staff Report to a board

Here are some guidelines I found on various sites concerning reports. The basic idea is to simplify and keep a template that can be used from week to week so that the board can read the report more effectively. Organization and simplicity is the key.

• Limit the body of your report to two pages, including an abstract. Because Board members receive so many reports, they appreciate brevity.

• Provide the following information in your report:
o Indicate whether the report is an information or action report:
o Information Report. Most reports are information reports. They update the Board on the progress of the committee.
o Action report: Only those reports requesting funding or a policy change are action reports. Procedural changes are usually handled by Advisory Committees. For example, a change to the names of tracks in a conference would be approved by the conference committee, not the Board.


• Abstract: The abstract summarizes the main points of the report. For example, if you manage the Operations Manual Committee and the main point of the report is that the first drafts of your manuals are complete, that's the crux of your abstract. If you have an action item, the abstract should include the proposed motion. The rationale would be described in the detailed report or attachments.

• List of goals. This list should be the same in each report to the Board. This list tells the Board what you propose to accomplish in the coming year and when you plan to accomplish it.

• Accomplishment towards goals. Describe the accomplishments made towards each goal, and a preview of accomplishments expected before the next Board meeting. For example, although you might plan to publish a manual by the end of the year, it will go through a series of drafts. Let the Board know which draft has been completed.

• List of committee members. Identify not only the names but also their chapters.
• Send in your report by the deadline. This is really a practical matter. If you mail the report late, it might not be received in time for Board members to review it before the meeting.

• The purpose of Board meetings is to review the status of the organization. The reports of each committee provide Board members with most of the information on which they base their assessment.

http://saulcarliner.home.att.net/leadership/committeereportformat.htm
http://philanthropy.com/forums/index.php?topic=424.0

Staff Report to a Board (Tyler)

Reports are the most common types of documents that we are required to create, writing about what we do at work most of the time. There are many different kinds of reports; each report has a different structure, depending on its purpose, audience and discipline. For example, in economics and business, you may have to write a financial report on a given financial situation. In chemical engineering, you may be required to write a technical report. But whatever the topic, the purpose is to provide factual information: telling someone the facts about something.

For many of us in public human services, writing a board report is often the hardest of all types of writing, because in these reports we are not allowed or required to be persuasive, critical and analytical or to effect change. Most of us were trained to write with such aims; when suddenly we are asked to write plainly in a reporting style--merely to inform, we often lose our way.

To make matters worse, board reports are expected to be crisp, fast reading, devoid of all the usual details, adornments and secondary- and third-tier information that we are used to adding whenever we write. This straight-laced, crisp style makes it even harder for us.

The challenge in writing a report is in the way in which we analyze the information and then organize it in a logical way to present to our reader. Often amateur writing is killed by a gaggle of secondary detail, an emphasis on how something is announced rather than what is said, and an entanglement in the chronology of an event. Imagine wading through seaweed. If you follow the tips below, you may be able to craft a crisp, fast-reading, informative report that pleases your boss and the board of directors.

Things to remember:

1. Simplicity, clarity and conciseness

2. There are three types of language: pompous, pedantic and plain. Stick with plain

3. Good grammar (e.g., "between you and me," not "between you and I")

4. Good spelling (e.g., misspelling, not mispelling)

5. Economy of words. If you can reduce a sentence to a clause without losing the context, do it. If you can reduce a clause to a phrase, do it. If you can reduce a phrase into one word, do it

6. Steer clear of fad words, cliches and overused words that have been drained of all blood (delete "strategic," "strategically" whenever you see it.)

7. Trim little qualifiers

8. Show, don't tell. And don't overstate; it comes across like advertising copy

9. Use active verbs. Avoid adjectives and adverbs

10. Eliminate archaic phrases

11. Avoid exclamation marks, dashes, quote marks, italics, boldface types, underlines and anything that you think would draw the reader's attention. They are amateurish, and serve as a distraction

The following might help us craft a clear report structure:

1. Start with a short, one-paragraph summary

2. Group similar activities under headings

3. Differentiate between categories (major meetings, preview)

4. Whenever possible, use bullet points rather than huge paragraphs

5. Try to limit to three to four sentences per item

6. If different staffers write your items, edit, shorten and standardize their versions before you submit

The following might help you garner an appreciative note from the board:

1. Focus on accomplishments, not activities. What was achieved, not how it was done

2. Say who resigned, who got hired, how long the person has been there. Leave everything else at the office

3. Keep your report short

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/169679298.html

Week 4 - Administrative Work (Tuesday)

I interviewed Pastor Mary Eileen on Sunday, February 1, 2009.

- Answering Telephones (throughout office hours)
- Cleaned parts of the Church
- Meet with People
- Do Church business
- Prepare for Meetings
- Committees at the District Level and Conference Level
- Spends time in the church office working on some things (typing, copying, etc.)

She didn’t give exact answers on how long she spends on each, but she did tell me what she does administratively. She couldn’t answer them after the service because she was drained after preaching, so has asked me to conduct these interviews by email or by phone. This was done by email.

Even though you may be the senior pastor or the solo pastor of a small church, that doesn’t mean that you can’t get off easy when it comes to administration work; you still have to do, even if you might not want to. It’s apart of your job description. I also observed that in some cases the administrative work can be more than your studying time, but most likely it will not be like that.

Week four

Michael Berens
Week 4
02/03/09

Administrative work

Pre- Statement
I go to a church where the staff of the church is bi-vocational. The outcome of the hours actually worked in the church building are far different than how many hours are put into the church. The staff is eight people strong right now and the burden is shared so that everyone ca still have jobs so the church does not have to fully support them.

1.I met with Rachel and Chris Demarse, Wednesday 28th, 2009. They are the associate pastors at Exit 59

2. The List and the Totaled Time
a. Making sure everything is running
i. Muffins Mingle
ii. Coffee on Sundays
iii. Cleaning the church
iv. Administering volunteers in Ministries
v. Preparation for Wednesday staff meeting
vi. Maintenance
vii. Treasury
viii. Stock supplies
ix. Shoveled sidewalks
x. Chairs on Sundays
xi. The detailed things of the church
xii. Connections between folk
b. News letter writer
c. On the Budget committee
d. Staff Meetings

Total Time: 20 hours a week

3. Observations on What I saw and heard:
a. To be a Bi-vocational Pastor would be tough. The hours seem low compared to a full time pastor but add an extra 20 hours onto a 40 hour a week schedule and bam, you got yourself one tired couple. I think they have developed a pattern and a way to be together in serving the church. Also I think these responsibilities are shared with other staff members throughout the month.

b. There is a lot to think about when it comes to church administration. I wonder how I would keep it all on track. I have noticed that the pastors I have been around lately have some sort of planner on them at all times. The IPhone may be a bit pricey for a starting pastor but I think a simple notepad could do the same. As long as I find a system, I think I could manage these types of jobs in the church.

c. Lastly, I have noticed that these pastors are incredible delegators. In fact that is what our staff is made of. There is no way that a staff of eight people; working extra jobs could do all that the church needs. The ministries alone would be a killer. At Exit 59, the motto is if you feel called, please start and run it. We will support you in any way we can. So, I learned that administration is not only doing things yourself, but asking for help and being relieved of duties as well.

Administrative Interview (Tyler)

I interviewed Aaron Cloud on Monday February 2nd, 2009.

1.Pay Bills/Financial Records (2 hours): Aaron spends a good amount of his time on dealing with financial records and bills. Everyday he feels as if there was a new bill that came into the mail that day. He usually opens it and makes sure that there isn't any irregularities in the bill and then gives the paper to the treasurer. He doesn't do too much with the bills directly, but he is aware of the financial situation of his church.
2.Attendance (1 Hour): Aaron likes to keep a good record of the attendance in his church. He likes to watch as the attendance both rises and falls from week to week. Because he is an analyzer, he usually tries to figure out why one week was larger than the next. If he is able to discern why the population grew one week, he will then try to emulate that the next week. This is the type of clerical analysis he does.
3.Pastoral Preparation (15 Hours): While this isn't much of an administrative task, it does involve a lot of book and word study. He spends a good amount of time on the computer and in his library studying.
4.Phone Calls (2 Hours): Sometimes there are members in his church that will want to call and ask about the upcoming service or may have a question concerning a recent fundraiser. These phone calls are random but frequent and take up about 2 hours a week.

Observations: I was actually surprised at how little amount of administrative work that Aaron has to do. He is the pastor at a relatively small church and as a result, there is not much to do in the sense of administration. Perhaps the most trying tasks of his job is actually finding some administrative things to do. If he paces himself, he is able to create a busy week that leaves him feeling fulfilled. But, if he rushes and does to much on the front end, he is left void. There is a balance between the pastoral role and the administrative role, and Aaron handles that balance extraordinarily well.

Parliamentary Law (Tyler Murphy)

I believe that if the main point of this restructuring of parliamentary law is that all people believe the same thing because the Spirit is guiding them as one, you must look at how the Spirit is sought.

So Step 1 of the new restructuring of the law is: Seeking the Spirit as One:
Unless everyone prays together, it is very difficult to know where the Spirit is leading collectively. So, Step 1 is pray collectively.

Step 2: Share Collectively
Everyone who feels as if they feel the Spirit moving a certain direction should be permitted to share, but also realize that unity is being sought.

Step 3: Listen Collectively
While God may not speak the same language to everyone, he certainly does remain unwaivering in His thoughts and actions. So listen for themes that may connect all thoughts and movements together.

Step 4: Discuss Collectively
After everyone who shares has shared and all have listened. Discuss what you heard as common themes amongst the group. If there are apparent common themes, then clearly these are the ones to be followed. If not, then you must discuss further or pray further until a theme or resolution is found. Often times, it seems as if there is no resolution to be found, and if that is the case, then a "mistrial" is called and the case is closed. In this belief, if God does not speak absolutely clearly about a particular issue, then it must not be important enough to stress about and can be dropped without worry.

Step 5: Elder Confirmation
The Elders of the church must confirm every theme and thought to be true and possibly "of God". The Elders are chosen by God and are Biblically responsible for the furthering of the church. Thereby, they should hold the most responsibility in deciding whether or not the perceived leadings are truly of God and should be followed.

Step 6: Action
Regardless of previous belief or opinion, after a decision is made, all must follow and see it through to success. If we are one body, we must act as one body and make sure that we work as one Body. This is the final and most important step in the process.

Three Problems:
1) The Elders: Leaving the final decision up to the Elders is a dangerous one, because you are putting an enormous amount of faith and responsibility into the hands of broken people. While they do hold high positions in the church, they are still just as human as every single congregation member present. So potentially, you have a human making a decision against what the divine has declared.

2) The "Dropped" Process: If a consensus is not made, then the problem is dropped and a "mistrial" is called. This could happen often and as a result, there could be an array of important issues that are simply put to the wayside and never talked about again. This is how a budget crisis could turn into a scandal or an incompetent pastor could turn into the Achilles heel or the church. Perhaps there should be no issue that goes unresolved.

3) Allowing All People to Speak: While this is certainly good, it could take a long time. If every single person is hearing from God and have a variety of thoughts and words from Him, it is possible that nothing ever gets past the talking stage and essentially the "bill" sits in congress and does nothing. It is good that all get to speak, but potentially bad because of the simply logistical time issues involved.

Week Three- Michael Berens

Michael Berens
Week 3
Thursday 01/29/09

The New Spirit Lead Parliamentary Law Process

If I were running a meeting that involved Spirit led Prayer and decision making, I would first start out with an agenda of what need to be talked about. So…

Agenda first:
Come up with a list of things that needed to be addressed before the meeting ever came together. It should be concise and ready for more details to fill in the blanks

Prayer Individualized:
Pray over the list and ask God what else needs to be added to the list. If prayer is enacted from the beginning it becomes Spirit Led.

Come together as a group:
When everyone has arrived gather together first in prayer, then read the passage Matthew 18:20, which says, "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." Someone should say something encouraging about how God is amongst those who are gathered here. This does not need to be the passage read every time, but it should have something to do with communal decisions.

Now it is time for the meeting rules:
So if prayer was fully involved in the beginning process of the meeting is time to start a simple discussion of the items on the agenda. The leader that has prayed over the items states the first item and then someone stands up and asks the Lord to guide them. The same man makes a statement about how it is a good idea and a bad idea. This way there is no one that can lean fully on one side. If everyone can see both perspectives, there may be peace. At the end of the discussion, everyone writes down what seemed like the stronger case. No vote is taken, but after everyone has had time to think, the same prayer filled leader will ask everyone to read aloud what they have written. The leader will then say what the outcome was over all and that will be the decision. Everyone has input and everyone should see both sides. God truly decides after all.

So the list is:
Prayer
Agenda items
Discussion showing both good and bad for each item
Writings
Prayer
Decision by the prayer filled leader

Three problems:
1.Basically it is like a secret democracy with prayer. I am unsure if you can fully escape the democracy thing.
2. Discussions may go too long
3. People may not be honest in their pros and cons of each agenda item

Week 3 - Church Board Meeting

The board meeting I went to was very boring, in my opinion, but then again things like that have never interested me; but we won’t go there. Anyway, what I wanted to talk about is the procedure of the board meeting. The first thing that the board did was have Pastor Mary lead them in prayer, for God to guide them in the meeting. Then the secretary handed out the minutes from last meeting to see if there are any changes to the minutes that need to be changed. After everyone looked over the minutes, some moves to accept the minutes, then the head of the board (not the Pastor) asks for a second. When its been seconded, then it has been “approved”.

After the minutes are taken care of, then they move into the agenda, things like the budget, the youth group and their progress, the worship leader, and many other topics on which they are voting, I guess you could say. They move through any decisions that have to made have to have a motion and a second to that motion before they are accepted and move on to the next item on the agenda. If there are any committees or any pastors that have to give a report for what is going on in their ministries, then when they get to that point, then the person would give his/her report to the board. And on and on this goes, as I said it gets boring and very dry, when I begin to pastor a church, the thing I am not looking forward to the most is possibly the board meetings and other meetings similar to these. Administration things like this do not interest me, they bore me to tears. But anyway, when the meeting was getting ready to close, they opened the floor for anything they might have missed. Once everyone had said what they wanted to say, they then adjourned the meeting and everyone went their separate ways.

Attend A Board Meeting (Tyler)

The church board meeting that I attended was at Davis Wesleyan Church in Hamlet, IN. The church board meeting was on a Wednesday night in one of the Sunday School rooms where children are usually taught on Sunday mornings. Davis Wesleyan Church is a relatively small congregation. The same is true for the Board of Directors. The Board is made up of about 6 people (I'm not sure if all were present at this meeting). Besides the pastor, Aaron Cloud, there are about four women. This is one of the biggest surprises for me personally. I am proud of Davis Wesleyan Church for the diversity in both sex and age. Aaron is by far the youngest member of the board (about 23), and there is a member in her 60s. I loved the thought of how this diversity might play itself into discussions.

I was expecting the meeting to be very formal and structured. My expectations were not completely met. I have attended a board meeting at a church of about 7,000 people, and that was like attending a board meeting for a Fortune 500 company. However, this was a little more casual than that previous meeting that I had joined. This was more low-key and informal. While they did bring official business into the meeting, it wasn't in an extremely structured matter. They began the meeting by saying, “What is first on the agenda?”. This was the starting point and it just went on from there. I was expecting sort of a Robert's Rules of Organizational Structure. But I did not hear any sort of official start and end to the meeting.

Decisions were made by voting. But before a vote was called for, there was a discussion about the issue. However, there were not many issues to be discussed. One of the issues that was raised was concerning the use of the building for weddings and other congregational meetings. Apparently a recent couple that had gotten married in the church took down the Christmas decorations that were put up by the congregation member, Billie. When Billie came to church on the following Sunday, she realized that many of the decorations were put away incorrectly. This bothered her and she wanted to make sure that it didn't happen again next year. She has a very particular way of putting the Christmas decorations away, and she would like to be involved in that process. In essence, this was the most “controversial” issue of the evening. Past that, they discussed some of the issues and events dealing with AWANA's and Sunday School meetings. They are excited about how there is a growing congregation every week. The average is almost up to 40 now. They briefly discussed the ways to keep those numbers high. Then the meeting ended with prayer requests. This actually seemed to be the most important part of the evening. The members of the board truly seemed to care about each other and asked how each other were doing. I loved to see this and joined them in the prayer to close the meeting.

Some of the observations that I had was how informal it was. However, I know this is typically not the norm. I understand that most churches use Robert's Rules to run meetings. But, this is not the case at Davis Wesleyan and it works for them very well. I learned that people are the main parts of meetings and business, while important, is secondary. This was evidenced by the fact that they spent the majority of the time discussing issues relating to the church in general and the board as a group.

Week 3 (Church fight (originally taken from week 10))

Michael Berens
Week 3- Church Fight

I interviewed Rachel Demarse, a pastor at Exit 59
On Friday the 16th of January, 2009

I go to a relatively new church, so the problems that build up over the years are just not as existent. I did however hear about one story involving a ministry that is still going on. I asked Rachel about it and she told me the details, though they will not all be available to the public eyes of this blog. It is relatively short fight but it seems to still linger around.

It is now time for Background:
We have a ministry called Muffin Mingle. It is a time where people can come early and interact with each other around the eating of muffins. We have coffee and tea available as well. The thought was people would come to church earlier and stay later if there were muffins for people to socialize around. It turns out that people are not as into this idea as the staff was. In fact the congregation of families and College students are far from prompt in their arrival time. In fact most people show up right at 9:00 or 11:00 and expect breakfast, which this ministry is not. People even grew angry when the muffins were not available after church had started. So this ministry of muffins turned out differently than projected.

The issue:
Two members of the staff decided that muffin mingle was not working and strongly proposed that muffin mingle should stop. The staff was about six people at that point. The other four were very surprised and were stubborn about keeping it even though they were not as involved as the two people bringing it up.

How bad it got:
The two eventually got fed up with the stubbornness of not hearing them out and erupted. One thing was said and finally they all stopped. It took a little time and then it cooled down. I would say on a bad scale it was a medium at what was said, but it was only on an emotional level and not so much on an attacking level. No physicality was involved and that helped greatly.

What could have resolved it—What someone should have done?
From what I heard I feel as though listening ears should have been given all around. On account of the four people that were stubborn and did not agree with the proposal, they did not have the experience of dealing with muffin people. So maybe they should have had a learner’s ear towards the situation. On account of the two that wanted to nix the muffin ministry, they should have come with a more humble attitude towards asking. If they did that, maybe they would have been heard on a better term. Someone should have stepped in and declared a revaluation on the muffin ministry and then hold another meeting concerning the ministry to se the actual effectiveness.

K O K O !

I just read through all your work below... you guys are on track--keep on keeping on!

Tithe - Thursday

Tithing is something that a lot of Evangelical Christians do not do because tithing is giving. I was walking by a Sunday School classroom one week and I heard them talking about tithing. What I heard was one of the members of the Sunday School complain about when pastors talk about tithing and giving 10% of your income I was a little shocked. So I poked my head in and asked if I could interject something, so they allowed me and I told them that tithing is the only area in the Bible where the LORD asks us to test him on this and see if he doesn’t open the floodgates of heaven and bless us. Whenever I get paid (which hasn’t been yet this semester) I typically give 10% of what I make (sometimes a little more cause I want to keep the amount an even amount). So if the actual tithe would have been 52.30 I would give 53. I don’t like odd numbers like that on checks unless I have to pay a bill, but that’s just me usually.

My mom has always emphasized that I need to tithe. When we got an allowance, she would make us set aside 10% for tithing whether we wanted to or not. It taught me a good principle and appreciate those lessons from early childhood. And Drury, I absolutely agree with those points you made in the article. Most people do not tithe they give. That’s why my pastor in my home church has defined the difference between tithes and offerings by saying something along the lines of “presenting our tithes and offerings to the Lord”. Basically saying that the tithe should come first, then the offering is above and beyond the tithe. I think, in my opinion, that it is a great distinguishing. He’s preached on this topic at least once since I’ve been here at IWU (I don’t know how much he more he actually preaches on it cause I am usually out here).

Week 2(b) - Tithing (Tyler Murphy)

One of the best ways I am able to express my views about tithing is doing a quick survey of what the Old and New Testaments talk about regarding the tithe.

The first example of tithing that is found in the Old Testament is in Genesis 14:18-20: “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything”. From that first moment on sense, a ten percent tithe is made by Jacob and Aaron all the way through the prophets. The tithes were made to the priests that governed the temple. The tithe included everything from land, animals, and money. Around the time of the Israelite kings, there were specific people that were appointed to collect the tithes and place them in the designated chambers and storehouses. Finally, around the time of the minor prophets, there appears to be a cause and effect related to God and tithing. Malachi rights that one must give to God in order to be blessed and if one refuses, they will be cursed.

Tithing in the New Testament followed the traditions and trends of the Old Testament with a few caveats. After Christ came and died and rose again, the Church was faced with the issue of continuing the Jewish practice of tithing or disregarding it and doing something else. They began to move toward a more “spontaneous offering” system rather than a timed ten percent. There is no specific command to tithe in the New Testament, but it is mentioned a few times. Matthew 23:23 and Luke 11:42 are two instances in the New Testament where Jesus actually mentions tithing. While this is not a direct command to tithe given by Jesus, it is evidence that tithing existed and was practiced during that day.

The concept of a tithe, however, became more about providing for the sustenance of the staff behind the pulpit than it did about being a traditional act required by God. Many will argue that tithing is simply a Jewish custom and not something that should be practiced by modern day Christians. However, throughout the New Testament, there is evidence of tithing being performed by both Jews and Christians. The idea of tithing has since transformed to include not only food gifts (as they were in the Old Testament), but also money (as is found commonly in the New Testament). This progression has also changed the terms used for “tithing”. Tithing is now more commonly referred to as “giving” and urges weekly giving that supports the needs of Christian workers both locally and internationally.

I believe tithing should be at least 10%, but then attempt to increase that number every time. Tithing is not a stagnant thing. It should be a constant increase of giving. And by giving that which God has put on your heart, I believe that we would be shocked to see how much God has put on our heart.

Tithing

Michael Berens
Week 2
Thursday 01/22/09
Tithing

It is interesting how evangelicals view tithing. Maybe it is a baby boomer generation type of thing. Maybe they see the church as a business and because not everyone has access to church spending, they are not as trusting to give. As said in the article, people believe that giving to a non-profit is part of giving to the church in general. In fact non-profits do quite a better job at recording how they spend their money and where all the money goes. People like that. They like the satisfaction of thinking they are contributing to something and like letting a fish go into a pond, they like to watch it go all the way to its final destination.

I think tithing is what it means. It means Ten percent of funds go to the church. If you want to give more or less then it can be called giving. Another word can be called offerings. Maybe that is why they say, tithes and offering time in a church bulletin. I think it is very important to give to the church in any of theses word versions. It surprises me that a church would not need money. A church should be a channel for money that goes right back out to those that need it. In the book of Acts, if there were someone in need someone would sell what they had and help that person. The church was keeping it for stocks. Specifically in Acts 2:44 it says, 44 and all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. The money from the people went straight back into the people. I wonder if churches are in as badly of a need for funds as those of the early church were. Maybe we need to simplify some aspects about church so it is not so expensive. On the other hand maybe we are suppose to be pioneers for things like light shows and concerts.

Genesis 14:18 is my favorite example of tithing, probably because it shows the first tithe, before any one was ever told to do so. It was done of a pure heart. Abraham wanted to honor Melchizedek by giving him this tithe. Maybe we need to restore some of what it means to tithe and give. Maybe we have lost the honor of it all. In any case, something has to be done. If there isn’t something done, I would say evangelical churches will see some pretty devastating foreclosures to their churches. Maybe it is not the worst thing though. Maybe out of those ashes newness will rise.

Kinds of Leadership

Webster's dictionary describes leadership as, “the capacity to lead or guide”. While this probably is the most basic definition possible, the aspects of leadership are wide and varied. Leadership can be found everywhere you look and in every capacity that you think might be possible. There are leaders in elementary school classrooms and there are leaders inside the White House. Leadership, and the ability to lead comes mainly through experience and practice. It is a rare occurrence to find someone in a leadership position who hasn't yet gained the experience and talent needed to lead one or many people. Leadership is a concept that is more experienced than described. However, almost everyone is some capacity has experienced leadership. Some of the greatest leaders in history are actually found in the Bible in both the New and Old Testaments. Great leaders in the Bible that immediately come to mind are people such as Moses, David, and Paul. But there are Biblical leaders scattered throughout the entire Scriptures. What is interesting concerning these leaders are the different “types” of leadership that they display. There are examples of these different styles or types of leadership scattered throughout both the New and Old Testaments.

In doing some research, I have identified about four different types of leadership that is both present in the church today and the Bible in the past in the Scriptures. Those four types of leadership are visionary, teaching, administrative, and mentoring. When it comes to the visionary leadership type found in the Bible, Paul seems to be the best example of someone who leads using a vision. In Romans 15:20-21, Paul writes “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. Rather, as it is written: "Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.". Paul's ambition and guidance is something that is both necessarily for future direction and current guidance. He has a plan for the future, and a vision that has it succeeding in the end. A leader with vision and ambition is someone that you want in the front. The teaching leader is someone who communicates ideas to people. These ideas could be spiritual or logistical. A biblical example of a teaching leader would be King Solomon. In Ecclesiastes 1:12-14, “I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” Solomon studied and explored wisdom so that he could teach the members of his kingdom these pieces of information. In the same way, pastors and leadership today should study and explore the many resources and sources of knowledge that is provided to them. Then, what those people do with that knowledge is what separates the leaders from the followers. Leaders will take that knowledge and teach it to many people in order to communicate ideas and concepts. It's important to the teaching leader to see that the people who follow them be taught the things that they are learning. A third type of leader is the administrative leader. The administrative leader is someone who thrives on the organization of data and logistical issues. This type of leadership is also found in the Bible. While not such a “good” example in the Bible, Martha of Bethany is a great example of a logistical leader. In Luke 10:38-42, “As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." While Jesus tells Martha what she is doing is not right for the time (how often does God come into your home?), she is a great example of an organized person taking care of small logistical issues. She came home and prepared everything so that Jesus would have a comfortable stay. As mind-numbing this type of work can be, it is a necessary part of leadership in an organization. Someone who can do administration well makes life easier on every single person in the organization. An administrative leader is someone who actually finds pleasure in organizing and arranging items. Finally, there is the mentoring leader that leads by coaching and delegation. The Biblical example of mentoring is found in Acts 11:22-26 with Barnabas: “News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.” Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” Barnabas spent a whole year with the Christians at Antioch. He taught them and counseled them seeing that they grow spiritually. The key with the mentoring type of leadership is time and dedication. With dedication and time, someone who leads through mentoring is able to drastically affect the life of a follower. A mentoring leader is one who spends the majority of their time with people as compared to one who spends it with numbers or logistics. Mentoring involves leadership of the masses, but most commonly, a one-on-one relationship. So again, this concretes the belief that leadership can be for both masses and individuals.