You must provide a road map for the people in your church. I'm talking about the people who do the work: the staff and the volunteers.
And the road map I'm talking about is Policies and Procedures.
I know...it’s not the most exciting thing in the world. But it’s the foundation of good leadership for your church.
Please don’t skip this one!
It makes me think of creating a living will. Everyone says you should do it. You know you should do it. And you plan to get around to it one day.
But what happens when the unthinkable hits? Will your loved ones know what to do? One way or another, much will be determined by the courts in a long, painful process.
The same thing happens when problems occur in the church and there are no policies in place for guidance. You end up with a big mess!
Every church must have policies and procedures in place.
I’m not going to get into every policy and procedure that you may or may not need for your church. Every church is different. But there are a few good resources you can explore to figure that out. Here’s a good one with a lot of free examples:
Another comprehensive resource(paid) I use is:
In future posts, I’ll discuss some of the essential ones, such as:
Accountable Reimbursement Plans
Housing Allowance
Compensation Setting
Accounts Payable
Fraud Prevention
Conflicts of Interest
But here’s an important point.
Don’t make them overcomplicated!
The goal is to have effective policies and procedures. To be effective, they must be practical.
If your church creates comprehensive policies but they include too much red tape, your people will find ways around them. It’s just human nature. And then the policies are pointless.
Here’s the bottom line:
Why should your church have policies and procedures?
To protect the church, its employees, and its members.
What policies and procedures should be covered?
Just about everything. Think: Could an entirely new staff manage your church without help if the current staff/volunteers left today? If not, you need policies and procedures to fill those gaps.
How should the policies and procedures be written?
To be as effective as possible, they must fulfill the intended purpose but with as much practicality as possible.
I’ll talk about some specific ways you can use technology to help make effective procedures in the next few posts.
