They touch on grace, legalism, mercy ministries, hiring staff. Fabulous stuff.

From Zac Allen of Austin Bible Fellowship as shared at the July PlantR Meeting. PlantR is a Austin, Texas-based “trans-denominational network committed to helping church planters plant and reproduce healthy missional churches”

• Celebrate every season that God gives you
  you are never more of a church just because you are bigger
  what assets do you have with 20 people that you won’t have later?
• Church planting will cost you your life
  you kind of go undercover and off the radar for 12-18 months
• Raise enough money
  you think you’ll gather a group of people faster than you will
  once you launch, you want your focus on the ground, not with one foot in support raising
• Learn your voice
  If you teach the way you were taught, the best you will ever be is high mediocre.
  Worry more about saying what will change people’s lives than about saying the right thing.
• Sniff out wolves
  People come with agendas to fulfill their life long dreams.
  Say no to a network that might cause you to compromise the vison that God has given you.
• Humility should be the defining characteristic for your life.
  Book recommendation: Humility by Andrew Murray
• Success is found in faithfulness
  We are completely dispensible
  If your church does not survive, that needs to be okay.
  Some of you don’t need to plant. Some of you won’t survive. And that’s okay.
• You can’t reach an area that you don’t live in.
• Hold people with an open hand.
  God has not called anyone to your church for life.
  If people leave your church, it’s because of you. Learn to be okay with that.
• Unity is the most understated apologetic of the church.
  Unity = spiritual power. It holds huge weight to a watching world.
  Will not walk with unresolved conflict with anyone in this church.

From Bob Thune of Coram Deo in Omaha, Nebraska

I believe that being a good learner (and therefore a good teacher) doesn’t mean knowingwhat to think, but knowing how to think.

…

So read the what-to-think stuff. But dwell in the how-to-think stuff. The three books below are a great place to start. I’m sure thoughtful commenters will recommend others. But I’m writing this, so my opinion gets front page.

Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal by Richard Lovelace – a theology of renewal… one of the best books you’ll ever read on how the gospel brings renewal to people and churches.

The Gospel in a Pluralist Society by Lesslie Newbigin – don’t be throwing around words like ‘missional’ until you’re familiar with Newbigin’s work and understand why it’s a watershed.

Renovation of the Heart: Putting On the Character of Christ by Dallas Willard – Willard isn’t the most Reformed of theologians, but he’s a master of spiritual formation. And if your goal isn’t to form people spiritually as Jesus would want them formed, then you shouldn’t be planting a church. Don’t read Willard as a how-to manual; read him as a wise mentor who will force you to think about spiritual formation.

Interesting research and notes from Sam Rainer

Our research has debunked the myth that the influence of the secular university pushes young adults out of the church. No significant difference exists between the dropout rates of those who attend at least a year of college and those who do not. For those that attend college, 69% of active churchgoing youth stop attending church for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22. Yet 71% of active youth who do not go to college stop attending church during the same period.

So overall, the college itself is not to blame for the dropout issue. What about analyzing different majors? New research from the University of Michigan reveals some surprising results on religiosity and the college major. They measure religiosity by religious attendance and how important students consider the importance of religion in their lives. Here are some highlights from the study:

• The odds of going to college increase for high school students who attend religious services more frequently or who view religion as more important in their lives.
• Being a humanities or a social science major has a statistically significant negative effect on religiosity.
• Students in education and business show an increase in religiosity over their time at college.
• Majoring in the biological or physical sciences does not affect religious attendance of students.

Very helpful information, especially when ministering in an college town.

From LeadershipJournal.net. All use Matthew 4:1-11 as the passage

Subjective questions

Some small-group leaders unintentionally transfer authority from the Bible to group members by instructing them to look inward for meaning rather than investigating the text.

Poor question: What does verse 11 mean to you?
Better question: How does verse 11 show God the Father’s sensitivity to the Son?

Long-winded questions

Questions get long when a group leader attempts to stuff several facts into a question so that group members will give the appropriate answer. But that kind of information is more easily assimilated by group members when it is put in the form of introductory statements.

Poor question: Looking at how the devil tempts Jesus in the wilderness, what specific qualities and strategies of spiritual warfare does he demonstrate that could also be used against us?
Better question: The tactics Satan used against Jesus will also be used against us. What strategies did Satan demonstrate in this episode?

Leading questions

Rather than inciting curiosity, these questions may insult the intelligence of your group members. A leading question sags under the weight of your own opinion or predetermined notion, and the way you ask such a question actually reveals the answer that you want to hear. They usually call for a yes or no response that kills conversation. “Don’t you think … ” or “Isn’t … ” are typical ways of beginning a leading question.

Poor question: Don’t you think the timing of Satan’s attack on Jesus was significant?
Better question: This episode occurs immediately following Jesus’ baptism and right before the launch of his public ministry. What can we learn about our enemy from the timing of his attacks on Jesus?

Compound questions

Resist the impulse to fling back-to-back questions at your group without waiting for a reply to the first one. Either they will be confused about which question to answer first, or they will forget the first question by the time you finish the second. One question at a time!

Poor question: What did Jesus experience right before the first temptation, and what does this timing tell us about Satan?
Better question: What did Jesus experience right before the first temptation? [Pause for replies.] What does the timing of this first temptation tell us about Satan?

Compulsory personal questions

We want small-group participants to reinforce biblical truths with anecdotes from their lives. We want them to reveal needs exposed by God’s Word so the group can pray specifically for them. Yes, transparency is a vital sign of small-group health. But it’s a bad idea to drop a question that requires transparency in the lap of an unsuspecting person.

Poor question: Marge, you’ve been a Christian for a few years. Can you tell us how you’ve experienced Satan’s warfare against you?
Better question: Can anyone illustrate the persistence of Satan’s attacks from your walk as a Christian?

From Bill Minchin at the Acts 29 2006  Troy, NY Boot Camp

Reference Materials

• Church and Clergy Tax Handbook by Richard Hammer
• National Association of Church Business Administration
  • Includes compensation data
• Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability
• National Sex Offender Registry
• VolunteerSelect

Guiding “Theology”

• We live in a litigious society and the church is not immune from that
• God has placed us in positions of responsibility and has called us to be faithful stewards
• Therefore, we should give proper attention to the corporate side of the church

Misc

• Make sure that sub-contracting vendors have adequate insurance
  • Liability ($1 million)
  • Have vendor name you as “additional insured”. Makes the vendors insurance primary and yours secondary
• Exempt and non-exempt employees
  • To be classified as exempt, making over $26k, pass duties test
  • Non-exempt gets minimum wage and overtime
  • simply paying an employee on a salary basis doesn’t automatically make them exempt
  • Non-exempt cannot volunteer to perform the same duties for which they are paid
  • Non-exempt should document hours on a daily basis

Sexual Abuse Prevention Policy

• Written application
• Interview
• Institutional reference
• Six month rule (need to be member six months before serving)
• Two Adult Rule
• Maybe Criminal Background Test (VolunteerSelect)

15 Passenger Vans – 1o Point NHTSA bulletin

Gross Negligence

• Board members can’t be sued for normal negligence
  • Can be sued for gross negligence
• 15 Passenger Vans (no safety measures)
• Sexual Abuse (no screening)

Tax Issues

• Housing allowance is tax exempt
  • Must be recorded in official board minutes
  • Must be done every year and is NOT retroactive
• Employee vs. independent contractor
  • IC – worker who contracts to do work using his/her own methods and is only supervised as to end product
  • 3 different tests (in Hammer’s book)
• Tax deductibility for contributions
  • Must be a gift of cash or property
  • Services are NEVER deductible
  • Contribution must be unconditional and without personal benefit
  • Contribution must be made to organization or for the use of the organization
  • IRS wants to see “Full administrative and accounting control to use gift consistent with churches mission and purpose”

From Bill Minchin at the 2006 Troy, NY Boot Camp

• There needs to be intentionality about financial issues in the church
• Preaching the gospel does not make you exempt from financial mis-deeds
• Financial controls – process
  • designed to provide reasonable assurance that a church’s business affairs are being handled appropriate
  • adherence to God’s law and principes
• 2 major components
  • Separation of Duties – separate physical handling of assets with responsibility to handle accounting
  • Independent Verification – have two people involved in every function, especially counting cash and signing checks

Lessons Learned

• Counting and handling of income – 2 persons involved in all transactions
• All income goes through church account, not just tithe received in Sunday service. Eg. donations for food at membership class, money received at youth group car wash fundraiser
• Check signers should have no financial responsibilities
• Bank reconciliation done by other person
• Independent oversight by board or committee
  • Who is asking the important questions?
  • • Are the mortgage payments being made on time and properly?
    • Bank reconciliation – are records up to day? is it being done every month? Is it accurate?
    • Has legal counsel been utilized in the last 6 months?
    • Has the church received any threatening correspondence?
    • Have there been any expenses over a certain limit?
• Provide user-friendly financial report to ministry leaders and congregation
• Get outside independent CPA audit
• Have procedures in written form
• Background checks and confidentiality agreements
  • No secrets, but we’re a family – there are things that are wise to keep in the family

Process

1. Create budget
   • Vision-driven
   • Create standardized worksheets and account codes
2. Have volunteer counters
   • Minimum 2
   • Records on form
3. Business office enters numbers into accounting software
   • All income!
4. Expenses
   • Tries to give priority to personal reimbursements
   • Large checks require elder signature
5. Bank reconciliation
   • Physically get mailed to elder’s home
   • Elder reviews bank reconciliation
6. Monthly reports provided to church and ministry heads
7. Quarterly audits
   • Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability

From Dominick Brignola’s talkat Acts 29 Boot Camp

1. Incorporate
2. Adopt by-laws
3. Apply for Federal recognition as church
4. Apply for State recognition as church
5. Get benefits available for ordained ministers
   • Housing allowance
6. Religious Corporation Structure
   • If you sell things (bookstore, etc)
   • Define membership structure, board structure, voting age
   • With big decisions, there needs to be definition of how approval happens
7. Association
   • Group of people joined together for common purpose
   • Leaves individual members of church to legal action
   • Sometimes associations can’t own real estate
8. How to incorporate
   • Fill out paperwork (charter) with state
   • Need corporate name
     • Isn’t federally protected. to do that, need search at LOC
   • Need corporate management (trustees, etc)
   • Identify membership and rights vested in members
   • Define corporate purposes
9. Draft set of by-laws
   1. Membership participation clause (including discipline)
      • Christian arbitration (you will not sue church)
   2. Non-discrimination clause
      • Have right to limit membership / involvement based on religious reasons
   3. How to replace elders (build something that will outlast you)
   4. Housing allowance
      • has to be renewed each year by IRS. By having in by-laws, you can say “treat money given to pastor the same as last year” so that you don’t get dinged at audit time.
   5. Have designated contributions clause
      1. Money’s given to church are distributed at the church’s discretion

Misc

• Get IRS Tax Guide for Charities and Non-Profits
• IRS has 15-month lookback
  • Created Jan 1, 2006
  • Paperwork comes back Jan 1, 2007
  • All donations given in 2006 are for sure deductible
• Getting 501c3 makes things much, much easier when it comes to deductions
• Have clause in by-laws to indicate that church works hard to confirm where money is going

Notes from Bryan Nelson’s talk at Acts 29 Boot Camp

Legal

1. Get PO Box
2. Check Secretary of State for availability of name
3. Prepare and file Articles of Incorporation
   • Lets you get insurance
   • Business transactions need incorporation (loans, bank accounts)
   • Center for Non-profit Creation can do all this (for cost)
   • Run by attorney
   • Define you legally as non-profit
   • Include
   • • Where do funds go when non-profit dissolves? Needs to be another non-profit
   • • limitation of liability for officers and directors
   • • Indemnification – if pastor gets sued, church can pay expenses
   • Keep them as simple as possible.
4. Prepare By-Laws (Constitution) to flesh out church’s policies and procedures
5. Includes things like membership, discipline, elder process, % vote, how business meetings are run, how to make amendments, fiscal year,
6. Obtain Federal Tax ID Number.
7. Get Business License
8. File Tax Exemption
9. Have initial organizational meeting
   • Adopt by laws
   • Select officers
   • Approve legal documents
   • Select bank
10. Get checking account
11. Get 501c3.
    • Gifts are deductible even without 501c3 but it makes life easier to have
    • Have two years after incorporating
12. Schedule filings
13. May need to renew Articles of Incorporation each year
14. Get insurance
    1. • Require background checks on anyone working with children and  youth
    • Real property (building)
    • Personal property (chairs, furniture)
    • May need rider if in non-owned building
    • Sexual misconduct
    • Directors and officers coverage
    • Need sexual misconduct prevention policy
    • Brotherhood Mutual, Church Mutual
15. Obtain copyright licensing (CCLI)
16. Facilities land-use
    1. Conditional use permit ?

Financial

1. Bookkeeping
   • QuickBooks (not ideal)
   • Excel
2. Process
   1. Not everything has to be in by-laws
3. Designated benevolent giving
   1. Gifts given to non-profit are not supposed to be for the benefit of an individual
   2. Designation is simply suggestion, church makes final decision
   3. Directed gift isn’t technically tax-deductible
4. Payroll
   1. Get payroll company (FreeChurchPayroll.com)
5. Budget

From Thom Rainer. This is excellent advice of things I should do when, Lord willing, I pastor.

1. I would spend more time in prayer.
2. I would spend more time in the Word
3. I would spend more time loving my critics than worrying about their criticisms.
4. I would spend more time with the people of the church.
5. I would spend more time with the unchurched.