Staffing Your Children's Ministry


Book Description

Written by Vernie Schorr and revised by Wes Haystead, this practical book for children's ministry leaders tells you how to accomplish your staffing goals without losing your focus on children. Topics include o The value of children o Programming to meet needs o Recruiting workers o Training volunteers before assigning a task o Providing in-service training o Evaluating, encouraging, and supporting your volunteer staff This updated version includes critical issues that children's ministry leaders must not ignore: screening volunteers, preventing child abuse and maintaining a secure environment for the children. Includes Reproducible Teacher training Sessions




Sustainable Youth Ministry


Book Description

You're looking for a youth pastor. Again. What goes wrong? Why do youth ministries crumble? And what is the cost to students, parents, volunteers and church staff? Is a sustainable youth ministry possible, even after a youth pastor leaves? Youth ministry expert Mark DeVries knows the answer is yes, because he helps build sustainable youth minist...




Budgeting for a Healthy Church


Book Description

Many pastors conceive of the church budget as primarily a financial tool, but in fact it is primarily a pastoral tool. A church's philosophy of ministry is locked into its budget, and so the budget will either stifle or accelerate any attempts to move a congregation toward a biblical model of church health. As such, the church budget is a far more potent pastoral tool than many church leaders realize. Budgeting for a Healthy Church examines each section of the budget in light of Biblical principles to show how a church budget can lock in healthy approaches to ministry. Whereas most books on church budgeting are "how" books, explaining how the budgeting process should work, this is a "what" book, helping church leaders determine the pastoral implications of what they choose to fund in their budgets.




Making Your Children's Ministry the Best Hour of Every Kid's Week


Book Description

Promiseland is Willow Creek’s highly successful children’s ministry. Using examples from Promiseland and churches of all sizes around the country, this book provides step by step guidance and creative application exercises to help churches develop a thriving children’s ministry—one that strives to be the best hour of every kid’s week. Included are Scripture-based principles and practical resources for church staff members and volunteers who agree with the critical role children’s ministry plays in a local church. Making Your Children’s Ministry the Best Hour of Every Kid’s Week, based on twenty-eight years of experience at Willow Creek, explains four ministry foundations: Mission, Vision, Values, and Strategy. Content includes: Detailed answers to questions facing every children’s ministry: • What does Jesus expect from children’s ministry? • How can we evangelize lost kids and disciple saved kids at the same time, and should we? • How do we engage kids so they don’t become bored? • How do we get better at recruiting and leading volunteers? • How can our ministry be a safe place for children? • Six specific ministry values that address the needs of today’s children • Practical first steps for ministries that want to get serious about change • Clear indicators of success in children’s ministry




How to Thrive in Associate Staff Ministry


Book Description

Contents include: Foreword, by Lovett H. Weems, Jr. Preface Introduction CHAPTER 1. Finding Satisfaction in Following God's Direction CHAPTER2. Working Well with Your Supervisor and Fellow Associates CHAPTER 3. Foundational Attitudes and Commitments CHAPTER4. Church Environments that Enable Thriving CHAPTER 5. Sustaining Personal Spiritual Vitality CHAPTER 6. Building Supportive Relationships CHAPTER 7. Strengthening the Home Front CHAPTER 8. Savoring Joys and Weathering Storms CHAPTER 9. Thriving Skills for Female Associate Staff CHAPTER 10. Veterans' Advice to "Wanna-bes" and "Newbies" Introduction to Appendixes A and B - For Those Who Care about Associate Staff APPENDIX A. The Valued Supervisor APPENDIX B. The Supportive Church Board APPENDIX C. The "Thriving in Associate Staff Ministry" Study APPENDIX D. Professional Organizations for Associate Staff Members Further Reading for Associate Staff Members




Smart Church Management: A Quality Approach to Church Administraton


Book Description

Church leaders understand that managing the day-to-day operations of a church can be challenging because of limited resources, managing volunteer labor, and supporting the needs of the congregation. Smart Church Management: A Quality Approach to Church Administration, Third Edition is an updated guide for managing the resources of a church - which is people, time and money. This book provides tools and examples for decision making and problem-solving for church administration that is easy to understand and more importantly, quick to implement! This book also includes discussion questions to provoke thought and discussion for church teams. This book is ideal for ministry students, church boards, church leadership and church administrators.




Supervising and Supporting Ministry Staff


Book Description

Surveys of pastoral staff repeatedly show that senior or supervising pastors consistently rate their working relationships with their associate staff members higher than do the associate staff members. Satisfaction levels follow similar patterns. In many cases, supervisors are not aware of or attentive to the concerns of their staff, and yet, these staff members are critical to the success of the church. Supervising and Supporting Ministry Staff is a research-based guide to the senior/associate staff relationship that is filled with real-life stories and practical advice to help readers negotiate their staff relationships successfully. The book focuses not only on the business mechanics of the supervisor/supervisee relationship, but also the full experiences of the associate staff, including emotional and spiritual needs. This helpful resource addresses congregations of all sizes across denominations and discusses a range or supervisor/supervisee relationship types.




Children and Grief


Book Description

A sensitive, compassionate book that helps parents teach their children the truth about death and dying.




Associate Staff Ministry


Book Description

This vital revised and expanded update to How to Thrive in Associate Staff Ministry (Alban, 2000) provides guidance to the growing population of staff members employed by churches. Churches are expanding their staffs, but the turnover rate remains high, often due to stress, isolation, and conflict on the job. Lawson and Boersma address what it takes to thrive personally, professionally, and relationally within associate staff ministry. Based on updated research and interviews with over 600 veteran associate staff members from many different denominations, Lawson and Boersma describe the priorities, attitudes, and practices that can help associate staff members thrive in their ministry roles. They present, explain, and illustrate a four-part “Model for Thriving in Associate Staff Ministry,” a concrete framework that readers can use to help achieve satisfaction and balance in their own lives. In addition to addressing those in associate staff roles, the book also includes chapters to help supervising pastors and church boards support their associate staff members. Each chapter includes questions for personal reflection or discussion with others to help readers engage with the material and determine what steps they might take to improve their own experience in associate staff ministry.




How to Treat a Staff Infection


Book Description

Almost every problem a ministry staff encounters is diagnosed and treated in this humorous and helpful book.