Most congregations are more than a little ambivalent about their relationship with their money. They know they need it, but sometimes have difficulty reconciling clarity and accountability around finances with compassion and acceptance in their mission and ministry. This seminar is the place to sort all of that out. Among other things, you will learn how clear, accountable financial leadership is a necessary underpinning for effective, responsive mission and ministry.
What Will You Learn?
* How to understand the role of money and property in relation to your congregation’s mission
* How to build a budget that reflects your congregation’s overall strategy and goals
* How to decide about building, staffing, and equipment purchases in the context of an overall strategic plan
* How to face the need to downsize when that is what your mission calls for
* How to use board policies to ensure responsible stewardship of resources and empower staff and volunteers
* How to encourage generous current, capital, and planned giving to your congregation’s work
What Will You Take Home from this In-Depth Seminar?
* An outstanding learning experience led and presented by Dan Hotchkiss, Alban Senior Consultant and leader in the field of congregational strategic planning, financial planning, and governance
* A practical grasp of budgets, financial management, investments and endowments, financial assessment, and the lay leadership’s role in financial leadership within the congregation
* All materials that you will use during the event
* An extensive annotated bibliography
* Practical tools and the knowledge to use them in your own congregation
Who Should Attend?
* Clergy and lay leaders who want to become better equipped to provide strategic leadership to the congregation’s financial support of its mission and ministry
* Seminary faculty teaching congregational leadership
* Denominational and Judicatory staff responsible for congregational development
NOTE: This is an ideal event for clergy and lay persons from the same congregation to attend together as a team.
What Else Should You Know?
* This event will begin with continental breakfast on February 19 and conclude at the end of the afternoon session on February 20. Shared meals are an important part of the learning experience. Please try to arrange your travel in such a way as to be able to participate in all of the shared meals.
* Scholarship assistance is available for clergy and lay leaders from small congregations. Click here for more information.
Who Is the Leader?
Alban Senior Consultant Dan Hotchkiss helps congregations move beyond frustrating and ineffective management of boards, clergy, and staff. The author of Governance and Ministry: Rethinking Board Leadership (Alban, 2009), and Ministry and Money: A Guide for Clergy and Their Friends (Alban, 2002), Hotchkiss has consulted with hundreds of churches and synagogues on a wide variety of issues, including financial assessment, stewardship campaign planning, and board leadership.