Church Administration: Creating Efficiency for Effective Ministry

by Robert H. Welch

For churches and religious nonprofits, the business of business is not business - it is ministry. However, these organizations still have to plan. Because organization is needed to accomplish specific tasks, leadership must train and motivate workers for progress and effectiveness. Church Administration will assist pastors and church administrators in becoming effective and efficient leaders, managers, and administrators. Twelve chapters deal with the following vital

Genres: Leadership, Personal Development, Christian

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 21, 2005

Reviews

[Ryan Linkous · Rating 2 out of 5]

No one should use this book except as a reference, even then, there must be more books out there which are more easy to use.

A few weaknesses:
-The author is a retired Military man, a Baptist, and (former/current?) church administrator who wrote a book on administration. As you can imagine, this makes him rather "by the book" on just about everything. It's not always bad, but it is regularly boring. His advice on personnel policies and stuff is good, but its buried in the middle of a dense work.
-The author frequently quotes Scripture out of context in ways that are often at best tangential to the topic at hand.

I would like an accessible church administration book that admits it is primarily functioning as "best business practices for churches." This would be helpful, but it would not have to sit underneath a heap of Christian jargon and spiritualizing.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A word or warning early in this book: because this is a textbook of church administration, it is necessary to present the complex, complete version of a church organization manual rather than an incomplete, sketchy version. Church or organization leaders must consider the totality of the material provided herein and select that which will be appropriate for their institutions. Not everything will be needed or desired. It is like a smorgasbord; you can take one of everything and make a pig of yourself--the consequences of which will be a bloated feeling and discomfort. Being selective will allow the administrator to use only that which is apropos for the moment and return back to the table when the contingencies of change call for more.

Robert Welch is an insufferable prick--bottomline. That he has written a textbook for church administrators is ludicrous--this man's Biblical knowledge is suspect and his lack of Christ-like values is appalling. He's all about the business of composing bullet lists summarizing minutia. Buried within this dull mess is a decent message: ministers have got to get a handle on administrating their churches if they wish to fulfill their missions. But good lord, he's anal. He pads out his textbook with unnecessary asides and topics, hoping to appear more erudite and polished.

So he notes Christ wants the church to help the homeless, feed the hungry, adopt the orphan, etc. But then he hopes to give the reader a chuckle with this amusing anecdote:

A few years back, the church my family and I attended was having trouble with transients breaking into the church and setting up housekeeping. They would raid the kitchen and then choose a ground-floor room, often one of our children's department rooms, and spend the evening. As a member of the church's building committee, I mentioned this problem to my son who was the K-9 officer for the local law enforcement agency. He suggested that one evening we let Breaston (the 140-pound police dog) wander through the building to see what would happen. Imagine the surprise of our visitors when Breaston walked in on their card party that evening. It cost the church a window because the trespassers jumped out without bothering to open it. Apparently, however, word got out because we didn't have that trouble for a long time afterward.

Thanks to Breaston, the 140-pound K-9 dog, they "didn't have that trouble for a long time afterward." Just like Christ would have handled a similar situation, right? This church is obviously wealthy --but they do not have the inclination to find out why these "transients" are using their facilities (poverty? homeless? mental illness?) and employ one of their Robert Welch sanctioned committees to actively seek a solution more Christian, maybe at least humane. Their response is all business and efficiency, but has nothing to do with "doing" Church.

Welch also repeats he doesn't do any work--he delegates. He never, no not once, gets his hands dirty with manual labor. As a former high school principal, I was appalled at this anecdote:

One morning one of the back-up secretaries responded to a call. She was on the line for an inordinately long period of time. From time to time I noted that she was involved in an intense conversation. My mind pictured several things going on--all of them bad. After she hung up, she sat for a moment in complete shock. Soon we asked her in anything was wrong, thinking she would reveal some personal trauma or challenge.

"I just talked to an individual who had called the church to say that they were about to commit suicide and wanted to know how God would view their actions. Would He let them into heaven?" She went on to relate elements of the conversation. By that time all of the office staff and ministerial staff were around her, listening to her story. Her concern was that she did not know how to adequately handle the call because the person asked her not to pass the call to a minister.

What the hell is wrong with this church? The "ministerial staff" huddled around to hear how she was unable to properly field a suicide call? She wouldn't pass the call on because the caller said not to? In Welch's organizational structure, the minister should not be bothered with these issues; he leads an efficient, effective staff capable of dealing with low-priority issues. Welch's solution was to train the office staff in fielding suicide calls.

When your organization replaces compassion with a canine and heart for a canned-script, you have a nice business but you do not have a church. Welch couldn't compete with writing a business textbook for, say, a corporation or even a school system. He picks the church because it's an open vineyard. The problem is Welch comes across as self-serving and snobbish and distinctly lacking Christian virtues. Solid organizational principals are needed in the church, no doubt, but Robert Welch is not the guru the church is looking for.

[Cheryl Smith]

There is a lot of good information in this book, but beware!! There is one crucial tip the author gives that is illegal.

The author suggests moving funds around as needed and then replacing later. No, no no. If you have received funds that are donor restricted, meaning they have been donated specifically for a ministry, such as Missions, or an item, i.e. new piano, you *cannot* use those funds for anything else. The exception is if enough funds have been raised *and* you have specified to your donors that your policy is to use excess funds where most needed.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you need a starting point for building out church policies and administration this is a good one. It is quite obviously centred on American churches (since that is the author’s context) but Canadians can take the principles. Many Canadian churches won’t need the chapters on building a building or remodelling, but understanding insurance issues, and requirements for charities can be helpful. If a church is in Canada they are well advised to contact Carter’s Law before they do anything they are unsure of. Churches aren’t exempt from the law, and this book at least helps see why.

[Clair Culberson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dry as the day is long, but honestly super helpful as someone who is now in church ministry. Very useful charts and outlines. Better as a handbook to consult than a book to sit and read.