Neither boards nor staffs are inanimate objects; they are people, with needs, insecurities, and gifts. It is important for staff and board members to know each other as individuals. As pastor, I meet individually with all board members for a get-acquainted (or re-acquainted) session before they serve. By discussing our personal journeys, we begin to build a bond.
Additionally, we as a staff engage the board in the following ways:
- In our board meetings, staff members who are in “low profile” ministries talk about their ministry to the board. We try to do this right after they have come off a major success.
- Each year during the budgeting process, all staff members share their vision for ministry with the Finance Team. This is an opportunity to discuss the successes and challenges of each ministry before they ever address the dollar issues. This was originally intended to be a one-year exercise. However, at the request of the Finance Team, we now follow this pattern every year, even though it extends the budgeting process by ten to twelve hours. As a result of these meetings, we find the Finance Team connects with the passion of the staff and become their advocates.
- We keep the staff informed not only of the actions of the board but of their individual prayer needs. The saying, “what you are not up on, you are down on” is generally true. So, we want everyone to be “up” on everything.
Occasionally, new staff members arrive with previous experiences in which the staff and the board were adversaries. Unfortunately, this adversarial relationship can be unintentionally fostered by both staff and board simply through careless talk.We ask our staff members never to criticize a board member, and we ask our board members to follow the same guideline. If our board has concerns or criticisms, they should express them to the Personnel Team, Executive Pastor, or the Senior Pastor. Likewise, if staff members have concerns about the action of the board, or about a board member, they should speak directly with the Senior Pastor, Executive Pastor, or Chairman of Deacons. When concerns are expressed in either direction—and they have been—they are taken seriously, with a follow-up visit to see if progress has been made.
