Chapter 21: Good Stewardship Begins with Good Stewards-In this chapter the author discussed financial stewardship. He talked about how some people want to give to the church but cannot because their hands are tied financially. Others just do not give-he says that until God is the center of their lives they will not fully understand how important it is. Provide different outlets for people to get involved concerning stewardship by using people in your church. Outlets like this could focus on budgeting, debt reduction, tracking spending, and giving.
Chapter 22: Somebody Has to Live and Die for the Database-This chapter focuses on having an effective database that is updated regularly. The author gave 4 things to follow when creating an effective database. 1) Choose a staff person or volunteer to be the database czar. 2) Make decisions about what should be measured. 3) Protect the integrity of the information. 4) Back up your database.
Chapter 23: Let Your Leaders Lead-Chapter 23 discusses how sometimes things within your church outgrow lay led ministries and you must have your leadership staff take over. Let your leaders use their talents and let them implement the strategies.
Chapter 24: You Can Pick Only Two-Size. Quality. Cost. The three things that all people want when building a building or making an addition, but you can only have 2 of these things. The pick is decided by your values. When you decide what is the most important to you, tell your architect and he will decide the rest!
Chapter 25: Nothing is Certain Except Death, Taxes, and Building Campaigns-This chapter just went over building campaigns. The author mentioned a couple companies that can help your church during this time that you are raising the money. The author also talked about the other benefits of building campagins. Vision, teams, and stewardship were the three that he listed and discussed.
Chapter 26: Perception Matters: Perception matters. People always perceive things. The author talks about setting up boundaries that protect you from people and their ideas. He gave different scenarios and explanations saying that it didn't matter what really was happening because people will always have perceptions about what they THINK is happening.
Chapter 27: Use More Bytes and Less Paper- This chapter literally explains itself. Try moving from everything on paper to getting things online.
Chapter 28: Feed Your Construction Workers a Hot Lunch-Get to know the people who are helping build your new building or addition. Feed them and find out who they are, what their family is like, etc. By doing this their job is not a job anymore-they are doing it for FRIENDS.
Chapter 29: Disgruntled Secretaries Drain Dynamic Workers-Once again, this chapter speaks for itself. Try to encourage your administrative assistant but if they continue to have a bad attitude it can reflect negatively on you and so you are going to have to make a choice about them.
Chapter 30: Identify Leaders of Leaders, and then let them Soar- There are 3 types of leaders in your church: doers, leaders of others, and leaders of leaders. Pick out the people who do a great job of leading the leaders that you already have in place. You won't ever have enough paid staff to keep up with the demands of a church but you will have leaders within your church to help you out. It is your job to identify them and help them when you can with whatever you can.
Chapter 31: Send your Bankers Audit Reports and Birthday Cards every year-Get to know the bank that you borrow money from. Treat it as you would an interview of a new employee/staff member. Keep the communication lines open with your bank and keep them posted on how things are going.
I have really enjoyed watching different churches on my district implement "perception rules". Some of the churches have made meeting rooms with large windows in the main office so that the privacy factor is still there, but the accountability part is there as well. Others have placed various rules about trips, counseling sessions, bible studies in homes, etc. They have become very creative with it and it seems like so far their ideas and rules have been received with warmth.
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