Who is the Church's Risk Management Officer?

Every organization has a risk management officer - someone who is formally or informally charged with ensuring the safety and security of the church and its property, with knowing the church's personnel and financial policies and insurance limits, and working to reduce its legal liability to almost nothing. Unfortunately, many churches, if not most or perhaps even 99.999%, do not recognize the need to assign this responsibility to someone.

From a legal standpoint, the courts have assigned this responsibilty to someone, the senior pastor. Whether or not the senior pastor realizes this is another matter. If the senior pastor does not want this position, then the senior pastor must formally assign this to someone, whether it is a staff person or a lay person. However, the senior pastor must verify that this job responsibility is being carried out regularly.

Here are some things to check on:

• Safety issues related to the phyiscal building and grounds regarding things such as tripping hazards, sharp edges, or other things that can harm people
• Safety items related to the people including background checks on people working with minors, protecting people from known predators who prey on adults and children, removing (by force if necessary) people who come to the church in a threatening manner
• Building security to make that unauthorized access or use of the building is not happening so that people don't hide in a building after it is closed to do something illegal or that they can't get locked inside a room
• Emergency safety including evacuations and hunkering down depending on the type of emergency such as fire, bomb threats, severe weather, armed intruders, kidnapping, etc.
• Personnel law to ensure that the church is complying with all laws pertaining to its personnel management to prevent legal action from current or former staff
• Medical emergencies which require the intervention of trained professionals and what by-standers should do in such a situation
• Financial policies to make sure that proper laws are being followed so that the church is not exposed to the mismanagement of funds including embezzlement and lawsuits or threats related fiscal management
• Vehicle inspections and safety so that all church buses and other vehicles are safe, road-worthy, outfitted with good tires, and that brakes, seat-belts and other safety devices are in good working order.
• Police interaction to keep a good relationship with local law enforcement so that when there is an emergency the police will take a personal, not just professional, interest in the situation and the location.

As I said, the courts have already assigned this responsibility to the senior pastor but most pastors have no idea of this legal burden. Pastors would be very, very wise to sit down with the church's personnel, finance, legal, and other wise counsel to draft a plan so that all aspects of risk management are covered. This will protect the organization and actually help the organziation be proactive in the instance of an event.

Lead On!
Steve

Generosity Not Just Tithes

For years I've struggled with the idea of tithing. Yeah, I know all about the verses in the Bible about tithing and why and when and whether you tithe on gross or net and all those other things about tithing. Yes, tithing is a critical component of Old Testament theology and practice. Yes, tithing is important for children to understand and it is easy enough for anyone who can move a decimal point to get as to how much they should give back to God. Tithing is for children - not for grown-ups.

I don't like tithing. Never have. Never will. There - I've said it. I don't think tithing should be the basis for adult stewardship education in Christian churches. We're beyond that. Actually, we've been beyond that for about 2,000 years - I'll prove it. Here's my premise - let's stop teaching tithing to adults and really, really teach GENEROSITY.

Tithing is the first step in giving back to God. I think most adults stop at that point and never progress beyond tithing. What Jesus teaches and lives out is much, much more than tithing - it is generosity and that is what God wants and expects from each of us, not just tithing. Too often tithing can end up being a scorecard - yep, done my 10%. God doesn't want just 10%, he wants more; he wants us to step out in faith and dependence on him. While tithing has a place, I don't think it is enough for a mature Christian.

Tithing is mentioned in the New Testament three times.

• Matthew 23.23 and Luke 11.42: Jesus roundly condemns the Pharisees for being sanctimonious and legalistic, even in their tithing on minutae but forgetting the big picture.
• Luke 18:12: Jesus mocks a Pharisee who keeps all the commandments, even tithing and fasting, but is less justified before God than a miserable tax collector.
• Hebrews 7.2-6: Paul tells the story of Abraham's encounter with Melchizidek and the tribute, a tithe, that Abraham gave. Paul is citing history and not writing theology.

Jesus himself didn't have anything good to say about tithing because the Pharisees had made a mockery of it. Like so many other things that the very human Pharisees "legalized" to death, Jesus didn't argue the point but instead came at it from another direction. Jesus emphasized generosity at every turn.

• He fed 5,000 men (plus women and children) - now that's generous!
• He brought people back to life and healed people with disablities
• He taught people like they'd never been taught before
• He gave of himself till he was exhausted from the crowds
• He died as the ultimate sacrifice and sign of generosity

In fact, the only instance I can find (based on my memory, mind you) of God being selfish is God's demand that humans not worship anyone else (including money). That's it. All the other words spoken by God relate to his giving nature and generous spirit. God does chastize people for their selfishness and spiritual immaturity but otherwise God is all about giving - from creating Eden (Genesis) to creating heaven (Revelation).

How does this translate to our churches today? Glad you asked!

Teach tithing to children. There are fundamental principles in tithing and of the relationship between what we have (time, talent, and treasure) and how those gifts should be given back to God. By all means, teach tithing to minors. But from middle school age kids up to 120 year olds, tithing takes a back seat to generosity. Big G is now the ruler - nothing trumps generosity. Tithing has the pitfall of becoming a scorecard - generosity has no negative connotations!

Well, how much is generosity? It is giving of all that you have in a way that makes you feel like you are indeed imitating God. Paul commended the Philippians for their eagerness to be generous; he taught the Corinthians the basis of generosity. Even Paul, that legalistic first century Christian, never focused on tithing but always on being generous. Imitate God in giving things away.

Generosity for some is just 1%,  for others it is 50%. For most of us it falls in the 5%-20% of our income. Generosity is not about keeping score of how much you've given away - as if you could ever compete with God, ha! Generosity is about seeing how much you can rely on God by imitating him in giving away anything and every thing you have. Let me challenge you to look at everything you have and ask if you'd be willing to give it away tomorrow if asked for it.

I challenge pastors and educators to start the conversation with tithing but to move quickly to generosity and ask yourself, "Am I being generous? Or stingy?" Stinginess is not a Christian concept - generosity is. And I can assure you that if every Christian lived up to his own definition of "generous" - the world would be utterly amazed. Teach, live, and love generously and generosity - and watch things change!

Lead On!
Steve

Willie Waller

Willie died a few years ago but he wouldn't mind me telling you his story, at least the part of it that has stuck with me. Willie and I met in February 1995 when I became the Director of Operations of South Highland Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama. South Highland Presbyterian is a beautiful building - built in phases in 1892, 1926, 1955, and 1996. The sanctuary and chapel are stunningly gorgeous (sometime I'll post about the Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket that a donor family and I approved to be placed in stained glass window in that church!).

In 1995 South Highland built a 25,000 square foot, $4 million dollar children's building and renovated the existing facilities. It was a much-needed overhaul of the current buildings with a badly-needed structure designed for kids. South Highland had a glorious past but had struggled to retain its members so the children's building was the church's effort to tell those who moved to the suburbs that the church was very much alive with a vibrant program for kids. It worked - South Highland to this day is a wonderful church.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Birmingham, Alabama was racked by racial strife. City and county leadership didn't want Blacks to have equal rights, equal education, equal opportunities, etc. In the midst of that tension, there were good relationships (but not equal) between individual Blacks and Whites - they were cordial and friendly to each other but there was a caste system between the two races. They lived on different sides of the railroad tracks and different sides of Red Mountain. In the 1960s, White Flight created the booming cities OTM (Over The Mountain, Red Mountain) which today form the business engine of north central Alabama. Willie grew up in a segregated and sometimes violent city.

Willie had already been the custodian at the church for 16 years when I got there. He was an institution: he knew all the members, he knew their cars and would get members out of worship if they left their car lights on; he knew how to run the building; he was THE caretaker of God's house. Before coming to South Highland, Willie worked in one of the steel mills near Birmingham. That's where breathed asbestos particles and developed a horrible illness which clogged his lungs. He got a monthly $300 check from the asbestosis lawsuit settlement but the illness shortened his life. He didn't die from that though, his kidneys began to shut down and he had dialysis three times a week. The docs put a tube in his arm - that really grossed me out to see that tube, yuk! His death was greatly mourned by the mostly white congregants of South Highland - they still miss him today.

On to the story, my most painful story about Willie. During the renovation work in 1996, all the bathrooms got a makeover. There was one bathroom, literally under some stairs, that was impossible to re-do. When I man used it, he would hit his head on the angled ceiling (which was the downward angle of the stairs); women never used it because it was so bad. So I had that made into a mop-sink, janitor's closet. It was perfect. There was floor sink and a faucet - I thought it was a great solution.

Shortly after that bathroom was completed, Willie came to my office. "Steve," he said, "where should I use the bathroom now?" I didn't understand the question. I told Willie that the church had sixteen bathrooms and he should use whichever one he wanted to, except the pastor's private bathroom. Willie replied, "I can't do that. See, I can only use the bathroom that you took away." I still didn't understand, "What do you mean you can only use that bathroom?" "Steve, when I started working here, I was told that the bathroom under the stairs is the only bathroom I could use and now you've done taken it away."

I was stunned. The history of Birmingham's Civil Rights struggles was not squarely in my face. This Black man, a very proud and dignified man, was told he could only use the "Colored Restroom" in the church and all the other bathrooms were for "Whites Only." I sat there not knowing what to do, how to say what, and somewhere between anger and astonishment.

After 15 seconds of silence (which felt like minutes), I said, "Willie, you can use any bathroom in the entire church. Every bathroom here is available to you. And if anyone, and I mean anyone, says anything to you about you using a bathroom, you come tell me or Dana [the senior pastor, Dana Waters, a wonderful gentleman] and we'll take it up with that person."

Later, I told Dana about the conversation and he supported me and was equally incensed that one of God's children, a servant in God's house, would be relegated to second or third-class status. We agreed that we'd do our part, the right thing, to help erase Birmingham's taint, if it ever came up - it never did. It was nice to know the church had grown up and moved on past those issues, at least in its building. At some point later, I saw Willie in bathrooms throughout the church - it was nice to see him using the "Whites Only" bathroom.

I miss Willie. He brought home to me for one instant, for less than five minutes, the struggles that he endured for over 65 years. I'm sorry he experienced discrimination at all but it was disgraceful that he experienced any in God's church. I was glad I could be part of giving grace back to a really, nice man, Willie Waller.

Lead On!
Steve

Pedophiles in the Church

Schools and churches were cited by Richard Hammar (THE guru of church legal and tax stuff) as the last places that pedophiles could hope to enter without being screened. Well, the school door is now closed - virtually every school screens anyone who gets near kids. That leaves churches - how open is your door? There are lots of ways to screen for pedophiles - see http://www.nsopr.gov/ for a site by the Federal Department of Justice that lists every convicted pedophile in the US.

But what about pedophiles that have done their time and now want to attend church - your church! What will you do? How do you handle that request? I suspect that every sizable church in America has a convicted pedophile visit at least once a year - sometimes the church knows the pedophile is coming and can be prepared but often the visit is unannounced.

Pretend you are someone intent on harming a child: this Sunday wander the halls of your children's areas and see who stops you to ask why you're there and if you should be there. If you're on staff, you may not be challenged. So do something better, ask a friend is who a stranger to your church to wander the halls where children and minors are present. Ask him (it must be a male) to track how long it is before he is stopped. Hopefully it will be less than one minute till someone at the church asks him what he needs and escorts him out of the children's area. That drill might be eye-opening to you. Then share the info with your children's leaders - either praise them for their timely actions in stopping a stranger, or use this as a teaching

But what about pedophiles who "do the right thing" by contacting the church and explain their situation and ask about coming. Consider the upside versus the downside - the upside is that one person, a convicted pedophile gets to go to church and the downside is that he might do something on your property that endangers your little ones. So, what should you do? Here are some simple steps to take:

1. Have at least two people from the church (pastor and another person) meet with the pedophile. Ask about his faith tradition, his faith journey, and his reasons for wanting to worship at your church and not a church closer to his home. (I use the male pronoun because most, but not all, pedophiles are men.)
2. Have the same two people who visited with the pedophile to meet with the parole officer (PO) to hear what the PO says about the situation. Listen for variances between what the PO says and what you heard from the pedophile. Tell the PO what the pedophile told you - it may not be the "whole" trust but just part of the truth.
1. The PO will give a clear opinion about whether the pedophile is ready to come to a worship venue where children will be present. Follow his advice - he's much better at evaluating these situations than anyone in a church; that's his job.
2. Some POs have a covenant which is a contract between the pedophile and the church. Read it carefully and decide if the church can fulfill its side of the contract. Most contracts have similar language and are designed to protect the church, not the pedophile.
3. If you decided to let the pedophile come to church then abide by the following guidelines. Tell the PO what you're doing and get his approval or ask for changes. Don't vary from the final agreement; any variance can open the church to legal proceedings.
1. The church must appoint a handful of men who agree to be the "shepherds" of the pedophile while he is present on church property. These should be mature men who do not have young children in their immediate family (so that a child isn't sitting with her father and the pedophile).
2. The pedophile must arrive at the church and stay in his car in the parking lot until his shepherd comes to the car. The pedophile and the shepherd will walk together to worship and sit together. If an approved shepherd doesn't come, then the pedophile must leave the church and return another week. The pedophile can have the cell phone numbers of church shepherds.
3. If the pedophile needs to use the restroom or get a drink while inside the church building, the shepherd must accompany him (even into the bathroom). The shepherd should not lose sight of the pedophile.
4. After worship, the pedophile should return to his car and leave the church grounds. The shepherd can then go to his Bible study group or his family.
5. A pedophile should not attend Bible study on church property. There are too many risks in walking halls to a classroom to see and be seen by children and students. There is no upside to this. If the pedophile wants to attend a Bible study, then seek a male-only Bible study that meets elsewhere during the week (preferably a public venue like a coffee shop) that will accept him. But don't force the group to do it.
6. A pedophile should attend only worship and nothing else. No meals, no special events, no concerts, nothing. Worship only, and then only with an approved shepherd.
7. That's it - pedophile drives to church; waits in car for shepherd; walks to worship with shepherd; leaves worship to return to car and drives home.

If you and your leadership spend more time on this than on carrying out your vision and mission then you've spent way too much time on this; in fact, I'd say that if you spend more than an hour on each situation, you've spent too much time - after all, do you spend that much time on your active members, those who are contributing to the health and well-being of your church - invest in them first and pedophiles lastly. There are few (if any) documented cases of completely rehabilitated pedophiles. Invest your time wisely and not necessarily in rehabilitating pedophiles for which you and your staff are probably ill-equipped.

Yes, this seems harsh and you may be thinking I've gone too far. But let me say that this is a situation that the pedophile has placed himself - you didn't put him into this, he did it to himself. Just like Spock in Star Trek says, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." Put the church and its minors first in importance and then see if the pedophile can fit into your situation. You should never feel that you need to accomodate the church to fit the needs of the pedophile - that is absurd!


Lead On!
Steve

Tellers

Most congregations have some form of tellers that count the Sunday offerings. There are no regular patterns:

• some count on Monday, some on Sunday
• some count during the service, some count after worship
• some copy checks, some write down all the info
• some enter data into the database system, some fill out forms and leave the docs for the finance office
• some take an hour, some take almost an entire day to count
• some teller teams have been disbanded leaving the job for the finance office staff and some teller teams will never give up their prize job

The purpose in having a Teller Team is to ensure that all funds are counted and deposited. It is a carry forward from days when the church didn't have a staff to count the money - volunteers took turns counting the Sunday collection and depositing the money. In many, if not most, churches, those days are long past but the committee lives on and on and on and on. Most tellers will tell you they feel they are protecting the church by ensuring that no one steals the money. Funny story - I worked at a church where the extremely zealous Teller Team never wanted the church staff to touch the money and they cited a story from 50 years ago when money was stolen - but it was stolen by a member of the Teller Team!

Let me suggest the easiest way possible for both the Teller Committee and for the Finance Office staff. This will save time, improve accuracy, cut down on gossip, and make everyone happy - yes, it sounds too good to be true!

1. Once the tellers have the offering, they should spread it out on a table
2. The tellers should go through the pile and gather all loose dollars and coins
3. All loose plate cash should be added and written on the deposit slip on one detail line
4. Then the tellers should stack and open all envelopes (but not pull out the contents)
5. Envelopes with checks should be placed in one stack and envelopes with cash in a separate pile (envelopes with both, which is rare, should be in the cash pile first and then moved to the check pile after the cash has been removed and noted on the envelope)
6. Cash in the envelopes should be removed and the amounts written on each envelope
7. All envelope cash should be added and written on the deposit slip (same one as #3) on a detail line
8. Then total all the cash and coins and write them on their respective lines at the top of the deposit slip. Two members of the teller team should initial the deposit slip so that an alternate slip is not made.
9. You now have one deposit slip and all cash (currency and coins) for the bank
10. A member of the teller team can take the cash deposit to the bank or leave it for the staff to deposit
11. Next, rubber band all the cash envelopes together and another stack of the check envelopes
12. Take the stacks of envelopes to the finance office in a locking bank bag
13. The tellers have now finished their job and can leave.
1. Because the tellers do not see the amounts on the checks, they do not see what various people give. All too often I've seen tellers discuss a gift by Mrs. Smith and that this week's check is bigger/smaller than last weeks and then wonder aloud what that means about her. Confidentiality is paramount in dealing with church money and if you have gossipy tellers, you've got a problem. Removing the temptation by removing the checks solves that problem!
14. The financial assistant will then scan the checks (if you don't have a check scanner, you've gotta get one - they're not terribly expensive but they are incredible timesavers!).
1. In every church I've seen, the financial assistant and a scanner are 10 times faster and more accurate than the tellers. All too often tellers make a (very human) mistake which means their total is not equal to the finance office total and that make the assistant have to search for the error - time she/he could use on something else.
15. When the financial assistant scans the checks, she/he can also scan the envelopes and the software will record an image of both check and envelope should you ever need to refer to them again (that happens more often than you think)
16. After scanning, the assistant gets a report from the software and prepares a deposit slip for the checks (the cash is on a separate deposit - see #8-10).
17. Ideally, someone other than the financial assistant will take the deposit to the bank to prevent embezzlement.
18. The offering/deposit totals are then recorded in the General Ledger of the church's financial journal.
19. The finance office now has a record from the computer of the Sunday offerings and that paper record is rubber banded with the deposit slips and kept for seven years (that's what a record retention schedule recommends). If you have scanned the offering envelopes, then shred them; if not, keep them with the deposit slips.
20. The financial assistant can now move on to the next project, probably payroll or accounts payable.

These steps are pretty easy to do. The tellers can do their job in about an hour. The financial assisant can do her/his job in about an hour IF there is a scanner (again, get one!). In two hours (maybe 3 for a big offering), all the church receipts can be totalled, prepared for deposit, and entered on the church's database. That will save loads of time that can be used elsewhere.

The tellers will need some equipment such as:

• A room where the tellers can lock themselves inside to preclude anyone from randomly walking in. Safety and security are paramount.
• The room should have tables so the offering can be spread out
• The offerings should ALWAYS be in the possession of two unrelated people. No husband-wife only teller teams or any other familial combinations; if a husband and wife are present, then a third completely unrelated person MUST be present.
• Locking bank bags are good. If the tellers count right after or during the service, then the offerings should be placed in the bank bag after counting and the bags locked tight.
• If the tellers finish on Sunday, then the bank bags should be placed in a safe; if the tellers won't count till Monday, then the bank bags should be placed in a safe on Sunday morning. Then, on Monday morning, two people should go to the safe to retrieve the money.
• To prevent people from stealing money while it it in the safe, purchase a safe that has two combinations and then give the two combinations to separate, unrelated people. Those two people will always have to be present to unlock the safe. (An envelope containing both combinations can be sealed and stored offsite with a church trustee or a bank official.)
• Since the tellers are only counting cash and coins, not checks, they shouldn't need any adding machines. Even if you got $1,000 in cash, two different people can add that up in their head or writing down figures. Save some money and storage space - don't buy the machines.

Some churches have completely disbanded the tellers and that is fine SO LONG AS you have enough internal controls to prevent one person from handling all the money by him/herself, especially the cash. Checks are not easily stolen (they can be but it is really hard) but cash is easy to pocket. Take adequate measures to protect the staff and tellers, but make the work as easy as possible.

Lead On!
Steve

1Q2012 Statement of Contribution

One quarter of 2012 is almost over so you need to prepare now to send out your first quarterly contribution statement of the year. Some churches send out statements only once a year - let me encourage you to send out statements each quarter plus one more:

• 1Q2012 - send out in the first 10 days of April
• 2Q2012 - send out in the first 10 days of July
• 3Q2012 - send out in the first 10 days of October
• 4Q2012 - send out the yearly statement by January 31

PLUS

• Send out a statement for the first eleven months (January through November) in the first 10 days of December. Why? So that people can see what they've given or not given so far in the year.

But let's get back to 1Q2012!

Sending a statement out in early April makes sense for several reasons:

• Use this opportunity to send a letter with the statement of contributions explaining to people what their money has been used for. They want to know what the church did with it - so tell them all the good things you've been doing and are planning to do. Share with them a couple of compelling stories - that will make all the difference in the world to some readers.
• At this time of year (tax-filing season in the US), people's awareness of how much they've given or not (and thus able to deduct from their tax return) is heightened. Since many people have just completed their annual tax forms, they're making promises to themselves to give more away to charity so they can give less to the government. Sending a letter in early April gives them a great reminder to give a check to their church.
• Easter is typically in early April. Most Christians will come to church on Easter and they'll usually hear a sermon about God's gift to us through Christ. They will hear about giving and sacrifice - this letter is a way to encourage them to tangibly respond with their own gifts.
• Gentle reminders throughout the year of how much people give to their church are good for both the church and the donor. These reminders are not heavy-hitting or guilt-inducing. These letters are simply nudges in reminding people to be financially faithful to their church - and you're sending these letters to the people who have already "bought in" to the vision of the church, they're already giving!

So, here's your homework for this weekend: find two great stories about what has happened in your church these past three months (since Christmas), put them in a letter, and send the letter with the quarterly statement of contributions.

Oh, one very important fact: send your letters with first class postage. Yes, that is a lot more expensive than bulk mail. But realize that the "open rate" (as opposed the "throw in the trash can rate") of first class stamped envelopes to bulk mail envelopes is something like five to one (don't quote me on that ratio, but it is way up there). People will open an envelope with first class postage far more often - and you want people to open envelopes to read the letter and the statement of contributions. Okay, back to your homework.

Lead On!
Steve

Two Cool Solutions

(This blog was written by my wonderful wife, Jennifer, and I asked if I could post it under her byline. These two products, DropBox and CrashPlan, are cool apps for church IT. Check them out)

I'm no expert on IT issues, but I've done some independent research lately on electronic file backup and storage options for homes and small businesses. It seems to me that these solutions might also be helpful to churches. There are a number of options out there, and many bloggers and tech review sites offer opinions/reviews. When I research things online, I prefer to consider a combination of review types because I like to look for consistencies among them. Bloggers tend to be individuals who offer advice based on personal experience; tech sites usually offer composite reviews either from other users' experiences or from their own tests. I'm careful not to pay attention to those sites that are sponsored by software companies or related online services, as they likely present biased opinions depending upon their sponsors.


That said, I've discovered there are two really amazing online services offering extremely affordable solutions for storage and file sharing (I say they're amazing because to some degree they are free, and they offer a lot of helpful features even at no cost to the user). The two I find most interesting and promising are Dropbox and CrashPlan. At first, I thought I'd want to choose between one or the other; what I discovered, though, is that they are two different animals.

This isn't a tech blog, so I won't list specific plans and options. You can check those out by doing an online search of your own (try entering "CrashPlan vs. Dropbox" or some similar text, and you'll find all that). Dropbox is a free, online service that allows you to store up to 2GB of files in their cloud (you can purchase more space if you need it) and access those files from any of your devices--and it syncs them automatically in real time. You can also share folders with other Dropbox users--a huge plus for people working on a project together. I use Dropbox on my iPad, iPhone, iMac, and PC laptop. There's an Android app for it too, and all their software and apps are free. Because I work both from home and an office, I am able to keep folders with all my work files in Dropbox and work on them no matter where I am, and they sync automatically to all my devices. I use Word and Excel files almost exclusively, though I do put some some photo files there, and after about a year I'm still using only 3% of my available free space. If you use multiple devices for your work and haven't tried Dropbox, you simply must take a look at it. It also allows you to access your files using your password via their website, and you can do that from any computer when you're online at any location.

CrashPlan is an efficient and inexpensive way to back up all the files on your computer. They offer a free plan that allows you to back up from one computer to another (if you want to back up, say, from your home to your office computer), but if you want to use their online (off-site) storage cloud, you have to subscribe. Their top plan for users who have up to 10 computers--with unlimited file storage--is only $72 per year. You can set the backups to occur as often as you want (they recommend nightly, but you can do it more often if you choose). CrashPlan is more secure than Dropbox, as everything is encrypted.

Many reviewers recommend using both of these services together. The one caution is about Dropbox and its security; if you are dealing with highly sensitive, confidential information, you probably won't want those files on Dropbox. Even though they are accessible only to your devices on which you've loaded the software, anyone who uses your devices can access them. I plan to check out CrashPlan's free trial soon and potentially use it to back up all my computers. With these great options available, I seriously wonder about the need for organizations to maintain local servers and whether we'll see a change in that practice in the future. But as I said, I'm not an IT expert. I just enjoy finding and using new options in technology that make my work more efficient, secure, and simple.
 
Lead On!
Steve

Outrageous Generosity

Generosity is one of my favorite words because it so describes God's nature. Actually, outrageous generosity is a much better descriptor. Think about - humans have offended and humiliated God in every possible way yet his response is pure love. What's up with that? It's a good thing humans are created in God's image because if God had a human image, then God would react in a vengeful way and who could blame him after they way humans have treated him?

So, let me encourage you to think about God's Outrageous Generosity. Actually, do more than think about it. I challenge you to do a sermon (or sermon series) on this topic. And the best time to start with it is Easter Sunday 2012. Take the month of April and preach on this subject and challenge your listeners to "be imitators of God," the person in whose image they were created.

Humans are born with two life-sustaining instincts (something that every human baby does): grasping (taking hold) and sucking (taking in). God's instinct is to give everything away (read the Bible, you'll see that pretty soon). The greatest example of how God personified Outrageous Generosity was on Good Friday on a cross - Jesus opened his hands for the spikes and his arms for the cross and died for all humanity. That's OUTRAGEOUS!

Now, how can you be generous, even outrageously generous?

• In your personal life
• Be generous by spending more time with your kids helping with their homework
• Be generous with the time you give your spouse; go on a date once a month and a weekend away at least once a year
• Be generous with other generations: call your parents or kids in college at least once a week
• Be generous with yourself: take your family on a memorable vacation - you need to get away from work and be with the ones who love you and whom you love
• Be generous in creating memories. Every present you give on Christmas morning will end up in a landfill but the memories you give them will last a lifetime!
• In your professional life
• Be generous with the credit at work: give someone else credit for a job even though you did 90% of the work
• Be generous with someone else's career: let someone else get a promotion
• Be generous with your words of praise: encourage someone talented to start their own business or go for a new career
• In your pocketbook
• Be generous in how you give, not just how much. Think long and hard about the recipients and even do some homework by calling, visiting, and even studying the financial records of the organizations who get your money
• Be generous with why you give. In the US we get a tax break for our gifts but that shouldn't be the reason for giving. While giving benefits other people, giving actually benefits you far more because it makes you wrestle personally with the amount and recipient of your hard-earned cash. Get the right motivation for giving and a tax-break (more money for you) is not a good enough reason.
• Be generous with when you give. Yes, you can wait till you die and leave everything in your will. That's kind of like saving all the Christmas presents and giving them away in your will. Isn't the greatest gift of Christmas morning seeing the joy in others when they open a gift from you. Give NOW so that you can see the joy that others experience.
• Be generous with how much you give. Believe me, you won't miss it.
• In your faith 
• Be generous with the knowledge that every person is searching for God. Humans by nature seek God (we've never found chimpanzees worshiping or creating any type of religious icon!) - that makes us unique among all animal (every single human culture on earth has some form of faith).
• Be generous in your own search. Most people inherit a faith from their parents. I believe a faith that isn't questioned isn't a faith worth having. Ask hard questions even if it means wondering about the foundations of your faith. And when you have solid answers, hold on to that faith
• Be generous in asking others about their own faith. It's a tough conversation but if you care about someone, it's a necessary one. Everyone is seeking something; encourage that search.
• Be generous with God. You may have questions about God and you may not like him at all for a bunch of reasons. But God can say the same thing about you and yet he loves being with you. Why not give God a chance and spend some time together?

Lead On!

Steve

Jesus, I've Got Your Ass

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” (Matthew 21:1-3)

At some point, Jesus slipped away from his followers and found a man with a donkey and a new colt. Jesus told the man that at some point a couple of his followers would be coming around asking to borrow the donkey. Evidently the man had some type of relationship with Jesus (of which we know nothing except by implication) but it was strong enough for Jesus to borrow something of value. And when asked, the man must have said, "Jesus, I've got your ass." Jesus thanked him and returned to his disciples.

Every leader has followers by definition. One of the great problems of leadership is that sometimes its hard to know if people are following you or chasing you. Leaders have lots of arrows thrown at them. Usually those darts are tossed by enemies or people who are not adherents to the leaders' cause. Ocassionally the barbs are by well-meaning followers who help the leader manage his blindside (because every person, including great leaders, have areas of their personal and professional lives that they just can't see). But a few times the leader is shot by followers who react to something he (or she) has done or said.

It into those slings and arrows that a few trusted people must be willing to insert themselves. These are key people that the leader has invested in over the course of months or years. These are people who have had some personal time with the leader and who the leader is grooming for their own positions of leadership. These are people who are present or future leaders - they know that they, too, will suffer attacks from friends and foes. But for now, they are willing to absorb some of the blows thrown at a leader and explain to the dart-throwers why the leader is doing what he is because they understand the bigger picture. These are people who can say to the leader, "I've got your back."

Jesus spent some time with a guy who would play a critical role just a few days before the crucifixion. It may be that the man had waited for months or years for his time; we don't know and it doesn't matter. We do know that he stepped forward when asked. Are you grooming new generation leaders? Are you teaching them the perils of leadership? Are you helping them to explain to others about leadership decisions that come from big visions? Are you helping them to know that at some point, they need to say to you and mean it, "Lead on and don't worry about your back because, I've got your ass."

Lead On!
Steve

New Year's Letter

I've got a job for the leader of your faith community: write a letter to your congregation about your dreams for 2012. Technically it is not a "New Year's Resolution" letter but it is a letter about your hopes and vision for the church for the new year. Call it a "New Year Vision Letter."

What should be in this letter? Well, it should be no more than one page - please don't get long-winded or else people will stop reading after about two paragraphs (if you're lucky). Use a 12 point font to make the letter easier to read - don't cheat by using 8 point font to cram in more words! Make the letter no more than five paragraphs long using the following template:

1. Intro Paragraph - Write about 2011 and where the congregation has come in the past 12 months and even the years before then. Be brief, be very brief in this synopsis - this is NOT the purpose of your letter; this is just a starting point so that everyone is on the same page.
2. Next Two or Three Paragraphs - give three concrete (lots of details) ideas of what you want to accomplish in 2012. Flesh out each idea in one paragraph with financial costs, numbers of volunteers needed, dates by which the goals need to be met, and the promise of a party when each goal is reached. (I believe the church doesn't party enough - we need to celebrate accomplishments more often but that requires knowing where the finish line is in each goal.)
3. Final Paragraph - a prayer of blessing on each reader and an acknowledgement of the generosity by the family of faith which has permitted the church to do all is has done so far. Being sincerely thankful is very important.

This letter should go out to every person in the church because it will help set the tone for the church in 2012. A good way to send out the letter is to include it in the 2011 statement of contributions which every church mails out to every member (at least to every donor) of the church. Every person will open that letter because they want to see how much they can write off on their taxes - when a letter from the pastor falls out, they'll read that, too. Who knows, your letter may spark some dialogue with people - it can certainly be a conversation starter with your leadership. I know they want to know what your dreams are and how they can participate in making them happen - to benefit the church and the Kingdom.

Lead On!
Steve