These are books written by team members, friends, and acquaintances of ours.

“If we don’t say the benefit out loud, how will they know it’s there?”

My grandfather used to say that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Putting together an organized and complete financial summary before you approach a bank for a loan is a great first step towards establishing trust with a prospective bank. You might also learn a thing or two about your church in the process.

As a PK, I grew up with my parents serving on staff together at a small church. My dad was the pastor, and my mom didn't get paid, but make no mistake, they both worked there. Growing up with it, it never struck me as odd or out of place. These days, they even have a name for her: First Lady!

Much like learning my mom’s banana pudding, I start by observing. I watch how you operate, from your financial strategies to your operational workflows. Then, I work alongside you, helping refine and replicate those processes. Finally, I step into your shoes, testing and proving the systems under your supervision. By the end of our collaboration, you have a well-documented, scalable, and repeatable “recipe” for success.

Counting everyone who can fog a mirror every single week is unnecessary overhead. If it doesn't change the way we operate, or create an actionable metric, we don't bother

Introverted and Lonely—Two words that you probably wouldn’t use to describe your pastor, but are probably accurate

If you want the opportunity to know and share your story, visit Todd and his team at https://www.315project.com/ or comment below and we’ll be happy to make an introduction!

Thinking about Shark Tank gave me an idea. Instead of trying to think of all the questions they need to be asking themselves, I decided to try to let the show lead them in the right direction.

[Warning: Satire ahead!] Jobs in ministry are among the easiest of any industry. We get to do what we love for the people we love in an environment we love. What could be better than a frictionless environment where everyone loves one another, and puts the needs of others ahead of their own?

The disconnect for nonprofits is that our customers, that is, those who use and benefit from our “products” are not the ones who provide the revenues.

As a professional layman, I deliberately and actively use my vocation and my vocational experiences and abilities to assist churches in their mission.

An acquaintance at a networking lunch, during a time of sharing prayer requests, asked for prayer as she searched for a church near her home where she and her children could get involved. She went on to tell us a horror story about visiting a church near her home. She arrived at the door, and the greeter asked if she was visiting. When she said yes, the greeter said, “Today's probably not a good day to visit. We're baptizing today. You should try back next week.”

As a pastoral coach, I have worked with hundreds of pastors across the country. I love what I do and am privileged to meet and connect with some of the greatest leaders in ministry. I have learned many things from some amazing leaders. Below are a few common leadership principles I have observed…

Though “making a list'“ might sound simplistic, it is important to track a church's fixed assets at some level or another. Whether utilizing software specific for this purpose or general-use software such as Access, FileMaker or Excel, a church should develop a database of some sort to aid in this tracking process.

Professionalism is more than just courteous behavior, though. It carries with it a degree of integrity. The Bible teaches that we are to "live our lives in a manner worthy of the calling God has put on our lives." Whether you are a church leader, a professional who serves churches, an Executive Pastor or church business administrator, or even a volunteer, God has called us to act professionally. It seems mundane, but that is the way that we, as professionals, can demonstrate our commitment to Christlike living.

There is one other thing about rules that should not be overlooked: they usually do not happen on their own. Rules usually come into existence after someone has done something wrong. They exist to remind us that the paths we walk on can be dangerous. Willful disregard can be an indicator of serious problems. We all complain about the IRS and the Tax Code it enforces. But they only exist because people sometimes have difficulty doing the right thing.

"Lots of churches measure attendance and offering," he began, "but how do you measure the spiritual formation and health of your attenders? Isn't that the real measure of a church's health?"

I had an interesting conversation with a banker who specializes in church loans. Knowing ahead of time that he is a banker with over 20 years experience doing loans for churches, I knew that I would find the conversation interesting. We talked about a variety of matters, but he said a couple of things that really stood out.

What kinds of questions are you asking yourself? What are your key performance indicators?What are you tracking and measuring? What do you want to know about your church? Maybe our geek is showing, but this stuff fascinates us!