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They Got the Title · The Healthy Church Staff Podcast

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Director of kids, youth pastor, worship director.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: The title went up on the website.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: The staff photo got updated on the website.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody was excited.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then they needed new curriculum.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Or a contractor for the retreat.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Or a hundred dollars or so for Sunday morning supplies.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: And the answer was just run it by me, or we'll need to take that to the board.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Or something like, let's look at that again next quarter.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: So their title says that they lead, but every time they need money, they have to ask for it.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Every single time.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: If this sounds familiar and if this is part of your church's culture, we're going to talk about that today, right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: And if it's not a part of your culture, congratulations.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: But there might be something here for you to learn today as well.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: I am excited that you're here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Again, my name's Todd, and so glad that we get to spend a little one-on-one time here on the podcast.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about this a little bit.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Look at what you gave them.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: You gave them a job description with words like probably had words like oversee and lead and you're gonna own this or that.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: You gave them a seat at the staff table.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then I want you to take a look at what you held back, okay?
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: A budget that they can actually spend, a dollar amount that they can spend without stopping you in the hallway or without feeling bad about having to come to you and say, Hey, can I spend this on this?
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: They plan VBS, they plan the mission trip.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: You've given them that authority and that responsibility.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: They plan the worship calendar, things like that, and then they sit there with their email open, waiting for somebody else to say yes to the money.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's not leading a ministry, that's waiting for permission, okay?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And here's what that does to the work.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: It slows everything down.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: The person that you hired to lead can't lead because they don't have the resources to lead.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: So let's pull this into an example.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's say the kids' curriculum renews in June, okay, and your director asks about it in April.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you say, I'll take a look.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Maycoms are still waiting.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: June gets here, and the kids' ministry is scrambling with last year's stuff.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe the youth retreat deposit is due on Friday, but your youth pastor asked three weeks ago, but the board doesn't meet until next month.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: So what do they do?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: They put it on their personal credit card and hope they hope that the reimbursement conversation isn't awkward.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe the worship team needs a new cable and a mic that actually works.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's 50 bucks.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it's still clear it with pastor first.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Every little purchase turns into a big ask.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And your volunteers see it.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: People hear the word director and they assume that person can make a decision, and then they watch that director wait on text, wait on a text from you before ordering pizza for a volunteer huddle.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: And don't just think that this happens in small churches, this happens at large churches with really overstrict financial controls.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: And you can also go the other way and be too lenient, right?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: But over time, something happens to a staff member that is being told to lead, but they can't because they have to wait on permission, especially for finances.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: They stop bringing you big ideas because they already know that every idea is guess what?
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: They're it's gonna come with another round of asking.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I want to be fair with you here, okay?
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to be too hard on you.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: You are most likely stewarding very limited dollars are tight in a lot of churches.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: I get that.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've been burned by a bad purchase before, and you got called on the carpet, even though it wasn't you.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody on your staff made a bad financial purchase or something, and you got caught in the middle of it, and you took the heat for it.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: So you want accountability, and that's a good thing.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Accountability doesn't have to mean approving every purchase yourself.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot become the bottleneck.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Accountability can be a dollar limit and a monthly report.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: So here's what I do.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Give each ministry leader, if you've not done this already, give them a budget for their area and then give them a number that they can spend without asking you first.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: That covers things like curriculum and supplies, small contractors, event deposits, all under a clear amount you both agree on.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: And we talked, I think last week or the week before, on how you don't want to have staff floating all of these expenses on their personal credit card.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure that they have a way to pay for this the church account or a church credit card or something so that they don't have to float these on their personal credit card.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Hop off my high horse there.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: But just ask for a simple monthly report.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: What did you spend?
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: What did you spend it on?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: And how does that line up with your plan?
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: How does that line up with the budget?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: That, my friend, is stewardship.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a lot less work for you, too, because you don't get bogged down into everybody's decisions.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: If a board needs to approve the big items, like a new van or a building project, that's fine.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's really what they should be doing.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Just say so out loud so everybody knows where that line is.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: What is your limit?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: In some churches, it's$500, anything more than$500.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Some churches it might be a thousand, some churches it might be a hundred dollars.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: But give your director the everyday money to run the ministry that you've hired them to lead.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: And here's a question to ask in your next staff meeting or maybe in your next finance conversation.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: And be really plain about it.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Who on our team has a leadership title but can't spend a dollar without asking for permission?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then watch your room, right?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: If the kids director, your youth pastor, your worship leader all quietly raise their hands, you've got your answer.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: And if the only person who can approve the purchase is you, or sometimes it's not a senior pastor, but it's a finance committee person that has to say yes to every single purchase.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a board that meets only once a month, so everything has to wait until that meeting.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's the way everything operates for your leadership.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: You haven't really built a team of ministry leaders.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: You've got people with nice titles who still have to come to you or your board or your finance person for everything.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the bottom line for today.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: If your title says lead, but every dollar takes a request, you didn't really hand them the ministry.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: You handed them kind of a nameplate that says leader, but you didn't give them the keys.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: You kept the keys.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: So here's my challenge for you this week.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Make a list of everybody on your team with a director or a pastor title.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: And next to each name, write down whether they know what they can do here.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Do they have a budget?
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Can they spend?
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: How much can they spend?
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Without asking you or a finance person or a board, right?
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: And if the answer is no, I don't know, set a dollar limit.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: You're probably gonna have to take that to your board if you're in a church that has tight financial controls.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: But set a dollar limit and a simple monthly report, and then sit down with them and tell them exactly this is how it's gonna be from now on.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I think they'll really appreciate that.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody on your team.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody on your team is carrying a leadership title right now, and they're still waiting on your reply so they can buy what they need for their ministry.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: They took the job because they believed the title meant something.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: If you know a leader who's always been saying, hey, just run it by me, share this podcast episode with them.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: You can just email them the link, and then go and if this is something that you need to tackle today, hand your people the keys that match their job title.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: That is it for today.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: My name's Todd, and you're listening to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to hear your comments.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Re email me anytime.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Podcast at chemistry staffing.com.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to hear from you anytime.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Podcast at chemistry staffing.com.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great day.