Governance and Ministry: Rethinking Board Leadership - Softcover

Hotchkiss, Dan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1566993709 ISBN 13: 9781566993708

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009

Synopsis

In Governance and Ministry, Dan Hotchkiss offers congregational leaders a roadmap and tools for changing the way boards and clergy work together to lead congregations. Hotchkiss demonstrates that the right governance model is the one that best enables a congregation to fulfill its mission—to achieve both the outward results and the inward quality of life to which it is called. Resources on governance for the nonprofit sector have burgeoned over the past decade, and this book translates some of what is most helpful from that world for clergy and lay leaders. it also recognizes that in some ways congregations are unique and need governance structures and processes different from those that work in other organizations. Leaders must continually balance the conserving function of an institution with the expectation of disruptive, change-inducting creativity that comes when individuals peek past the temple veil and catch fresh visions of the Holy. Governance in congregations is not the science of achieving optimal results through organizational re-engineering. Governance is an expressive art, like preaching. The forms of our congregations must reflect the values and perceptions of the sacred at their heart. Congregations need skills and methods for negotiating "our way" of governance and for passing the torch effectively to new leaders.

About this title

About the Author

Rev. Dan Hotchkiss writes, consults, and speaks widely for congregations and other nonprofits. His specialties include board governance, strategic and financial planning, clergy transition, and fundraising. As a senior consultant for the Alban Institute for 14 years, and now as an independent consultant, Dan has directly helped hundreds of congregations and related organizations in over 28 denominational groups. Through his coaching, teaching, and writing, Dan touches the lives of an even wider range of leaders. He is also the author of Ministry and Money: A Guide for Clergy and Their Friends. You can visit his website at www.danhotchkiss.com.

Review

Have you felt swamped by the myriad of possible ways to organize, govern, and manage a church? Has the relationship of leadership issues among church boards, committees, clergy and congregation mystified you? Or does the mounting bibliography of potential ways to govern religious organizations overwhelm you? Dan Hotchkiss has seen it all—has been there and done that in his organizing work of holy conversations with many churches. He sorts out the issues and possibilities for us in this book and offers a practical and timely way to explore governance change. His approach is flexible and helpful. (Charles M. Olsen, author of Discerning God's Will Together and Transforming Church Boards into Communities of Spiritual Leaders)

Dan Hotchkiss is a premier church planning facilitator. Thus, his words in this book take on a sense of depth and authority. He knows whereof he speaks. Hotchkiss articulates a methodology by which local churches can be energized and visionary not ‘in spite of’ old ways of doing business but ‘because of’ new ones. (Michael Brown, senior minister, Marble Collegiate Church, New York, New York)

If our faith is held as a 'treasure in earthen vessels' then it matters deeply how we use those vessels called congregations. Board, staff, and members need to fulfill their critical roles and align appropriately for mission. Dan Hotchkiss helps. He provides a rich mix of ideas, language, models, and steps to help congregations use leadership well. And Dan writes like he talks—engagingly, with wisdom, and skirted with humor. It’s good. (Gil Rendle, senior vice president, Texas Methodist Foundation; author of Doing the Math of Mission: Fruit, Faithfulness, and Metrics)

About this edition

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1566993709
• ISBN 13: 9781566993708
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 268