Councils as Leaders in the Church:
Congregational Toolkit
The 2012 Councils as Leaders event took place Sunday, March 11 at Bethel Lutheran Church, Rochester. We had record attendance for ten fantastic workshops! Handouts and other resources from the day are posted below.
Congregational Toolkit
This year’s event will offered ten workshops to create a “toolkit” for leadership in your congregation.
- Program Budget by Larry Iverson, Synod Minister, Southeastern Minnesota Synod
- Program Budget (PDF) – An exciting alternative or addition to the typical line item budget in expressing the budget in terms of the ministry areas in the life of a congregation. So instead of a number on a line item budget, it is expressed as a ministry area. This is part of a larger resource, Step by Step: Fostering Financial Stewardship in Your Congregation. This book offers a general overview of stewardship practice and theology. It is available as a two-part PDF - Step by Step and Theology of Stewardship. Step 12, found on pages 20-21 of the Step by Step portion, is the program budget component.
- Good Shepherd, Plainview’s Program Budget – an example (PDF)
- More resources on the page for the fall 2011 Excelling in Mission…A Generous Undertaking webpage and the synod’s stewardship resources page.
- Church Finances and You by John Petersburg, Treasurer, Southeastern Minnesota Synod & Church Administrator, Trinity Lutheran Church, Owatonna
- Congregational Treasurers’ and Bookkeepers’ Financial and Accounting Guide (PDF from ELCA.org)
- Guidelines for Congregations: Internal Control Best Practices (PDF from ELCA.org)
- PowerPoint slides on “Church Finances and You” (via SlideShare)
- Communicating Church in the 21st Century by Katie Livingood, Communications Director, Southeastern Minnesota Synod
- Handouts (PDF) – includes resources on the synod website for communication content, informative resources on social media, Facebook and Twitter dictionaries, a list of popular email marketing services, and a list of some of the helpful FREE services Google offers.
- Open Letter to Churches Seeking New Members
- What if Starbucks marketed like the church? (a YouTube video mentioned but not shown at the workshop)
- Examples of websites and Facebook pages:
- A VERY basic website, not an exciting design, but gets the basics right: Who are we? Where are we? When do we meet?
www.plymouthchurchgr.org - Synod Facebook page
- ELCA Facebook page (including their usage guidelines) – Take a look both on the page’s wall (or timeline if they update by the time you read this) and on the comments in response to the usage guidelines. There are critiques, but certain things are not allowed.
- Zumbro, Rochester’s Facebook page
- Bethel, Rochester’s Facebook page
- Trondjhem, Lonsdale’s Facebook page
- Stordahl, Zumbrota’s Facebook page
- Women of the ELCA on Pinterest
- Example of a Google Docs form (note that this form is no longer effective to register since the event is over!)
- Additional Book Recommendation: Church Marketing 101: Preparing Your Church for Greater Growth by Richard Reising
- Protecting Our Children, Youth, & Vulnerable Adults by Karen Gieseke, Children, Youth, and Family Ministry Coordinator, Southeastern Minnesota Synod
- Handouts (PDF) – includes several examples of safeguarding best practices, a sample task & timeline for best practices policies & procedures, sample emergency communication plan, and further resources
- PowerPoint slides on “Best Practices” for Safety, Security, Volunteer Background Checks, and More (via SlideShare)
- The Role of Congregational Leaders in Children, Youth, & Family Ministry by Dr. Terri Elton, Associate Professor of Children, Youth, and Family (CYF) Ministry & Director of the Center for CYF Ministry, Luther Seminary, Luther Seminary
- Evaluating Ministry by Sr. Noreen Stevens, Assistant to the Bishop for Leadership Support, Saint Paul Area Synod (a presentation on performance evaluations of rostered lay leaders)
- Mission Planning by Rev. Kevin Woestehoff, Synod Congregational Renewal Table, Southeastern Minnesota Synod, & Pastor, Good Shepherd, Plainview
- Handouts (PDF) including the following:
- “God at Work Through Mission Planning” – Good Shepherd, Plainview’s story
- Good Shepherd, Plainview’s cottage meeting agenda
- Good Shepherd, Plainview’s cottage meeting devotions
- Good Shepherd, Plainview’s strategic plan
- Strategic Planning: A Football Analogy
- Mission planning models and bibliography
- So…It’s Your Turn to Lead Devotions by Rev. Katie Fick, Book of Faith Advocate, Southeastern Minnesota Synod & Pastor, Hayward Lutheran Church, Hayward and Trondhjem Lutheran Church, Austin
- Devotional Resources (PDF)
- Lectio Divina (PDF)
- Worship & Music Teams: Thinking WAY Outside the Box by
Rev. Siri Strommen-Campbell & Bob Tewes, AIM, Partners in Evangelical Worship, Southeastern Minnesota Synod & Pastor, Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Rochester and Minister of Music, Grace Lutheran Church, Albert Lea (respectively) - Tending to your constitution…you are not alone! by Deborah Ann Norrie, Executive Assistant, Southeastern Minnesota Synod
- Handout (PDF)