FAQs Flashcards
Was this passed unanimously? Where’s the Treasurer?
The Treasurer is unable to attend.
The fact that Board members and other volunteers are reaching the point of exhaustion and having to step back or risk burnout points to the need for growth.
Isn’t this “faith-based budgeting”?
While faith-based budgeting is certainly unwise, fear-based budgeting is also unwise.
We are used to having a scarcity of cash and an abundance of people. Now that we have a severe shortage of people, it would be foolish to hoard cash as if we were still in our old situation of unlimited people power and no financial resources.
Is this deficit spending?
If in three years we were to continue spending at this level without increasing our pledge base, we would then be facing a deficit situation.
What advantages will we see from increasing staffing levels?
Why should we have more than one pastor for our size?
We are “selling” community, a place where people know you and will call you when you’re sick and where you can make a difference and cultivate yourself. This value proposition takes time to sink in with each new person but what we have is precious and valuable to people so our case is strong.
Staffing adjustments are targeted toward four key drivers of growth (from flywheel graphic): attracting believers , building strength, demonstrating results, and building brand.
Robert will be freed up to be the face of the church and make sure we are seen at public events, and to focus more on quality worship.
Admin person will keep internal operations running smoothly and relieve pressure on staff and volunteers.
Annie will be doing more programming for new visitors as well as regulars.
Erik and all staff keeping worship high-quality so visitors have a reason to come back.
Michael will be doing institutional partnerships .
Why are we spending money on staff instead of programming?
Shouldn’t our programs be volunteer-run?
Most of what pastors do is programming, i.e. activities focused on our mission.
Rather than risk even more costly transitions for these roles, it’s smart and wise to make the most of the experienced, skilled people who know us already and can do the work we need done.
The distinction between programming and “overhead” is somewhat misleading. There is no such thing as effective programming without admin, especially in a small organization. We need a central nervous system to keep this body functioning well so we don’t have to re-grow a new brain every time something changes.
It’s somewhat of a chicken/egg issue - in order to grow, we need to invest and give ourselves an infusion of energy. Right now our volunteers are stretched to capacity and we can’t risk burning everyone out. We are short on people but can afford to invest in some increased staffing to help grow our pledge and volunteer base.
Is this sustainable?
We pass budgets one year at a time. If we were to continue to spend at these levels for three years without growing our stewardship base, we would be risking a deficit situation.
The Board is proposing that we take a calculated risk by investing in additional staffing and programming in order to grow. Growth numbers and reports on programming are on the agenda at every Board meeting, so we will be able to monitor progress toward our goals and make course corrections as needed.
What about social justice programming?
Our plan includes four categories of programming, corresponding to our community’s four values in our mission, vision, and values statements: social action, spiritual development, spiritual community, and [what is the fourth one?].
To be sustainable, we need a balance of programming to nourish and develop ourselves and reach out to others.
Why haven’t we grown already?
Transitions are costly, not just financially but in morale and energy. With a move, churches generally could expect to lose around 25% of their members. Our membership numbers have not declined significantly - in fact, we have grown slightly - but our volunteer base was exhausted by the demands of the move and infrastructure changes, and we could use some more hands on deck.
While we are remaining on course with our transition to life as a mission-driven church, some of the assumptions in the 2014 plan did not turn out to be true, and we have dealt with a couple staff changes (exec pastor moving on and new music director joining us) as well as a few situations we did not anticipate in the new space - like needing to install baffling in the sanctuary, some security issues, some logistics issues with mail delivery and the layout of the building.
We also underestimated the complexity of our bookkeeping needs, and without anyone solely responsible for administration, volunteers are getting burned out doing vast amounts of paperwork and administrative tasks and our Senior Pastor and other staff spend significant time on bulletin production, ordering office supplies, keeping toilet paper stocked, etc. Having one person to handle administrative tasks will free our current staff to spend more of their time doing what they were hired to do.
People aren’t cogs in a machine that we can plug in and out. It takes time to rebuild community, but what we offer is priceless, and if we build it, they will come.
[TROLLING - any mention of divisive issues - theology, partisanship, polarization, personality conflicts.]
We have had an amazing streak of unity and unanimity that we should celebrate, and we are also proud of our democratic tradition, where all can speak their minds openly and where the free exchange of ideas helps us reason our way to the best decision.
The Board considered this plan over several months and deliberated at length about how to achieve our goal of growth and vitality, and passed this budget and a strategic plan for growth at the October Board meeting.
The Board’s fiduciary duty of loyalty prevents Board members from publicly dissenting from a Board decision, so it would not be fair for anyone - regardless of point of view, majority or dissent - to comment in detail on the internal deliberations of the Board.
How do you feel?
Grounded, confident, powerful, safe, connected, hopeful, and READY.
Friendly, easy question.
Talk for a long time and run out the clock.
Trolling with repeated hostile questions
Every question leads back to a talking point.
If there are too many, “in the interests of time and fairness, let’s hear from others who haven’t spoken yet”. Use your power as moderator to manage traffic, and use charm to keep mood in the room upbeat and generous.
How do you set the right mood?
Music, atmosphere, jokes, personal charm, long deep prayers, holding hands, participatory prayers, kittens and puppies…
Socially, humans are similar to canines.
In wolf packs, how are the alpha breeding pair identified as pups?
They
- have the lowest resting heart rate at birth
& - initiate play best. Wolf “dominance” = charisma = most success at initiating play.
Why should members attend the annual congregational meeting?
If we don’t pass a budget, we can’t continue normal operations, and we need a quorum in order to hold the meeting. At our last meeting, business was held up until two last members arrived here from the east bay so we could make the meeting official. The church needs everyone to be there.
