Church Execuitve Magazine Digital Edition May 2013

HELPING LEADERS BECOME BETTER STEWARDS

maY 2013

FiNDiNG A

Fundraiser FiT

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hOW tO rAiSe

meGaBucKs

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TaX issues

iN CLerGY COMPeNSAtiON | 14

roBert cIZeK

no-nonsense LeadershIp | 10

may 2013

10

the Ce iNterv ieW

By Rez Gopez-Sindac

20

“Surprisingly smooth,” is how rob Cizek — executive pastor and an emmy Awards-winning tv news director — describes his transition from the newsroom to the church world.

FE ATU RES

24 26 30 32

DE PARTM ENTS

KNOW YOUR LAND USE RIGHTS

7 eDitOr’S NOteS

An attorney drills down on the religious Land use and institutionalized Persons Act (rLuiPA).

8 NeWS uPDAte

By Daniel P. Dalton

HOW TO RAISE MEGABUCKS

14 tAx iSSueS

By Richard R. Hammar

By Rez Gopez-Sindac

A Dallas megachurch pastor counts the ways — and costs.

DOES A CHURCH REALLY NEED AN APP?

20 FiNANCiAL SOLutiONS

By Sarah Thompson

34 MArKetPLACe

By Chris Sharpe

Consider going on an “app-venture” only if you have good content and can execute it well.

KEEPING AN EYE ON HEALTH CARE REGULATIONS

16HOW ILLUMINATING!

By RaeAnn Slaybaugh

three lighting professionals offer plain-english, pastor-friendly tips for evaluating worship space lighting systems — from longevity, to price, to overall value.

36 “like” us on churchexecutivemagazine

By Roy Hayhurst

health care reform changed many of the rules. Make sure your church is following the current rulebook.

22

S PECIAL S ECTION: Lighting

“Follow” us on @churchexecutive Church Executive (Copyright 2013), Volume 12, Issue 5.

Church Executive is published monthly by Power Trade Media LLC, a subsidiary of Friendship Publications Inc., 4742 N. 24th Street, Ste. 340, Phoenix, AZ 85016. ™

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responsiBle Financial sTewardship: raising Funds for Small Projects

FINDING A FUNDRAISER FIT

Reprints: All articles in Church Executive are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written permission of the publisher. For reprints of 100 or more, contact Valerie Valtierra at (602) 265-7600 ext. 203.

By RaeAnn Slaybaugh

Copyright 2013 by Power Trade Media, LLC. No advertisement or description or reference to a product or service will be deemed as an endorsement, and no warranty is made or implied by Power Trade Media, LLC. Information is obtained from sources the editors believe reliable, accurate and timely, but no warranty is made or implied, and Power Trade Media, LLC is not responsible for errors or omissions.

helping Leaders Become Better Stewards.

4 | ChurCh exeCutive | 05/2013

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c h u rc h e xe c u t i ve . c o m

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4742 North 24th Street, Suite 340 Phoenix, AZ 85016 | 602.265.7600

publisher/editor in chief Steve Kane, ext. 205 steve@churchexecutive.com associate publisher John Adel, ext. 219 jadel@churchexecutive.com editor rez Gopez-Sindac Phone: 512.337-7988

rgopez-sindac@churchexecutive.com managing editor raeAnn Slaybaugh, ext. 204 rslaybaugh@churchexecutive.com editor emeritus ronald e. Keener director of sales Sali Williams, ext. 209 swilliams@churchexecutive.com account executive Maria Galioto, ext. 201 mgalioto@churchexecutive.com production director valerie valtierra, ext. 203 valerie@churchexecutive.com senior art director renée hawkins, ext. 207 rhawkins@churchexecutive.com ediTorial advisorY panel Stephen Briggs

Associate Pastor of Administration First Baptist Church | hendersonville, NC

Denise Craig

Chief Financial Officer Abba’s house | hixson, tN

Mike Klockenbrink

Chief of Staff Lakeside Church | Folsom, CA

Dan Mikes

executive vice President Bank of the West | San ramon, CA

John C. Mrazek iii

executive Pastor Pathways Church | Denver, CO

Sam S. rainer iii

Senior Pastor First Baptist Church | Murray, KY

Mark Simmons

Business Manager Christ Community Church | Milpitas, CA

eric Spacek

Senior Manager GuideOne insurance | West Des Moines, iA

volume 12, No. 5

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4742 North 24th Street, Suite 340 Phoenix, AZ 85016 | 602.265.7600

vice president operations valerie valtierra accountant Fred valdez

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Editor’s notes

Why I might

just become a believer

Jordan Ashley Photography

Recently, I received a letter from the owner of Marco’s Pizza in my neighborhood. The big, bold heading screamed, “WE MISS YOU!” Evidently, the store was tracking my “attendance” and noticed I hadn’t placed an order in weeks. The letter doubled as a “VIP Certificate” — obviously, a marketing tactic to entice repeat visitors.

I’m not crazy for pizza, which makes me a total outcast. According to franchise disclosure documents, Americans eat, on average, 100 acres of pizza daily; that’s 350 slices per second. According to these legal disclosures, 93 percent of Americans eat at least one slice of pizza every month.

Why, then, am I not getting on the pizzawagon?

Actually, I’ve been thinking about doing just that — simply because a pizza chain in my community works hard to earn my business. From the “Welcome Home” postcard we found hanging from our doorknob when we moved into our new home, to the special coupons we get in the mail almost every week, I can tell this franchisee is intentional about making a pizza believer out of me.

What can my church learn from this experience?

If Marco’s Pizza makes every effort to go after the unconverted 7 percent, I’d like to know how serious the churches in my city of Austin are in engaging — brace for it — the 93 percent* of Austin residents that aren’t interested in church, or in religion at all?

A phone call led to a welcome discovery: As of this writing, 180 churches in the greater Austin area are joining forces to raise the city’s spiritual awareness through Explore God (www.exploregod.com), a citywide initiative aimed at helping church leaders train their people to effectively communicate biblical truths to nonbelievers.

“We firmly believe God will work through those conversations to reach the unchurched, but our main objective is to be a catalyst for spiritual conversation,” says Austin Farmer, marketing manager of E3 Foundation, which is spearheading Explore God. A multimedia marketing campaign will begin in July “to get people thinking (and talking) about the questions we all have about God,” shares Farmer. This includes: • Massive billboards • Radio and TV advertising • Free promotional materials and training resources for participating churches • A robust online and social media presence High-quality films and articles are available, free of charge, at exploregod.com.

My church signed up to be a part of this massive campaign. It won’t be easy, as it will force many of us to start spiritual conversations with friends and strangers; but, we want to be counted among those who intentionally pursue the “one that wanders off.”

How about you? I’m excited to hear what your church is doing to reach the skeptics in your own community and shepherd them into becoming dedicated disciples — or, what my pizza store might call “brand evangelists.”

Glad to serve, Rez Gopez-Sindac, Editor

*According to an Injoy Stewardship blog (November 2012): “21 of the Greatest Leadership Quotes You Will Ever Hear.” (www.injoystewardship.com/21-of-the-greatestleadership-quotes-you-will-ever-hear)

Talk to me: Email: rgopez-sindac@churchexecutive.com Facebook: ChurchExecutiveMagazine Twitter: @churchexecutive

05/2013 | Church executive | 7

news update

Study examines how U.S. congregations are faring financially INDIANAPOLIS — A recent report — 2013 Congregational Economic Impact Study — examines how different forms of religious expression in the U.S. are doing, financially, following the greatest economic upheaval since the Great Depression.

The study also zeroes in on the most significant factors influencing how religious congregations are coping today and in the recent past; what strategies congregations are employing to cope with and confront their changing

financial environment; and current trends in the use of electronic tools and media in terms of financial management and fundraising.

This study — the second in a series — examines the impact of the economic environment on a sample of U.S. congregations.

It was conducted by the Indiana University School of Philanthropy and Lake Institute on Faith & Giving at Indiana University School of Philanthropy, in partnership with the Alban Institute, National Association of Church Business Administration (NACBA), Indianapolis Center for Congregations and

8 | Church executive | 05/2013

MAXIMUM Generosity.

“The objective of this study is to provide information to those interested in the well-being of American congregations about how congregations are coping with and confronting not only recent economic events, but also the gradual, long-term changes taking place in the landscape of U.S. religious life,” according to the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) School of Philanthropy website. “The first two studies in this series will set the foundation for a longitudinal framework in studying U.S. congregational life in future years.”

The study includes responses from more than 3,000 U.S. congregations, of which nearly two-thirds are Mainline Protestant, one-quarter are Evangelical Protestant, and the rest are other Christian denominations (Historically Black or Catholic, for example), Jewish or “other” (unaffiliated congregations).

Congregations were asked a series of questions about their finances following the Great Recession (which officially ended in the summer of 2009), as well as questions about their most current finances, including 2011 and 2012. It also incorporated questions about congregations’ use of electronic giving tools to shed better light on how these forms of payment might be influencing congregational finances.

“This study informs not only overall financial trends of surveyed

congregations, but also how specific types of congregations talked about money and fared, financially, during the recession and its aftermath,” the IUPUI website explains.

Key findings include: • U.S. congregations are gener ally improving financially.

However, those with older attendees and those whose clergy are uninformed about congregational giving are experiencing the greatest challenges.

• Despite overall positive trends in fundraising receipts, pledg es and budgeting in 2011, the majority of congregations’ revenues have not kept pace with inflation in recent years.

• Changes in average congre gational gift size and the number of donors are the main drivers of fundraising success.

• Congregations are increas ing their budgets in the areas of missions and revenue-gen erating activity.

• There’s more work to do in the area of educating congre gations on financial planning and charitable giving.

• The majority of congregations employ some type of elec tronic giving.

The entire 65-page report is available for download at: ht tp: //p hilanthropy.iupui.e du / congregational-economic-impactstudy

05/2013 | Church executive | 9

The ce inTerview

roB ciZek

executive Pastor | Nor thshore Christian Church | everett, WA

BY reZ GOPeZ-SiNDAC

“surprisingly smooth” is how rob cizek — executive pastor and an emmy awards-winning Tv news director — describes his transition from the newsroom to the church world. adeptly skilled in the competitive field of broadcasting, cizek brings professionalism, collaboration and a good sense of judgment to the daily operation of northshore christian church in everett, wa.

10 | ChurCh exeCutive | 05/2013

Cizek says he had reached a point in his television career where he had accomplished most of what he originally set out to do. So, he started praying for God’s next move for his work life.

After two years of praying and waiting, Cizek met an executive pastor whose corporate experience was similar to his. he told Cizek that large churches need people with business backgrounds to run the church organization. encouraged by the conversation, Cizek began talking with senior pastor Ken Long. in 2005, Cizek became the executive pastor of Northshore, a 1,500-member nondenominational church.

Cizek says the church board, staff and congregation were welcoming and graceful, and allowed him to lead from his strengths, without placing unrealistic expectations on him for teaching and shepherding. what skills have you developed in the newsroom that proved handy in the church world?

Decisiveness: Newsrooms are filled with constant deadlines and the demands of live television. A newsroom leader easily makes more than 200 decisions a day. Whether in television or in church, the team needs its leader to make decisions. Make the best decisions you can on the spot so your staff members can do their jobs. You’ll get it right 98 percent of the time; for the 2 percent of the time when you’re wrong, simply ask forgiveness. Overall, your staff will see that it’s far better to make decisions quickly than to gum up the works with slow deliberation.

Authenticity: viewers have a relationship with news anchors. the strongest anchors are those who share bits of their lives, humanize news stories and humbly own their shortcomings. viewers become loyal. they will love and forgive these anchors when they occasionally make a mistake.

Conversely, viewers give the egotistical and pompous anchor a very different treatment. they may watch, but they pounce hard when a mistake is made. they like to see the blowhard take a fall. the same holds true for relationships in the church, especially with pastors. People want authenticity and humility from their leaders.

Directness: Newsrooms are high-productivity environments. things move fast towards the common goal of producing the next newscast. there’s little time to waste. As such, journalists tend to speak in a very direct manner. When people are direct, they always know where they stand with each other. the relational “air” is clear.

Focus: Different news stations focus on different segments of the community. Some are soft and friendly; other stations are tabloid. Our station chose to focus on breaking news and weather coverage.

in church, we don’t have to be all things to all people. the community is served by a huge number of churches. While every church should fulfill all the functions mandated in Scripture, there’s no need for it to be “all things to all people.” Focus equals effectiveness. what’s your take on balancing ministry and business in managing church staff? in church leadership, it’s tempting to see every problem as a spiritual challenge. this hinders our ability to see problems correctly. i try to categorize what kind of challenge we’re facing and provide a corresponding solution.

For instance, business problems require business solutions. People problems require people solutions. Spiritual problems require spiritual solutions. We’re most effective when we tailor the nature of our response to the nature of our challenge. how can churches be more effective in the area of communication? the first step is to honestly evaluate a church’s existing communication strategy. in what era was it implemented? Many churches still cling to printed methods, primarily — bulletins, ads in phone books, handouts, door hangers and mailers. it’s possible these tools may still have some role in today’s strategy, but churches need to be brutally honest about how their people communicate now. the next step is to consider which electronic tools will best reach your congregation. More people read texts than any other form of communication. email is largely getting ignored because of overuse and spam. the majority of people have smart phones and appreciate having an app with which to connect to their church. People expect their church service to be podcast (and, preferably, streamed live, as well).

Websites aren’t special anymore; but, people expect to easily find a wide range of current information on your church’s site. Most people first find your church through search engines, and they check out your website before visiting in person. to make sure your website is search enginefriendly, hire a search engine optimization consultant. Make sure the site makes a great first impression. Strongly consider using ads on search engines (Google AdWords, for example).

People also expect to be able to follow your church on Facebook and twitter. Social media feeds should be both informative (the latest events/ updates) and interactive (relational) in nature. typically, this requires that a “digital native” — a person who has grown up with social media — handle your church’s social media strategy. these individuals think differently and intuitively use the medium well. what makes strategic planning fail — or succeed?

Strategic plans work when they involve the team from day one; people support what they help design. Other success factors include proper resourcing, constant reinforcement of the vision, empowering people to act on the vision, and having organizational structures in place that support the plan.

Strategic plans fail when leaders don’t create a strong enough sense of urgency about the necessary changes. Other factors include under-communication, creating teams that lack the necessary horsepower, failure to remove obstacles, not pruning old systems/programs/ thinking to make room for the new, and not infusing the vision into organizational culture. how do you build a trusting relationship with your senior pastor and elder board?

Building trust starts with setting expectations. i ask them what they both expect — and don’t expect — of me in my role. then, i ask if it’s OK to “keep short accounts.” this means they have permission to immediately speak with me about any concerns they have about me, and that i have their permission to bring up difficult subjects with them. it’s critical that difficult things be discussed immediately when they arise. this allows you to develop healthy working relationships and a reputation as someone who’s honest, intuitive, courageous and trustworthy.

Another key to developing trust is to implement a “no surprises” policy. this means that you make extra effort to keep people in the know about what’s happening — good and bad. When you speak with your board and senior pastor, use a direct-yet-respectful style. >> 05/2013 | ChurCh exeCutive | 11

the ce interview

They should be able to count on you for timely, factual and unbiased information presented in a no-nonsense manner.

When you mess up, tell them immediately, and take responsibility for your actions. Explore difficult topics behind closed doors; then, publicly support the direction set by your board and senior pastor.

Live every aspect of your life with integrity. A consistent track record of good personal and professional decision-making builds trust.

Provide rationale for your decisions. This way even if people don’t agree with you, they understand why you do what you do. Trust is built by consistently doing the things you say you’ll do.

What’s your strategy for building a culture of innovation?

The best way to innovate is to take an existing concept and use it in a different way. The guy who invented “sticky notes” simply took an existing notepad and added sticky glue on each note so the notes can be used in a different way.

Additionally, smart innovators study history, because “everything old is new again.” Just look at the fashion industry and the way it recycles 50-year-old ideas.

Innovation is helped when your team members know they have permission to fail. It’s also fostered when your team works outside of its usual environment (goes on field trips, meets in different/inspiring places).

I urge churches to use discernment in the area of innovation. Certain organizations, such as technology companies and car makers, are expected to be innovative. Other organizations (accounting firms, for instance)

aren’t. The church lies between these two extremes. The primary functions of church, as defined in Scripture, haven’t changed in 2,000 years; there’s no need to innovate here. What does change are the methods we use to achieve these functions. Cutting-edge innovation with church methods can be desirable; but, if we get them wrong, they can also waste precious budget resources and turn people off of church.

I believe the best approach to innovation is for a church to survey the new methods being successfully used by other churches.

You can then figure out how to adapt those innovations to your specific church context and location. Find out where the Holy Spirit is going, and get on board. To put it in business terms, on the technology-adoption lifecycle curve, don’t be among the 2.5 percent of innovators; be among the 13.5 percent of early adopters. In practical terms, this is the way to gain the most from innovation and to minimize the risks associated with trailblazing.

How does the presence of Boeing in your community affect the culture at your church?

Boeing has nearly 30,000 employees in the city of Everett (100,000 residents). People who work at Boeing tend to be welleducated and well-compensated. The values of Boeing employees affect how our community thinks and what it values. There are engineers, fabricators, designers, test pilots, salespeople and airplane software designers. They value intelligent conversation, education, precision, giving and programs executed with excellence. When Boeing employees come to church, they bring their culture with them.

As leaders, we get a lot of scrutiny from engineers at our church who want to make sure we’re doing things right and with credibility.

That’s just their culture: Every plane that comes out of Boeing is as absolutely perfect as they can possibly make it, because lives are at stake. As a church, we have to be sensitive to that.

‘Be you,’ and other tips for new Executive Pastors Rob Cizek offers some words of wisdom to new executive pastors who are coming into the ministry from the corporate world.

Don’t let anyone devalue how God prepared you for ministry.

God taught you how to administer your church in the business world because he believes it’s the best place for you to learn such things.

Seminaries are great for academics and theology, but their focus isn’t on teaching people the nuts and bolts of running an organization.

Don’t pretend to be something you aren’t. Just because you were called to a job with the “pastor” title doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a spiritual superstar.

People know you came from the business world. They don’t expect you to have the same gifting and background as the senior pastor. Work diligently on your relationship with God, and be transparent. People will accept you even if you didn’t go to seminary.

12 | Church executive | 05/2013

Find a mentor. Before starting as executive pastor, I asked the executive pastor at my previous church if he would mentor me for one year, long-distance. He did so, gladly. His insights and support really helped me make the transition well. After the first year, I developed relationships with other executive pastors in my church area. They’ve been an ongoing source of information and support for several years.

Use training podcasts, DVDs, books, blogs and Twitter. The church world has an incredible number of resources from which you can learn leadership. There are excellent podcasts, conference DVDs, books and blogs for church leaders. I find following church leaders on Twitter of particular value — so much so that I started posting resources every day (@RobCizek).

05/2013 | Church executive | 13

TaX issues

recommendation. Churches that pay a minister (or any staff member) significantly more than the highest 25 percent for comparable positions should obtain a legal opinion from an experienced tax attorney confirming that the amount paid is not “unreasonable” and will not expose the employee or the board to intermediate sanctions.

Many churches have established “salary reduction agreements” to handle certain staff expenses. the objective is to reduce an employee’s taxable income since only the income remaining after the various “reductions” is reported on the employee’s W-2 at the end of the year. it’s important for churches to understand that they cannot reduce an employee’s taxable income through salary reductions unless specifically allowed by law. there are three ways taxable income can be reduced through salary reduction agreements: (1) tax-sheltered annuity contributions, (2) “cafeteria plans” and (3) housing allowances.

tax issues in clergy compensation BY riChArD r. hAMMAr Compensation planning for clergy and other church staff presents several unique tax issues that aren’t well understood by many church leaders and their advisers. here are three quick key considerations when structuring compensation plans: salarY. the most basic component of church staff compensation is salary. there are two important considerations to keep in mind with respect to staff salaries: the amount of the salary, and the use of “salary reduction agreements.” if a church pays unreasonably high compensation to a pastor or other employee, it may lose its tax-exempt status or face intermediate sanctions, including tax on disqualified persons, additional tax on disqualified persons, and tax on organization matters.

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housing and eQuiTY allowances. the most important tax benefit available to ministers who own or rent their homes is the housing allowance. Ministers who own or rent their home don’t pay federal income taxes on the amount of their compensation that their employing church designates in advance as a housing allowance, to the extent that the allowance represents compensation for ministerial services is used to pay housing expenses and doesn’t exceed the annual fair rental value of the home (furnished, plus utilities). housing-related expenses include mortgage payments, rental payments, utilities, repairs, furnishings, insurance, property taxes, additions and maintenance.

Ministers who live in a church-owned parsonage that’s provided “rent-free” as compensation for ministerial services don’t include the annual fair rental value of the parsonage as income in computing their federal income taxes. the annual fair rental value isn’t “deducted” from the minister’s income. rather, it’s not reported as additional income anywhere on Form 1040 (as it generally would be by non-clergy workers). Further, ministers who live in a church-provided parsonage don’t pay federal income taxes on the amount of their compensation that their employing church designates in advance as a parsonage allowance, to the extent that the allowance represents compensation for ministerial services and is used to pay parsonage-related expenses such as utilities, repairs and furnishings.

Note that the parsonage and housing allowance exclusions only apply in computing federal income taxes.

Ministers can’t exclude them when computing their selfemployment (Social Security) taxes.

recommendation. Be sure that the designation of a housing or parsonage allowance for the subsequent year is on the agenda of the church board for one of its final meetings of the current year. The designation should be an official action of the board or congregation, and it should be duly recorded in the minutes of the meeting. The IRS also recognizes designations included in employment contracts and budget line items — assuming in each case that the designation was duly adopted by the church board (or the congregation in a business meeting). Also, if the minister is a new hire, be sure the church designates a housing allowance prior to the date he or she begins working.

Ministers who live in church-owned parsonages are denied one very important benefit of home ownership: the opportunity to accumulate “equity” in a home over the course of many years. Many ministers who have lived in parsonages during much of their active ministry often face retirement without housing. to avoid the potential hardship of no equity and no housing, some churches increase their minister’s compensation as an “equity allowance” to provide the equivalent of equity in a home. this is an excellent idea that should be considered by any church having one or more ministers living in church-provided housing. the equity allowance shouldn’t be accessible by the minister until retirement, so it should be placed directly in a minister’s tax-sheltered retirement account. equity allowances also should be considered by a church whose minister rents a home. accounTaBle Business eXpense reimBursemenT policY. under such an arrangement, a church (1) reimburses only those business expenses that are properly substantiated within a reasonable time as to date, amount, place and business purpose, and (2) requires any excess reimbursements (in excess of substantiated expenses) to be returned to the church. Churches should seriously consider adopting an accountable reimbursement policy for reimbursing staff business expenses. Such a policy has the following advantages: n Church staff reports their business expenses to the church rather than to the irS. n Church staff who report their income taxes as employees, or who report as self-employed and who are reclassified as employees by the irS in an audit, avoid the limitations on the deductibility of employee business expenses. these limitations include (1) the elimination of any deduction if the employee cannot

itemize deductions on Schedule A (most taxpayers can’t), and (2) the deductibility of business expenses on Schedule A as an itemized expense only to the extent that these expenses exceed 2 percent of the employee’s adjusted gross income. n the so-called Deason allocation rule is avoided. under this rule, ministers must reduce their business expense deduction by the percentage of their total compensation that consists of a tax-exempt housing allowance. the “50 percent limitation” that applies to the deductibility of business meals and entertainment expenses is avoided. n unless these expenses are reimbursed by an employer under an accountable plan, only 50 percent of them are deductible by either employees or self-employed workers. n Church staff who report their income taxes as selfemployed avoid the risk of being reclassified as an employee by the irS in an audit and assessed additional taxes.

This excerpt was adapted from the 2012-2013 Compensation handbook for Church Staff (Christianity today) available at YourChurchResources.com. Used with permission. The handbook provides reliable church employee compensation breakdowns for 13 part- and full-time positions all organized by a variety of factors, including church size, income budget and geographical setting. In addition, compensation levels based on personnel characteristics are provided, including years employed, denomination, region, gender and educational training. Worksheets with step-by-step directions are included for each position to help leaders establish ranges based on this data. With this information, leaders can compare their plans to other churches that have similar positions and demographics.

Richard R. Hammar is an attorney, CPA and bestselling author specializing in legal and tax issues for churches and clergy. He is senior editor of Christianity Today’s Church Law & Tax Group, which includes the Church Law & Tax Report and Church Finance Today newsletters, and ChurchLawAndTax.com.

05/2013 | ChurCh exeCutive | 15

special secTion LiGhtiNG

how illuminaTing!

BY rAeANN SLAYBAuGh

Three lighting professionals offer plain-english, pastor-friendly tips for evaluating worship space lighting systems — from longevity, to price, to overall value.

it suffices to say that lighting the worship space isn’t an area of expertise for most pastors — yet, the final decision regarding what fixtures and elements to invest in often rests in their hands. to help pastors navigate their choices, Church Executive spoke with a handful of church lighting experts: Duke DeJong, church relations director at Olympia, WA-based CCi Solutions; Douglas hood, president of CSD Group, inc. in Fort Wayne, iN; and David henry, Learnstagelighting.com creator and blogger.

Church Executive: what kinds of lighting fixtures are particularly popular in worship spaces? what kind

For Catalina Church North in tucson, AZ, CCi Solutions used par, ellipsoidal and LeD fixtures “to create a very dynamic space,” explains Church relations Director Duke DeJong.

16 | ChurCh exeCutive | 05/2013

of mood does each one create? and, how much can a pastor expect to spend? henrY: Depending on the church’s style of worship, it may have (or need) any combination of conventional lights, LeD lights and moving lights.

Conventional lights are non-moving, non-colorchanging lights that have one attribute: they turn on and illuminate the stage. these can be colored and have patterns, or gobos, inside of them; but, their color or pattern can’t be changed without getting out a ladder! the price is generally $20 to $200 per light, but they require a dimmer (about $100 for four lights) if the church doesn’t already have a dimmer pack or rack.

LeD lights are the newer version of conventional lights in the sense that they don’t move. these color-changing lights use little power and are able to change colors from the console, during a service. however, because these lights don’t move, the church needs to get out the ladder if it wants them pointed somewhere else.

Price ranges from $100 to $1,000 per light. Also, cheaper LeD lights don’t look good on videotape.

Moving lights move and change colors and patterns.

A church doesn’t have to get out a ladder for any re-pointing or re-coloring of these lights; it can do cool movements and effects during its worship service using these lights. they’re priced anywhere from $500 to $20,000 per light, but most cost less than $7,000 each.

According to DeJong, CCT Solutions’ “LED pendant lights like this one — the Chroma-Q™ Inspire™ — are becoming more affordable and common in sanctuary settings. “We’re seeing low-power, and sometimes color-flexible, options getting used more often,” he says.

The worship space at Central Ministries in Fort Wayne, IN before (left) and after (right) the implementation of a lighting system by CSD Group, Inc. Fixtures include EPS620 (Elation Platinum Spot 5R Pro); EPB619 (Elation Platinum Beam 5R); EPW880 (Elation Platinum Wash ZFX Pro); LEGEND412 (Chauvet Legend™ 412); FLATPAR QA5X (ADJ Flatpar QA5 LED); and MEGA24PRO (ADJ Mega 24 Pro LED strip).

All these lights can create the same types of looks or moods. From soft and dampened to bright, colorful and vibrant, they can do it all. The more expensive LED and moving lights can serve more purposes during a worship service, while a conventional light can only light one specific area at a time.

DeJong: Traditionally, the most common types of lights we see go into a house of worship are par can, ellipsoidal and house lights. [See page 16/Catalina Church North installation photos.] House lights come in all shapes, styles and power ratings, of course; but, the pendant-style fixture — which hangs down from a cord — has been more popular lately.

What’s especially nice about pendant-style fixtures is, even if your ceiling has angles or is open-truss, you can drop all the pendant lights to any given level and whatever’s above them just sort of “disappears.”

For stage lighting, the norm in churches has been par can and ellipsoidal fixtures. Par cans create a softer, more diffused and even wash over any given field. Ellipsoidal fixtures are more of a spot-type light, giving the ability to light more strategically over a specific field. Par cans used to be the standard just about everywhere; but, with the rise of projection, creative stage design and color washing backdrops, we’ve found that par cans don’t always give us the amount of control we want over our lighting. When light is needed in one area, but not in another, an ellipsoidal fixture offers the best control with a tighter beam, as well as the ability to shutter off part of the beam.

In the last five to 10 years, LED fixtures have become increasingly popular as their prices have dropped. Trusted models range from $189 to $2,500 depending on brightness, size and so on. With their low power draw, low heat creation, increasing intensity — and with many having the ability to change to whatever color you want from a control surface — LED fixtures provide both energy savings and flexibility.

Intelligent lights — in other words, fixtures that move (priced between $2,000 and $20,000 each) — are also gaining popularity as they become more affordable. With most intelligent fixtures being incredibly flexible and feature-rich, on top of being amiable from a control surface, more and more churches are incorporating intelligent lights into their systems.

CE: Pastors might evaluate their lighting options in terms of longevity and versatility versus what might be the “flashiest” choices. What lighting elements would you recommend, with that criteria in mind — but that also offer some “flash”?

Hood: When talking about longevity and versatility, LED quickly pops up in any conversation. We’ve all heard of it, and we’ve all seen LEDs in use in churches, retail environments and outdoor lighting.

I love to include LEDs in our church designs because their colors can easily be changed — which is almost always on a church’s wish list, but which used to be complicated. At one time, it involved putting a gel frame holder on a theatrical light, and then putting a gel on that fixture. And even if you did all that, you still only had one color on that light. Beyond that, if you wanted to move the light, you had to get out a ladder, scaffolding or a motorized lift.

Now, churches can consider not only a LED light, but a moving-head LED light; so, the process is way easier. And, by using LED fixtures, the church doesn’t need a dimmer rack — no six-feet-tall racks of dimmers creating a big heat source in a back room, somewhere, and no special cooling system to cool that big dimmer rack.

DeJong: For many reasons, LED house and stage lighting is making more sense than ever — especially for new facilities.

While they’re definitely a bigger upfront investment, LED lighting pays for itself in power and cooling savings. Plus, a church isn’t replacing lamps in its fixtures every year, which saves lamp cost and man hours. And, with many fixtures’ color flexibility, churches not only get a highly efficient and effective fixture, >> 05/2013 | Church executive | 17

special secTion LiGhtiNG but they have flexibility to create ambience and mood with color.

CE: how does a pastor or business administrator know it’s time to upgrade the church’s lighting? henrY: it’s time to upgrade when (a) you want it to do more than it can handle, or (b) it’s in a state of disrepair, and the cost of fixing it doesn’t make sense.

Pastors shouldn’t make major decisions without weighing the costs and work involved. And, they should keep in mind that upgrading to the latest technology is by no means required. deJong: it’s time to upgrade when the church is replacing lamps more often than it wants to; is looking to decrease its power consumption and cooling costs; sees an existing dimming system is beginning to fail; needs

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increased control of its lighting coverage; wants to add significant color to its lighting; wants to add effects lighting; and/or realizes its lighting controller no longer meets its needs. hood: if a pastor looks at his church’s platform/stage and would describe it as “underwhelming,” it might be time for an upgrade. ironically, it might also be time to upgrade if the worship environment is characterized by lots of plain white or beige walls. While those elements might be pretty boring to look at, adding a new LeD lighting system really brings them to life. imagine: if you shine a red light at a black surface, you’ll see red, to some degree. But, if you shine a red light at a plain white wall, the light really pops. that simple example helps paint the picture of what a professionally designed

lighting system can do for even the most “blah” stage.

CE: are there certain types of fixtures that stand the test of time and could be integrated into a (partially) new lighting scheme? henrY: Yes! in fact, anything that’s in good, working condition and uses modern DMx protocol to communicate can become a part of a new system. the great thing about lighting is that the data and power standards have been in place for more than 25 years.

So, many pieces of older equipment will seamlessly integrate with a new setup. deJong: Because most LeD lighting fixtures last tens and even hundreds of thousands of hours, a church can feel pretty good about investing in LeD fixtures. Although fans and dimmers built into those fixtures can fail, i believe LeD fixtures offer the most bang for the buck, long-term. (Also, they’re incredibly flexible. So, if you no longer need them in one facility, you can always redeploy them to another venue.)

Par cans have also stood the test of time and are a great, basic lighting fixture. ellipsoidal fixtures, too, have been a long-time standard in theatrical venues. hood: For most of our church clients, we still use a balance of incandescent (standard dimmable lights) and LeD lights. typically, an incandescent system gives us the best general wash for the stage. We then supplement that base system with LeD lights and intelligent lights for key light, back light, uplight, stage accents and architectural accents.

For most church clients, if the house lights are currently “doing the job” in terms of light output, we can reuse those. A new control system might be needed just so the overall system can be controlled easily, but a church can most likely keep the house fixtures. Many times, a church replaces its house fixtures because they’re dated, not because they don’t work. CE

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FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS Asking the right questions You might find yourself in a similar situation as you attempt to assess your church’s financial health. There’s a lot of information you could gather; but, unless you know the right questions to ask (and how to view the answers), you won’t gain a clear understanding of your church’s financial situation.

Space not permitting, we won’t go into the specific measures a church should track in this article. We will, however, provide insights into what types of questions you should be asking, and how you should analyze the answers.

Here are a few of the questions we always ask when looking at a church’s financial information: n Are the resources being used effectively? n Does the church have adequate cash reserves? n Is the debt level appropriate? n Are contributions reasonable? n Are the expense ratios reasonable? n How do the financial resources of the church compare with other churches? n What are the most appropriate key financial perfor mance indicators for the church? n Does the church have adequate financial resources to accomplish its mission? n Is the church accomplishing its strategic financial goals?

Financial health? Check.

By Sarah Thompson

At my annual checkup, the doctor ordered a number of blood tests. I didn’t think much about it until a copy of the test results arrived in the mail.

The report had a lot of numbers listed under “in range,” “out of range” and “reference range” headings. I had many questions as I scanned the list, particularly about the numbers in the “out of range” column. What does that mean? Is one result more important than another? Does it matter if a number is out of the reference range by a little or a lot — or if it’s “high” or “low”?

There was a wealth of information at my fingertips, but none of it was useful to me because I didn’t understand the report as it was intended to be used. To me, it was just a scrap paper. To a knowledgeable user, it was a comprehensive picture of my overall health.

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The answers to these questions offer insights into different facets of the church and how it’s using its financial resources. The resulting financial indicators will provide an assessment of your church’s overall financial health.

Gauging wellness Just as a blood test helps the doctor know what to do to keep you in optimum health, a properly designed financial indicator can help a church administrator evaluate the financial wellness of a church, and also identify areas for improvement.

These are two ways to look at financial trends in your church. The first is with inward comparisons — comparing data from prior years to the current year. Inward comparisons allow your church to see how funds are received and spent over a set period. Reviewing and comparing this data across a number of years will help identify historical trends and any underlying changes within the church. This can help your church align its spending patterns with its mission and vision.

The second method is to compare your church with other churches of a similar size. Comparing your church against other churches with similar asset sizes can be misleading, because churches with older properties tend to have smaller property values due to depreciation.

At the same time, comparing your church to churches with similar revenues might not be effective either, unless the makeup of the revenues is known.

For example, one church might rely solely on contributions, while another has significant sources of income from a school or other activities. Or, a church might be seeing unusually high contributions because of a capital campaign. That’s why we recommend that churches compare themselves against churches with a similar number of average weekend adult attendees, instead.

While the numbers these comparisons provide are important financial indicators, it’s also crucial to understand how these measurements fit within the range of peer churches against which your church is comparing itself. A measurement calculated by averaging data from just a few peer churches might produce a much different result than one calculated with data from many churches.

Finally, it’s important to benchmark your church against others in a similar region of the country. Operating costs in the Midwest, for example, can be very different from costs in New York or California. Using averages from peers with demographics similar to a church’s own can provide a more accurate and objective measure of financial health.

— are available. Your church can consider using tools such as the Church Financial Health Index™, which was designed to provide in-depth answers to several of the questions mentioned at the beginning of this article. To find out more, visit www. capincrouse.com/churchhealth.

Our hope is that your church begins to ask the right questions and use indicators that will give an accu-

rate picture of its financial health.

This insight can help your church function more efficiently and effectively to accomplish its ministry.

Sarah Thompson is audit manager at CapinCrouse LLP (www. capincrouse.com). She can be reached at sthompson@ capincrouse.com.

Next steps Determining what information to track in your church’s indicators, and finding peers to benchmark against, can seem overwhelming and timeconsuming. One suggestion is to network with peer churches in your area, and agree to share data. If your church is part of a church business administrators group (such as National Association of Church Business Administration, or NACBA), it could do comparisons with other members.

Additionally, specialized reports — such as compensation studies

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r e s p o n s i b l e f i n a n c i a l St e w a r d s h i p

FU N D

BY RaeAnn Slaybaugh

A Google search for “church fundraiser” is enough to make your head spin — there are literally hundreds of options to choose from. To help readers decide, Church Executive consulted with a few “in-the-trenches” fundraising experts.

Tried-and-true ideas Some fundraising ideas are “tried-and-true” for a reason: They work. And doggone it, people like them.

According to Matt Fass, owner of Mission Viejo, CA-based ABC Fundraising, cookie dough falls into this category, as do two other popular options: flower bulbs and candles.

“First, cookies, flowers and candles are always welcome additions to the home,” Fass says. “Almost all people enjoy them, and they brighten up peoples’ lives. They’re uplifting — which is in line with the values of a church.” Second, he contends familiar products are easier sells. Last but not least, he points out that these ideas don’t require a startup cost.

Outside-the-box options Churches looking for a more unique idea can sell flower and vegetable seeds, plant them in their church’s community garden, and host a farmer’s market once they bloom. To this end, selling pumpkin seeds is a good idea; revenue is generated with the sale of the seeds and again, in the fall, when the pumpkins are grown and can be sold at a church pumpkin patch. (NOTE: At least one fundraising company will dispatch truckloads of pumpkins. And, Virginia Beach, VA-based Creative Displays offers a “pumpkin tree” that can be used in the fall at the patch, and again as a display/fundraiser — to sell sponsored poinsettias or remembrance candles during the holidays — a few months later.)

Another unique idea is to sell custom “church-opoly” board games — not just the games itself, but sponsorships of the dozens of “properties” around the board and of the paper money.

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Jay Abramson, owner of Pride Distributors, Inc., has been making these custom games for more than 30 years. He’s helped more than 1,500 organizations — many of them nonprofit — raise millions of dollars.

As Abramson points out, part of the fundraiser’s success is its lack of upfront cost. “You could sell all the ad spaces [properties] in one day, or it could take two years,” he says. “But, the neat thing is, the game only gets produced once the ad spaces are sold.” Then, he works with clients to determine how many games to produce.

Church clients can get pretty creative when selling the spaces/ properties — hosting a “property auction,” or even selling the spaces to church families. “What’s great about these [games] is that people actually talk while playing them,” he points out. Often, those conversations revolve around the property sponsors.

Abramson suggests selling the 36 ad spaces/properties for about $280 each and individual board games for $25. At that rate, a nearly $13,000 profit is possible by selling just 500 games. CE

DS

ONLiNe:

the BoLd neW church auctIon frontIer BY rAeANN SLAYBAuGh

in 2011 and 2012, to raise funds for their church’s mission of building a duplex in haiti, deacon hank Babin and pastor Steve Graves of Mulberry Baptist Church in houma, LA, took an old-school fundraising idea — the church auction — to a new-school format: eBay. the process wasn’t hitch-free, but the monetary (and resulting ministry) payoffs were inspiring. to date, the church has raised more than $60,000.

Why go online?

Graves and Babin didn’t want to organize a live event, because of the time and resources it would require. “it would have diverted our time from getting items, or even the effort in haiti,” Graves says. Also, as Babin points out, the items “were so large in scope that we knew we could raise more money if we went regional.”

Naturally, the option of hosting an online auction emerged. Graves and Babin quickly discovered eBay Giving Works — an established, credible and national marketplace. that year, the church made $25,000 in support of the

haiti mission selling donated football tickets, weekend getaways and other offerings.

Last year, donors were encouraged to “stay home for haiti.” A staff member gave up his baseball season tickets. More sports tickets followed — to football games, and even the Masters golf tournament. hunting, fishing and sport expeditions, and signed memorabilia, were offered up. the church raised about $37,000. in 2011, winning bids for auction items came in from 10 different states; 16 states in 2012. “Going online definitely broadened the buyer pool,” Graves says. “it told the haiti story to many more people. We got many comments from buyers, and even from people who bid, but didn’t win items.”

to promote the auction, Babin and Graves capitalized on Facebook and email, word-of-mouth marketing and generous donations of ad space, including a local billboard. eBay also helped out with promotion, providing banner ads, videos and articles during and after the auction.

Continued on page 29

navigating the learning curve When Babin took the lead in listing items, and even creating templates that made the auction look more professional, he’d never sold anything on eBay; nor had Graves. Naturally, they encountered a few speed bumps — among them, getting eBay to raise its $1,000-per-month financial limit, which it imposes on new sellers. (“they do that so new users can’t sell thousands of dollars of stuff and then disappear without delivering,” Graves explains.)

05/2013 | ChurCh exeCutive | 23

KnoW your land use righTs an attorney drills down on the religious land use and institutionalized persons act (rluipa). imagine that your executive leadership team decides to launch a new campus in another city. the leader of the church plant finds a clean, large parcel of land located in an easily accessible part of town. it’s off a busy road, with adequate parking and a large, empty building that can be easily converted to a worship facility. Better yet, the bank owns the property through foreclosure, so the church can purchase it for pennies on the dollar.

After a time of prayer and discernment, an offer to purchase is submitted and accepted. the church is the proud owner of a new site and building. Plans are drawn up for the new facility, a celebration is planned, and dignitaries are invited for the grand opening. then, one morning, the team leader arrives at the building to find a large, red sticker on the door. it reads: “Closed.” the ominous sticker cites the church’s failure to secure approved zoning.

A call to the local building office confirms the church leader’s worst fear: the community has concluded that the property is located in a zoning district that doesn’t allow religious uses as a right, or by special land use approval.

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BY DANieL P. DALtON

What’s going on here?

Zoning — the legal authority granted to local governments from a state through its constitution, and to local government through enabling legislation — gives local communities the ability to regulate the use of land within its boundaries. through the years, Congress found that religious entities have too often been treated unequally in comparison with secular counterparts with regard to municipalities enforcing local land use ordinances. this unequal treatment arises for a variety of reasons, ranging from a municipality’s preference for a secular entity that pays property taxes over a tax-exempt religious entity, to blatant and intentional discrimination against a religious institution. in response to this, in 2000, Congress unanimously passed the religious Land use and institutionalized Persons Act (rLuiPA), in an effort to level the playing field.

Since rLuiPA was adopted 13 years ago, litigation surrounding the statute has been ever-evolving. Congress provided for five separate causes of action, damages and injunctive relief as a remedy for violation of rLuiPA, along

constrained in its limited facilities. To reduce crowding, the school’s consultants prepared a plan that met all the zoning and planning requirements of the City of San Diego and the State of California. Accordingly, the plan was approved by the City Development Services and unanimously approved by the planning commission. The politically active neighbors who opposed OLP’s plan appealed the planning commission’s decision to the city council.

The city council held a hearing on the appeal in The ins and outs of RLUIPA January 2009, but withheld its decision. Soon after, one While RLUIPA is a relatively new law, it has had a council member — whose district included the school positive impact for religious entities throughout the United and was elected to office merely weeks before the deciStates. One of the most frequently litigated provisions of sion was made — met with a city staff planning member RLUIPA is what’s known as the “equal terms” clause. A and requested that he reverse his earlier findings which recent case demonstrates the breadth of the clause. supported OLP’s plan. The staff member felt obligated to In Opulent Life Church v. City of Holly Springs, MS, a change his decision, even though he’d never before been congregation found a suitable facility in the city’s main busiasked to make reverse findings based on political pressure. ness district. The church executed a lease agreement for Once the staff recommendation changed, the city council the facility and then applied for a renovation permit with the met and voted to deny the modernization plan. The neighcity’s planning commission. In response to the city denying bors then hosted a fundraiser and paid off the councilmemits application, the church filed suit, alleging the provisions ber’s campaign debt. of the zoning ordinance that only applied to churches were OLP filed suit, alleging the city’s March 2009 deciviolations of RLUIPA. sion substantially The night before oral arguburdened OLP’s reliment was scheduled before gious exercise. After the Court of Appeals, the city While RLUIPA is a relatively new law, nearly four years of amended its zoning ordinance it has had a positive impact for religious litigation, the case and replaced the language that entities throughout the United States. proceeded to trial barred only “churches” from in October 2013. the courthouse district to now The city denied any exclude “churches, temples, improper conduct, and instead contended that the city synagogues, mosques and other religious facilities.” The council’s actions were required under the California Enviappellate court determined the church had established an ronmental Quality Act (CEQA). On Oct.19, 2012, the jury equal-terms case by differentiating between religious and disagreed with the cty and found in favor of OLP, awarding nonreligious land uses in its zoning ordinance. it more than $1.1 million in damages — the largest jury Another important (and often litigated) RLUIPA proviverdict to date. The case later settled, in February 2013. sion is known as the “substantial burden” clause. It provides that “[n]o government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that imposes a substantial Not a dead end burden on the religious exercise of a person, including a So, what should a church do when faced with a “zonreligious assembly or institution….” The clause also proing denial” after finding and purchasing the ideal worship vides a narrow exception: A government’s imposition of a facility and/or parcel of land? If the zoning doesn’t permit burden is permissible if it “is in furtherance of a compelling religious use, it should employ an experienced RLUIPA governmental interest; and is the least restrictive means of attorney to determine if the denial of religious use can be furthering that compelling governmental interest.” legally challenged.

A recent case litigated by this author in the southern Then, it should move forward in pursuit of its dream of district of California construed whether the City of San a new church home. CE Diego imposed a substantial burden on a Catholic school Headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, MI, Daniel when it denied the school permits to construct new faciliDalton is co-founder and partner of Dalton ties on its campus. In Academy of Our Lady of Peace v. & Tomich, plc, representing religious entities throughout the United States in land use and City of San Diego, the facts established that the school zoning matters. He can be contacted via the is the oldest high school and the only all-girls Catholic organization’s website: www.daltontomich.com. school operating in San Diego County. The last classroom constructed on campus was built in 1965. And, for the last several decades, Our Lady of Peace (OLP) had felt with the ability of the Department of Justice to intervene to remedy religious discrimination. Congress further mandated a broad interpretation of the Act and added that the “use, building, or conversion of real property for the purpose of religious exercise shall be considered to be religious exercise of the person or entity that uses or intends to use the property for that purpose.”

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how to raise a dallas megachurch pastor counts the ways — and costs.

BY reZ GOPeZ-SiNDAC

When Dr. robert Jeffress became the senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas in Dallas, tx, one of the things he set out to do was reinvent the 145-year-old downtown church.

First Baptist had amassed a hodgepodge of buildings that didn’t fit with one another, or with the aggressive revitalization of downtown Dallas. Jeffress says he knew immediately what needed to be done: rebuild the church architecturally, as well as spiritually.

So, in November 2009 — in the midst of the country’s worst economic recession since the Great Depression — Jeffress announced a grand vision for what would become the largest church building program in modern history: a $130-million new campus in the heart of Dallas. the new 500,000-square-foot facility opened its doors to the public last easter Sunday.

Jeffress is quick to admit that the mammoth undertaking wouldn’t have been possible without the “supernatural working of God.” Still, he says he can’t emphasize enough the importance of planning and leadership in the success of any building project. in an interview with Church Executive, Jeffress shares some of the lessons he learned leading a church makeover.

Just do it. When people asked Jeffress if he prayed about whether or not to reconstruct the campus, his answer was a resounding “No.” Jeffress says he looked at

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the Old testament book of Nehemiah and found that Nehemiah never prayed to God about whether or not he ought to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city.

Jeffress reminds church leaders that there are some things they don’t need to pray about because God already put those things in their hearts to do. “What you need to pray for,” he says, “is that you do it in God’s way and on God’s timing.”

Be fully involved in fundraising. Jeffress maintains that only God can stir the hearts of people to give, but that as a leader he needed to be totally dedicated to the task of asking people to give. Jeffress says one of the things he realized early on was that if he was to successfully raise $130 million, he must give 100 percent of himself to the fundraising aspect of the building project. And that’s what he did. Jeffress gave one year of his time to raising funds — no book writing, no outside speaking engagements. the only other thing he did was preach at his church. secure the investment of those who can give the most. As soon as the church committee approved the possibility of building a new campus, Jeffress picked 100 church members who he felt had the ability to give the largest amount of money and personally met with each one of them. in total, those 100 people made a commitment to give $65 million — one-half of the cost of the project.

megabucks

one of the design highlights of the recreated First Baptist dallas is a 68-foot-tall cross surrounded by soaring water jets. Photo courtesy of Steve Hinds. inseT: dr. robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist dallas.

Jeffress then made an announcement to the congregation: “i said, ‘here’s what we propose to do; here’s what it’s going to look like — and, by the way, half the money has already been raised.’” People were ecstatic, he says, and voted unanimously to proceed in a public fundraising campaign. help your people visualize the project. Jeffress cites the example of the 12 israelite leaders who were sent out by Moses to explore the Promised Land and came back with a visual picture: a cluster of grapes so large that it had to be put on a pole and took two men to carry. in the case of First Baptist Dallas, Jeffress says the church used social media, technology and the “printed page” to give the people a picture of what the future could look like. “We spent a significant amount of money creating an animation [film],” he says. “i would also say not to spare any expense in the production of printed materials — make them full-color, on beautiful paper. Don’t use flimsy paper for commitment cards. People aren’t going to make a million-dollar commitment on a flimsy piece of paper. i really think attention to details like that help make for a successful project.” lead through the pulpit. “use your preaching to carry the church to where you believe God wants it to go,” advises Jeffress, adding that it’s a principle he learned

from Willow Creek Community Church pastor Bill hybels. “there are a lot of pastors — and i used to be one of them — who believed they should never use the pulpit to try to get the church to do something; they ought to do that outside of their sermon,” explains Jeffress. But, Jeffress says he learned that if a leader’s vision is God-honoring and is in keeping with God’s will, he or she should use the Scripture to communicate to the people where and how God is leading the church to go. don’t underestimate the financially challenged.

Knowing that many people at his church were struggling financially, Jeffress says he softened his appeal by excusing those who did not have jobs from giving to the building project. “i tried to show sensitivity,” he reasons. But, he says, a couple approached him — the husband had been out of work for a year — and said, “Pastor, don’t rob us of the joy of being able to participate in this undertaking.” the couple handed Jeffress a check for $5,000 — the last money they had in the bank. “God has since blessed the husband with a wonderful job,” says Jeffress. “But i learned that, as pastors, we’re to put the challenge out there and let God speak to the hearts of those who need to give.” operate in your area of strength. Leading the team for the building project of First Baptist Church was executive pastor Walter A. Guillaume, Jr., who worked >>

05/2013 | ChurCh exeCutive | 27

alongside a 12-member committee and a fulltime construction supervisor. “They spared me from so many details,” says Jeffress, who admits he doesn’t know a thing about construction, electrical outlets and building materials. “One thing I

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learned during this project — and I learned it from talking to other pastors — was that the pastor needs to concentrate on doing what he and only he can do, and let the committee build the building,” says Jeffress. He says what God has called and gifted him to do is to encourage the people to give and provide the overall vision for what the project ought to look like and its role in fulfilling the vision of the church.

You have to spend money to make money. When Jeffress came to First Baptist Dallas as senior pastor, the church was already $15.5 million in debt from a previous project. Imagine the shock of the deacons when, one evening, Jeffress told them they needed to borrow $5 million to get the architectural plans drawn up and to do all that was needed to be done to raise the funds. Some people left the church because of it, recalls Jeffress; but the deacons, by and large, stood by him.

“It cost us $5 million to raise $130 million,” he says.

Six weeks is all you need. It takes a lot of time to sow the seeds, but, according to Jeffress, the actual campaign shouldn’t last more than six weeks. Otherwise, the people at large will grow weary of it, he says.

Don’t build any more than what people are willing to give. Jeffress says one thing that gave the members of First Baptist Dallas the confidence to give was the leadership’s commitment: “We’re only going to spend what you commit.” In other words, if the project was going to cost $130 million, and the church only raised $115 million, it wasn’t going to borrow the other $15 million. “It made people give generously — and, of course, it’s going to keep us out of debt,” says Jeffress.

Bathe everything in prayer.

“We had in our church 300 men, called the Pastor’s Prayer Partners, who regularly prayed throughout this project that God would guide us and bless our efforts,” says Jeffress.

Cast the vision beyond the project’s completion. Jeffress believes the new campus is not an end unto itself, but simply a tool to use in ministering to the city of Dallas even more effectively. “This is a new beginning for us — to reach more diverse groups of people,” says Jeffress.

First Baptist is also getting ready to enter into mainland China with its broadcast, with the potential of reaching 1 billion people. “We always have a new goal — but, hopefully, no new buildings for a while,” Jeffress concludes. CE

r e s p o n s i b l e f i n a n c i a l St e w a r d s h i p Continued from page 23

Words of wisdom For other churches considering online auctions, Graves offers a key piece of advice: Get good items. “For me, one of the great things about this is that we raised money without our church members writing a lot of checks for it.”

Babin recommends spending a little more time to make the auction stand out and look professional. “Be relentless, and constantly think of people and connections who may help your cause,” he adds. “And, enjoy the journey that God takes you on.”

Finally, Graves urges churches to remember that an

auction doesn’t really end when it closes. “We follow up with donors, buyers and other supporters to help them know they were not only part of an auction, but the mission work in Haiti,” he explains. These reminders take the forms of trip reports, personal notes, pictures of children in Haiti saying ”thank you,” and invitations to celebrate the mission work at the church.

“We didn’t share a vision for a successful auction,” he concludes. “We shared a vision for helping people.” CE

The rummage sale, reinvented

By RaeAnn Slaybaugh For more than 40 years, the women of Velda Rose United Methodist Church (VRUMC) in Mesa, AZ, have held three-day rummage sales twice a year.

While the concept isn’t new, what is unique is their success rate: They’ve generated as much as $49,000 in a single weekend! And since their first sale in 1965 (which profited $523), the women have raised in excess of $1.1 million in support of a wide range of charities.

“People are good to us. God is good to us,” says Joan Most, who heads up the sales.

Now, the women of VRUMC are taking their rummage to another level — by going indoors. Last year, the church added a 20,000-square-foot, single-story sales and storage building to its property: the Velda Rose UMC Missions Warehouse. It accepts donations Monday through Friday, year-round.

To pay off the mortgage, the building is being “sold” for $40 per square foot to church members. Donors are recognized on a plaque on a “Wall of Honor.” Most says this idea (which she credits to her husband) has been the most profitable, so far.

The church’s last three-day sale, held in February 2013, netted more than $45,000.

“There’s nothing you can serve or sell so well, and that also builds this kind of comradery,” Most says. “The parking lot sales of years past were really taking their toll on our group. We reached a point where our bodies couldn’t take it anymore. Now, with this dedicated building, the sale is over at 3 p.m., and we’re ready to lock the doors and go home.” CE

To raise additional funds, she and her team also host an English tea; sell cookbooks, fruit cakes and cookie bears; and regularly offer “Unique Boutique” wares for sale, including handmade creations by a church sewing circle.

Additionally, Most says, a bond on the property has been forgiven.

05/2013 | Church executive | 29

does a church

reallY need an app?

BY ChriS ShArPe

Consider going on an “app-venture” only if you have good content and can execute it well.

it seems everyone is talking about “apps” these days.

A term once associated with dinner parties is now synonymous with mobile applications.

With this app craze, people everywhere are thinking, Hhmm, maybe I should get an app for [insert creative thought here]. A few words of caution: Not all app ideas are worth the investment, and not every organization needs its own app.

So, how do you know if your church should go on an “app-venture”? And if so, where do you start? the road of mobile development can be daunting, so it helps to plan well.

2 critical steps there are many kinds of apps. So, for the sake of this conversation, i’ll focus on apps built for churches and ministries.

For churches looking to build an app, two simple rules must be followed: the app should (1) provide content and (2) deliver quality. Both steps need to be executed really well; an app must offer a reason for people to use it regularly.

30 | ChurCh exeCutive | 05/2013

sTep 1: provide incrediBle conTenT. An app won’t be very successful if there’s no reason for someone to download it, and then repeatedly want to use it. You need content — lots of fresh, meaningful content. Fortunately, quality of content is one of the biggest reasons many churches and ministries have wildly successful apps.

At Subsplash, we created the Church App and have had the subsequent opportunity to work with incredible ministries of all sizes. Overall, we see more than half a million page views daily on our platform. the No. 1 reason people use ministry-based apps is to access media, and churches are in the unique positions of being content creators. there’s always a new sermon they want to get into people’s hands.

Not only that, but there’s a whole host of other offerings unique to church-based app-builders, including blogs/news, events, online giving, sermon notes and bulletins, music, small group resources, Bibles and reading plans — and pretty much anything else you can think of.

Keep in mind, however, that an app shouldn’t just be a duplicate of the church’s website; rather, it ought to be a vehicle to deliver relevant content into people’s hands.

in

ve “no st t a m en ll a t, pp ne an id ed d n ea s s it ot e are s ow ver w n y o ort ap rg h p. an the ” iz at io n

Keep it simple, and put your church’s best foot forward. sTep 2: deliver on QualiTY. Along with content, your church needs to make sure its app is executed incredibly well. As technology continues to develop, people demand more. they want the app to be cooler, faster, smarter and really fun to use. So, if your church has incredible content, but it develops a sub-par app, people will hit the eject button before you get a second chance.

A church app is a powerful tool — but only if it’s done well. take audio features, for example: if your app audio player only allows users to hit “play” and “pause,” or to do a simple fast-forward/rewind, it’s going to be frustrating for the end user. What happens when a user gets a phone call while listening to a 45-minute sermon? Shouldn’t the app remember where he or she left off? Or, what if a user lives in a place without great cellular coverage? it would be nice if he or she could download that audio for offline listening. these are just a few examples. they might seem like “luxury items,” until you start using the software and realize how truly important they are. Often, app users don’t

notice quality until they use something that doesn’t meet their expectations. Don’t get caught being the church that built an app that was frustrating to use.

Overall, your app should be simple and user-friendly. it should work as expected. And, it should look really nice. it doesn’t have to win awards — but, make sure it’s visually appealing and offers a delightful experience.

Most of the churches that have used our software have seen more downloads of their app than attendees in the pews on a Sunday — as much as 50 times more.

Most church-based users also see their sermon downloads increase, as well as a spike in online giving. As an example, one church with a membership of 1,000 people saw 2,000 downloads, 22,000 launches and increased giving in the first six months of offering its app.

So, if your ministry has content — and wants to present it well — launching an app might be the right next step. CE Chris Sharpe is marketing director at Seattle, WAbased Subsplash, a design-centric software company and creator of The Church App. He can be reached via the Subsplash website: www.thechurchapp.org.

05/2013 | ChurCh exeCutive | 31

KeepInG an eye

on health care regulations

health care reform changed many of the rules. so, make sure your church is following the current rulebook.

When it comes to health care coverage, churches and ministry organizations find themselves in the same boat as other employers. if a church has 50 or more full-time and full-time-equivalent employees, it must generally offer affordable minimum essential health care coverage to them and their dependents, or face federally mandated payments imposed upon employers. these payments are often referred to as “pay or play” penalties.

Donna Lively, director of insurance marketing at Dallasbased GuideStone Financial resources, says churches need to determine if they have 50 or more full-time and full-timeequivalent employees. if so, as “applicable large employers,” they’re required to offer coverage to employees working 30 hours or more per week. this is an important step, and the regulations provide very detailed rules regarding how to count full-time and full-time-equivalent employees.

“Many churches will be surprised to learn they’re subject to these rules,” Lively says. For example, if a church controls a Mother’s Day Out, preschool, K–12 school, sports program or other ministry with staff, it may be a “controlled organization” whose employees may count toward the total employee count. if those other ministries of the church operate under the same employee identification Number (eiN), it could be a clear indicator that the ministry is a controlled organization of the church.

32 | ChurCh exeCutive | 05/2013

BY rOY hAYhurSt

“even for ministries who have separate eiNs, they may still be a controlled organization if the church has control, provides significant funding, or is overseen by the same trustees or boards,” Lively explains. “in that situation, all employees are considered for purposes of determining applicable large-employer status.” to help in the employee-counting process, GuideStone has made available a free calculator on its website (www.

GuideStone.org/healthreform) for any church or ministry that wants to determine if it has 50 or more full-time and fulltime-equivalent employees. it’s available at no cost, whether a church uses GuideStone as its health insurance provider or not. in addition to calculating employees, the calculator estimates the amount of the penalty that could be assessed if a church or ministry organization opts not to provide affordable minimum essential coverage to all employees working 30 or more hours per week.

“All providers of health care — from insurance companies, to self-insured church plans such as GuideStone’s — are trying to keep their customers apprised of the impact of the health care regulations, and the steps they need to take,” Lively says.

how to get proactive While concerned with the practical implications of the

law, GuideStone (along with other church health plan providers) is continuing to diligently advocate through legislative and regulatory efforts designed to protect and preserve health care coverage for pastors and others in ministry. the new federal law poses numerous issues, and the coalition of health plan providers is aggressively seeking various forms of technical relief through legislative and regulatory avenues, which are beyond the scope of what a particular court can provide. GuideStone, for example, is committed to protecting religious liberty through legislative and regulatory channels; others are addressing these matters through litigation. this multipronged approach is critical as Christians join in seeking to safeguard religious liberty. the avalanche of new regulations under the health care law accelerated after President Obama’s re-election. the new regulations can create a daunting challenge for church financial leaders seeking to make decisions for 2014 and beyond. On the same website (www.GuideStone.org/healthreform), churches and ministries — can sign up for prompt email alerts on new regulations and other developments of interest. the government’s health care reform website (www.healthcare.gov), the Department of Labor website (www.dol.gov/ ebsa/healthreform/) and the irS website (www.irs.gov/uac/ Affordable-Care-Act-tax-Provisions) all have good information for employers, as well.

As the year progresses, it’s likely there’ll be more reports of some for-profit companies considering the advantages of

paying penalties rather than providing health insurance. While not providing health care coverage may appear to be more financially advantageous, Lively doesn’t expect many churches and ministries will opt for dismantling their employer-sponsored health care benefits. “in my experience, the ministry organizations we’re blessed to serve care about their employees in a way that many secular organizations may not,” she explains. “So, i think not providing health care would be a very, very difficult decision.” even so, as Lively points out, the budget impact of expanding coverage is real. “Churches must carefully consider the impact health care reform will have on their fiscal health and employee morale as they make their 2014 medical coverage decisions,” she cautions. there are many questions within the health care industry and among health plans regarding various elements of health care reform. As such, certain information may change, to some extent, over time. however, we hope our communications will provide churches a useful frame of reference as they endeavor to carry out their responsibilities and serve their employees. CE Roy Hayhurst is senior manager of editorial services at Dallas-based GuideStone Financial Resources.

He may be reached at roy.hayhurst@guidestone.org.

05/2013 | ChurCh exeCutive | 33

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