January 2017 Administration Service Team Report

1. Organization of service team

Vision

To provide support to ICOC ministries to maximize the sustained growth and strength of the work of the Lord. 

“Do all that you have in mind. Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.” 1 Samuel 14:7

Mission

Church administration will serve the ministry, not as boundary keepers and naysayers, but by facilitating the preparation and execution of the superlative track – smoothing the rough edges that might otherwise tamper and/or distract, perhaps even derail, the work.

• set a standard of an upward call to disciples who are talented administratively to devote their skills and experience to church administration as a ministry, whether on a full-time or part-time basis. 
• provide training for church administration, using regional and/or local programs as well as web-based platforms to enable churches of all sizes to secure and retain effective administrative personnel, whether volunteer or employed.
• ensure current awareness of issues (legal, administrative and social) and establish guidelines and protocols to protect the ministries and to facilitate maximum sustained growth.

Expectations of Service Team members

• Financial support from your local church or other sources - Expectation for service team members is that their local churches or mission groups will support their travel. By the April 4 meeting, we will have AST budget amounts for you to be able to submit to your local support source(s).
• Two-year commitment – We would like to expect a two-year commitment to your participation in the Service Team, subject (as with Boards of Directors) to renewal if desired and/or needed
• Ability to influence your region’s Administrative needs - (e.g., work through local ministry leadership to secure support or interest among other regional churches for their own administrative structure)
• Semi-annual conference calls – These may increase in frequency if there are conferences or training programs being planned that year.
• Annual face-to-face meeting – The first will be at the April 2017 meeting.
• Creative leadership – Support expansion to include participation from and to address needs of non-US churches and ministries; Assist with efforts to provide specific support to regional or individual churches.

2017–Conference Call Schedule

• A brief meeting will likely be planned in mid to late March prior to the April 2017 leadership meeting

2017–Face-to-Face meeting

• 2017 ICOC Spring Leadership Meetings April 4-8, Dallas: Evangelists, elders, women, teachers, Chairmen 
  • April 4-6 –Dallas, TX  - Admin Service Team meeting – Goal: Prepare an AST presentation for the leadership meeting, as well as for the meeting for leaders of churches of 1,000+ which follows.
• Budgets will be provided later as details become available regarding costs for attendance – airfare, hotel, etc.

Other important dates (noted simply for consideration of events/trainings/etc)

• 2017 ICMC Meetings
  • June 29-July 1 (Thu thru Sat) – Austin, Texas
  • August 4-6 (Fri thru Sun) – Asheville, NC
• 2017 Delegates Meeting
  • October 2-5 (Mon thru Thurs), Chicago, Illinois
• 2018 ILC & Delegates Meeting / Central American Conference
  • October 2-7, 2018 – Panama City, Panama

Team structure & organization

Committees –

• Human Resources Committee (including Compensation, Benefits, Employment Practices)
  • Steve Smith, Chair
  • Christen McDuffee
  • Gary Slebodnick
  • Tom McCurry
• Compensation Subcommittee
  • Gary Slebodnick
  • Steve Smith
• Governance (including Board, Legal, Policies/Procedures)
  • Adrienne Newsom, Chair
  • Cheryl Kaplan
  • Paul Ramsey
• General Administration (including Accounting, Taxation)
  • Connie Beene, Chair
  • Vivian Hanes
  • Brian Gross
• International Administration
  • Paul Ramsey, Chair
  • Christen McDuffee
  • Paul Rowden
• Risk Management (including Liability Insurance)
  • Tom Briscoe, Chair
  • Cheryl Kaplan
  • Paul Ramsey

2. Goals

Raising the profile of administration in the churches

Discussion was held regarding the needs and opportunities for training programs focused on church administration.  While some program opportunities historically exist at conferences, these are usually limited in scope and must compete with other sessions in other tracks.  Participation therefore is inevitably limited.  The primary impact of conferences for administration may be in raising awareness of training needs and opportunities as well as the call to Administration as a ministry, attracting the interest of individuals who will explore the path going forward.

Communication Paths

• Seek opportunities to present the case at leadership and mission society meetings
• Develop brief, high-impact video(s) for conferences and the web
• Prepare information sheets and interest surveys for distribution at conferences
• Host luncheons at conferences (especially campus) to inspire individuals with the call to administration
• Establish web-based access to pre-recorded training programs and FAQs (YouTube channel?)
• Develop blogs and newsletters for subscribers
• Set up a Help-Desk model for administrators
• Establish administrative posting site(s) on DToday
• Facebook?

Regional & other training programs

• Work with regional leadership groups to ensure support
• Identify host churches for programs (Dallas and Atlanta have confirmed)
• Feature training and best practices
• Develop programs for implementation outside the U.S., building on the existing programs implemented throughout Africa and other regions
• Record programs for posting on websites
• Host web-based webinars for remote training

3. Committee reports

The Compensation sub-committee provided an update regarding the status of compensation plans within the churches. More information should be secured regarding practices across the churches, to facilitate further use of best practices as well as to identify areas of need. Steve Smith and Gary Slebodnick were scheduled to meet with the Hay Group the week following the AST meeting.  Using the general Hay model for compensation, the sub-committee is developing a consolidated package to provide an “off the shelf” package for smaller churches, with the intent of making the Hay model more accessible and simpler to implement.  The AST hopes to have a preliminary presentation on Compensation prepared for the April meeting.

4. Action items

The following short-term follow-up items were identified with responsibility assigned:

• Identify format and protocols for presentation at the April leadership meeting – Tom Briscoe, coordinating with Roger Lamb
• Establish a priority list of topics for use at April leadership meeting– to secure support and demonstrate presence – Paul Ramsey, Steve Smith, Adrienne Newsom
• Build a checklist of what we would like to know about church's admin structure and systems and work with Roger Lamb to fill in knowledge gaps; then figure out what can be addressed effectively from the AST – Tom McCurry, Steve Smith

Future items

• Work with the evangelists and other service teams and conference committees to ensure inclusion of the key admin-related topics at conferences/meetings – (i.e., the call to administration as a “calling” of ministry and the inclusion of admin class(es) in schedules).
• Preparation of Training modules and schedules/venues for presentation – videography for reuse in Webinars, etc
• Establishment of web-based applications –
  • Google group (or equivalent) for AST communication
  • Help Desk
  • FAQ videos
  • Webinars
• Development of an inspiring Admin video for conferences (ICMC, Singles, etc) –
• Conference action items –
  • Class(es) –
  • Registration packet, including survey of interest/talents&skills/etc
  • Luncheon for admin-oriented disciples (especially at ICMC)
• Establish ‘regular’ bulletins of developments in the world of admin (especially addressing tax and/or accounting items) – e.g., “This Just In….”

The meeting was closed with prayer, led by Steve Smith.