Shepherding the church requires up-to-date knowledge of budgets, insurance, financial management, personnel organization, audits, and legal liability. These responsibilities are complex and ever-changing. While as pastor, you are called to be a faithful steward of the church's resources and an effective planner of its ministries, you need facts and skills to get your job done. This book will help you organize and weave your way through the often complex business of the church.

Contents include:
Definition of Ad-Ministry and What It Means to be an Ad-Minister
A Theological Model for Ad-Ministry
The Church as an Organization
Stewarding People--Paid and Unpaid Staff
Staffing the Volunteer Organization
Stewarding Resources--Finances and Budgeting
Stewarding Places and Spaces
Stewarding Fiduciary Responsibility--Legal and Liability Issues
Stewarding the Mission of God
Strategic Planning to Fulfill God's Call on Your Congregation

Includes templates, and samples, including Church Staff Review forms, Staff Growth Plans, Offering Tracking Logs, Financial Statements, Property Inventory Worksheets, and Emergency Procedures Worksheets.

The church must get "unstuck" from its current context in order to address the context of younger generations; otherwise, it will not be relevant to younger people and will die with the older generations. As an example, a letter from the Younger Generations to Baby Boomers: Dear Baby Boomers,
Thank you for all you've done, but I don't want your church. I want you, our relationship, our engagement, but not your church structure and outdated assumptions.
Signed, The Younger Generations
Blank Slate guides leaders to envision, and actually design, the future church. The authors start by describing each generational group currently living in the US, helping readers understand the varied context of people in every age group. Next, they explore five innovative secular organizations, drawing sharp lessons for the church. The last section includes a seven-step process for ministry leaders to engage current and upcoming generations. This book, with questions for individual and group reflection in each chapter, is a powerful planning tool for ministry teams. "In a time when so many of us want a blueprint for how to do ministry in a rapidly changing world, McIntosh, Smothers, and Smothers hand us a pencil and tell us to draw it ourselves. God has entrusted us to be the designers and visionaries for a new way. Blank Slate is the guide that you and your team need to design a new future together." -Jacob Armstrong, pastor, Providence Church, Mt. Juliet, TN

We are in a new era of communication. The internet and social media have changed the way we connect and communicate with each other. As the body of Christ, it is important that we understand these changes, so that we can effectively serve others. Whether you are an established organisation or an individual starting your ministry, this book will help you understand these global, technology-enabled changes and how they impact churches, nonprofits and individuals in ministry. The four-part communication model and the six-step framework presented in this book will help you successfully implement a social media and digital ministry program, laying a strong foundation for the future of your ministry. Section I - Why the Church should use Social Media: In the first section, the book talks about the importance of using digital, online and social communication medium. The book explores the evolution of a new type of audience - the connected audience and helps the reader learn the biblical basis of social media marketing and its relevance to the Great Commission. Section II - The Communication Model: In the second section, the book introduces the four-part communication model. The author lays out a broader vision of a smooth, seamless communication within the Church, as one body using social media and technology. Section III - The Framework for Implementing the Communication Model: In the third section, the book moves from visioning mode to action mode. The author presents a six-step framework as a practical means to implement the communication model in your ministry. This is a hands-on implementation section that examines management strategies, marketing strategies and operational details. Section IV - Future Trends that will Impact the Church: In the fourth and final section, the book returns to a visioning mode as the author identifies key future trends and discusses ways in which churches, nonprofits and ministries can prepare themselves for the future. Foreword is written by Mark W. Schaefer - Social media keynote speaker, college educator, consultant, and best-selling author of six marketing books including Known, The Content Code, Social Media Explained and The Tao of Twitter. Introduction is written by Rev. Sam P. Chelladurai - Senior Pastor of AFT Church. He is one of the most prominent and respected Bible teachers in India.

What makes an effective executive?

The measure of the executive, Peter F. Drucker reminds us, is the ability to "get the right things done." This usually involves doing what other people have overlooked as well as avoiding what is unproductive. Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge may all be wasted in an executive job without the acquired habits of mind that mold them into results.

Drucker identifies five practices essential to business effectiveness that can, and must, be learned:

Managing time

Choosing what to contribute to the organization

Knowing where and how to mobilize strength for best effect

Setting the right priorities

Knitting all of them together with effective decision-making

Ranging widely through the annals of business and government, Peter F. Drucker demonstrates the distinctive skill of the executive and offers fresh insights into old and seemingly obvious business situations.