It’s been a learning curve, learning how to “order a church.”
Not only had I never attended a “Finance Committee” or “Trustee Committee” meeting, but I was also learning how to lead those areas of a church while launching the church. Talk about “hands-on learning.” 😉
West runs by a single-board governance model so that decisions can be made soundly and swiftly. (Also, every month, there won’t be 6 committee meetings to attend. In fact, we don’t have committees; we have “teams.”)
Anyway . . .
Our PAC Team (Pastor’s Advisory Council) is the decision-making body for the operations of West. They oversee HR, facilities, finance, and all the FUN stuff of ministry.
I realized I had a STEEP learning curve as I listened to the below conversation during a meeting.
“The bottom line is we must investigate our RR.”
I thought, “I’m pretty sure we don’t have a Rolls Royce.”
Someone responded, “In order to do that, let’s be very clear about our ROI. Let’s pull that data from the previous year.”
My brain, “ROI – isn’t that like a timeshare company?”
RRs and ROIs.
Two things they didn’t quite touch on in seminary.
Relative Risk.
Return on Investment.
Many years later, I’ve figured out what those terms mean AND actually understand their importance in church leadership. However, that’s the business part of the church, which is QUITE different from the PEOPLE part of the church.
One important thing we learn from observing Jesus is that he was never consumed with RRs and ROIs.
Before he healed the lame, touched the leper, or loved the prostitute, he did not calculate the risk.
Love is not love if it calculates the cost/risk.
When you give love, do you calculate the cost or risk?
“Let all that you do be done in love.”
(1 Corinthians 16:14).
