ECCU Blog

One thing many ECCU staff members have in common is competency in their area of banking expertise and involvement in ministry. Two who have solid credentials in both areas will team up with a ministry member to present the upcoming cash reserves webinar on May 31, 2012.

David Lee, who will co-present and moderate this webinar, is a ministry development officer who has been serving ministries at ECCU for 20 years. All those years plus one he’s also served on the pastoral staff of a Denver-area church. On the banking side, he’s a Certified Treasury Professional^® who is committed to equipping ministries to be more effective at reaching their communities with the gospel.

Mark Jones will co-present with David. He’s a vice president and senior banking consultant at ECCU who has spent 25 years in banking and, like David, is a Certified Treasury Professional^®. He has also served on the governing board of his church as elder/treasurer, currently works as the finance director, and is on the leadership council for Missionary Athletes International. Mark specializes in helping nonprofits effectively manage their finances.

Jim Clark will join David and Mark for this webinar. He’s the pastor of business and stewardship at First Evangelical Free Church in Fullerton, California. Jim brought a business background to the church staff in 1999. He leads the areas of finance, human resources, information systems, campus operations, risk management, and stewardship education. Jim is passionate about leadership and organizational development.

The webinar these three will present is called “Cash Reserves: Why you need them. How to build them.” I should mention that you’ll have access to all their expertise at no cost; the webinar is free. You can follow this link to register.

Are you on the board of your church or planning to be? This can be an interesting challenge when you’re not equipped with the essentials. Join Christian Management Association (CMA) members and guests in San Jose, Livermore, or Sacramento for lunch, an opportunity to hear CMA President and CEO Dr. Steve Boersma share insights on “Roles and Fiduciary Responsibilities of the Board of Directors of a Nonprofit,” and a round table discussion at this month’s lunch seminar series.

Three seminars are scheduled for May (each seminar will start at 11:30 a.m. and end at 2:00 p.m.):

May 10 (Thursday)
Crossroads Bible Church
1670 Moorpark Ave.
San Jose, CA 95128

 May 11 (Friday)
Cornerstone Fellowship
348 North Canyons Pkwy.
Livermore, CA 94551 

May 18 (Friday)
Epic Bible College
4330 Auburn Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95841

All ministry executives are invited. CMA members attend free and cost for non-members is $40.

To reserve your spot, register online at www.sjcma.org/events.html. If you’d like to learn more about this seminar, visit www.eccu.org/resources/events or email Pam Boersma at pam.boersma@cmanational.org.

I was recently reminded about this important topic during a session with Frank Sommerville, a leading nonprofit attorney. Are musicians, even if they are only used for special events, independent contractors or employees?

In a blog that Frank wrote this year, he identified two organizations that reached the conclusion that musicians are employees of the organization engaging them.

Several years ago, my church went through and changed the status of all our musicians and performers from independent contractors to employees after I read the IRS rules outlining the qualifications of an independent contractor.

While I certainly got some pushback, our decision aligns with the more recent cases affirming that most musicians and performers engaged by ministries are employees, even if they only perform for the Easter or Christmas program.

If you think you might need to make same changes, be sure to look into the IRS’ Voluntary Worker Classification Program, which allows your organization to reclassify these employees with a minimal payment to cover past payroll obligations. (There’s more information on this topic in my blog from November 15, 2011.)

How has your ministry handled this issue? Any difficulty in your decisions?

I’ll admit, I’m a cup half full kind of guy, so when I think about the cloud called The Great Recession and all the havoc it has wreaked, I’m still looking for the silver lining. Granted, that lining may be patchy and thin, but it’s there.

Here’s an example. No school teaches the lessons ministries have learned over the past three and a half years. This has been an invaluable educational experience. One lesson has been that cash reserves are essential. Without them, you may not be able to pursue your mission. And in the worst-case scenario, which has become reality for too many churches, your ministry may be forced to downsize dramatically or cease to exist altogether.

A lot of ministries have been paying attention to this lesson. Since we first published an ECCU white paper on cash reserves in 2007, it’s been downloaded hundreds of times from our website, and hundreds more copies have been picked up at conferences and other ministry events.

The learning will continue on May 31 when we present a webinar titled Cash Reserves: Why you need them. How to build them. By attending this free webinar, you’ll learn from people who’ve built up their ministries’ reserves how to do it. Specifically, you’ll learn:

• What constitutes reserves and why they’re so important for every ministry
• About the process a ministry goes through to set a cash reserves target
• About the struggles and benefits ministries have experienced as they worked to achieve their cash reserve goals.
• How an ECCU member ministry builds and manages cash reserves

All three presenters have hands-on ministry experience. I’ll introduce you to them in my next post.

Speaking of lessons learned during The Great Recession, what are some you’ve found to be invaluable?

 “If you can attend only one conference this year, Summit is it.  Join us and others who care deeply about adoption, foster care, local church ministries, and global orphan care to learn…real solutions that reflect the heart of God. It will transform your church, your ministry, your family and your life. If you want to show the world God’s love, begin with orphans.”

—Pastor Rick Warren, Saddleback Church

More than 2,000 adoptive and foster parents, pastors, orphan advocates, and other Christian leaders from across America and beyond will gather at Saddleback Church in Southern California May 3–4, 2012 for the Christian Alliance for Orphans’ National Summit.

Now in its eighth year, Summit has become the global hub for what Christianity Today recently labeled “the burgeoning Christian orphan care movement.” Christians are re-earning a reputation as people who “defend the fatherless” (Isaiah 1:17) through adoption, foster care, and global initiatives. Summit is both a catalyst and measure of this trend, growing from 38 attendees in 2004 to more than 50 times that number expected this year.

Sessions include Pastor Rick Warren (author of The Purpose-Driven Life), Kay Warren (author of Dangerous Surrender), Francis Chan (author of Crazy Love), Ambassador Susan Jacobs, and Grammy-winning musician Steven Curtis Chapman performing the closing-night concert.

More than 80 workshops will offer instruction from top national experts on topics such as:

• Parenting and attachment issues in difficult adoptions
• Engaging in local foster care
• Building effective global church-to-church partnerships.

Summit also features a special students-only conference, a training day for government social workers, extensive resources for adoptive and foster families, more than 75 booths and exhibits, a marketplace of global arts and crafts, and a bookstore—all designed to inspire, connect, and equip families and churches to become communities known for adoption, foster care, and global orphan initiatives.

“At many of the best moments of Christian history, churches have been especially known for the ‘pure and faultless religion’ that seeks out and cares for the orphan in distress,” said Jedd Medefind, president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans. “It’s thrilling to see Christians rising to this call once again. We join together at Summit to learn how to do so wisely and well, and in a way that reveals God’s heart to a watching world.”

For registration information, visit www.summitviii.org.

You can learn more about the Alliance here.