Church Administration Course

Lesson 1 • Roles and Responsibilities of Administrators

Defines the duties of pastors, deacons, elders, and staff administrators. Clarifies accountability lines essential for effective church management.

Lesson 2 • Defining Church Administration

Examines the meaning, scope, and biblical grounding of church administration. Provides the conceptual framework that underpins every subsequent chapter.

Lesson 3 • Organizational Models for Churches

Surveys congregational, episcopal, and presbyterian governance models. Students match each model to its practical administrative implications.

Lesson 1 • Church Legal Status and Registration

Covers nonprofit incorporation, tax-exempt recognition, and registration requirements. Establishes the legal foundation all subsequent compliance topics depend on.

Lesson 2 • Governing Documents and Bylaws

Explains the purpose and content of constitutions, bylaws, and policy manuals. Students draft key bylaw provisions for a sample congregation.

Lesson 3 • Employment and Volunteer Law Basics

Introduces wage, classification, and anti-discrimination obligations for church employers. Students identify compliant hiring and termination practices.

Lesson 4 • Data Privacy and Record Retention

Addresses member data protection, confidentiality, and document retention schedules. Students create a basic record retention policy for a church office.

Lesson 1 • Annual Budget Development

Guides students through income projection, expense allocation, and budget approval processes. Connects budgeting directly to the church's mission priorities.

Lesson 2 • Internal Controls and Fraud Prevention

Establishes segregation of duties, authorization policies, and audit trails to prevent financial misconduct. Students map control gaps in a sample church scenario.

Lesson 3 • Principles of Church Accounting

Introduces fund accounting, the chart of accounts, and cash versus accrual methods. Provides the accounting vocabulary needed for all financial sections that follow.

Lesson 4 • Financial Reporting and Transparency

Teaches preparation of income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow reports for church boards. Students present a financial report package to a simulated board.

Lesson 1 • Volunteer Recruitment and Retention

Develops systems for recruiting, training, scheduling, and recognizing volunteers. Applies HR principles to the unpaid workforce that sustains most ministries.

Lesson 2 • Performance Management and Feedback

Introduces goal-setting frameworks, evaluation tools, and constructive feedback techniques. Students complete a mock performance review using a provided rubric.

Lesson 3 • Workforce Planning and Job Design

Covers staffing needs analysis, job description writing, and organizational chart design. Connects workforce structure to ministry goals established in earlier chapters.

Lesson 4 • Compensation and Benefits Administration

Addresses salary structures, clergy housing allowances, and employee benefit options. Students build a compensation grid for a sample church staff.

Lesson 1 • Space Scheduling and Usage Policies

Develops policies for internal ministry use and external facility rentals. Students create a space request form and a rental agreement template.

Lesson 2 • Facilities Assessment and Planning

Teaches condition assessments, space audits, and long-range facilities planning. Grounds students in the physical asset context before addressing maintenance and safety.

Lesson 3 • Preventive Maintenance Programs

Covers scheduled maintenance schedules, vendor management, and work order systems. Students build a 12-month preventive maintenance calendar.

Lesson 1 • Internal Communication Strategies

Covers staff meetings, memos, email protocols, and internal announcement systems. Students draft a communication policy for a multi-staff church.

Lesson 2 • Meeting Management and Minutes

Teaches agenda preparation, facilitation techniques, and accurate minute-taking for boards and committees. Students produce a complete set of board meeting minutes.

Lesson 3 • Church Office Systems and Workflows

Maps core office workflows including correspondence, filing, and supply management. Establishes operational efficiency as the backbone of administrative support.

Lesson 4 • Church Management Software

Surveys ChMS platforms for membership tracking, giving, scheduling, and reporting. Students configure a sample database and run standard reports.

Lesson 1 • Ministry Needs Assessment

Introduces surveys, focus groups, and demographic analysis to identify congregation needs. Grounds program design in evidence rather than assumption.

Lesson 2 • Project Management for Ministry

Applies task assignment, scheduling, and progress tracking tools to ministry projects. Students build a project plan using a standard project management template.

Lesson 3 • Continuous Improvement Cycles

Introduces plan-do-check-act cycles and feedback loops for ongoing ministry improvement. Students revise a program plan based on simulated evaluation findings.

Lesson 4 • Program Design and Goal Setting

Covers logic models, program objectives, and resource mapping for ministry initiatives. Students complete a logic model for a proposed ministry program.

Lesson 1 • Partnership and Community Engagement

Develops skills for building denominational, nonprofit, and community partnerships. Students draft a partnership agreement and a community engagement strategy.

Lesson 2 • Change Management in the Church

Addresses resistance to change, stakeholder engagement, and communication during transitions. Students apply a change management model to a realistic church scenario.

Lesson 3 • Financial Sustainability and Stewardship Campaigns

Covers capital campaigns, endowment development, and diversified revenue strategies. Students design a stewardship campaign timeline and donor communication plan.

Lesson 4 • Strategic Planning Process

Guides students through environmental scanning, SWOT analysis, and strategic priority setting. Synthesizes mission, finances, HR, and facilities into a unified plan.