OVERVIEW
What is Policy Governance and Why Should I Care?
Policy Governance is like a “bicycle chain” going around and around to propel forward motion, keeping the chain and the gears moving smoothly.
What Exactly is Policy Governance? A common practice used by non-profits/churches to streamline authority and accountability. As the graph above shows, under Policy Governance, each component of the church has clearly defined authority, ownership, and accountability.
Why should I care? As we continue to grow our membership and operating budget, it is vitally important to streamline actions and policies for increased transparency and efficiency. Since the congregation is the ultimate owner of the church, congregants need to know where to go for what and how to conduct church business in a coordinated way.
What Policy Governance is not:
Giving up accountability for or giving too much power to the minister. In fact, it provides more accountability on the part of the minister to the Vestry Board and back to the congregation. The monitoring schedule ensures monitoring and evaluation regularly occur and does not slip through the cracks. The guardrails are already set should something go wrong or the minister is not performing.
Ceding financial oversight. A key responsibility of the Vestry Board is fiduciary compliance to avoid any financial jeopardy to the church. Reporting by the minister and other professional staff, including the Executive Director and Finance Manager happens monthly to monitor compliance with financial limitations. The congregation approves the annual budget each May.
Allowing for the Endowment Investment monies to be placed in the Operating Budget: The EIB has a sound set of policies in place, and the language surrounding our Constitution specifically says that money placed in the Endowment cannot be used for operating expenses.
Placing a greater burden on the minister for day-to-day decisions. Actually, the administrative burden for the minister will be reduced as operational actions are handled by professional staff.
Creating confusion about how things are done at the church. As people get used to answering to the appropriate staff, it becomes easier for staff to do their job and for congregants to know where to go to present ideas, get approvals, and help. Keeping everyone in their own lane frees energy from “How do we do this?” to “What do we want to do?” and reduces confusion.
Eliminating volunteer positions: Under Policy Governance, volunteers maintain a central role in congregational life and will now be called teams. They will have clear job descriptions, a staff person to work with, and be empowered to offer their ideas and support action to fulfill our mission.
Creating a structure that too closely mirrors the business world. We are a church. Our mission, to be “an inclusive community of inspiration, love, and service committed to creating a better world,” is not about making a profit. Our mission speaks to transforming lives. This governance structure makes it easier to do just that. Congregants will not have the weight of building or maintaining the operating structure of the church but can instead go forth and do good deeds together.
COMMON TERMS
Moral Ownership: Our members are the moral owners of the church and In Policy Governance, the primary relationship of the board is to connect with the members to understand their values and perspectives. The members are those on whose behalf the board decides what benefits the organization is to produce, the beneficiaries, and what the benefits are worth.
Ends: A policy that is a special type of goal; In our case, the Vestry Board creates Ends Statements on behalf of the congregations. These statements serve as the overarching goals for the church by which the Minister serves to accomplish. The statements are constantly reviewed and intentionally updated every 5 years to account for new member voices.
Means: Manner in which ends are accomplished.
Executive Limitations: The guardrails set by the Vestry Board to ensure the church does not get into financial or legal trouble.
Linkage: Communication between congregants and their elected Vestry Board representatives.
Perpetual Calendar: An intentional calendar set by the Vestry Board that ensures policies and Minister’s performance are being monitored. (see our perpetual calendar in the link section below)
Monitoring: The Vestry Board works to ensure that our Ends are being accomplished. The Minister will submit a Monitoring Report monthly.
