The Art of Governance

1. TJD Congregations Board Training Annette Marquis January 11-12, 2008 The Art of Governance

2. After this workshop, you will:

3. Friday Agenda

4. Saturday Agenda

5. A board member’s job can be a hard and lonely one

6. Sometimes, you feel like a puppet, just doing things others want you to do.

7. Sometimes, you are expected to be a miracle worker rescuing the congregation from approaching armies.

8. Sometimes, you are supposed to work magic by pulling a rabbit (or something!) out of your hat.

9. Sometimes, you can’t figure out what the heck happened!

10. And sometimes, you are convinced everyone in the congregation is out to get you (and they just might be!).

11. So how do you turn a sad and lonely job into one that is spiritually-grounded uplifting and nourishing?

12. 1 Understand your role 2 Stay-focused on your congregation’s vision 3 Let go of minutia Three steps to a better life as a board member

13. Democracy Definition: government by the people in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system Abraham Lincoln: "of the people, by the people, and for the people"

14. Direct Democracy Small Congregations Town Meetings Neighborhood Association Any Small Group

15. Representative Democracy Larger groups Larger congregations

16. UU Congregations Use Both Types

17. Now Add Committees

18. Governance Process

19. Governance Process

20. Boards and Committees BOARD • If? What? • Elected • Accountable to “the people” • Removed/replaced by “the people” COMMITTEES • How? • Appointed • Accountable to the board • Removed/replaced by the board

21. Who is the minister accountable to?

22. Envision your congregation’s structure • Board • Committees • Task Forces • Councils • Staff – paid and volunteer • Ministers, called and contractual

23. List 5 things your board has done in the last 6 months

25. What would happen to your congregation if it had no board? no board

26. Boards Have 6 Primary Functions:

27. Visioning and policy-making should be at the forefront of the board’s work, in collaboration with the congregation’s professional staff.

28. As stewards … the board holds the congregation’s assets in trust, including moral and other intangible assets.

29. As sponsors … the board should collectively be among the most generous supporters of the congregation with both time and money

30. As advocates … the board represents interests of the congregation as an institution both to its own members and, even more importantly, to the wider community.

31. As consultants … board members are available to the staff – at the staff’s invitation – to provide counsel and encouragement from their particular areas of expertise.

32. From Models to Modes Richard Chait and his colleagues argue that we should shift emphasize modes over models in seeking to govern well. Richard Chait, William Ryan and Barbara Taylor, Governance As Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2005)

33. Governance as Leadership Type 2: Strategic Type 1: Fiduciary Type 3: Generative

34. Type I: Fiduciary Governance

35. Type I: Fiduciary Governance

36. Type II: Strategic Governance

37. Type II: Strategic Governance

38. Type III: Generative Governance

39. Type III: Generative Governance

40. Type I, II, III Comparisons

41. Duties of Board Members

42. Qualities of Healthy Governance

44. Good Governance Exercise What would be in place if the congregation was well-suited to fulfill its mission? How could each group rise to its greatest level of contribution? • The board is free to: • The staff is free to: • The members are free to:

45. Scenarios • Your facility is crowded on Sunday mornings and there is no room for a children’s program. • A Board member was arrested for public exposure in a children-focused restaurant. • Your canvass campaign was 10% over projections. • Two African American men were arrested in your community for protecting an African American woman from being beaten by a white man • You were left an undesignated bequest of $20,000. • It was just discovered that your treasurer has not made any deposits from the Sunday collection in 6 months. • Three youth were caught drinking in the building. • Your minister announced his/her resignation. • A member sent out an email to selective members of the congregation - the email used derogatory language to blast the president and the board. • You’ve had several visitors lately who have only come once and not come back.

46. Simple Church Thom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger Congregations develop one clear statement of purpose • Eg. • Love God, love people, love the world • Connecting, Growing, Serving • Everything is organized around that statement

47. Simple Church

48. Ways of Organizing

49. Models of Governance Dan Hotchkiss, Alban Institute

50. Working Board Model • This is a functional system up to about 150 at worship. • The Board is comprised of • Officers and at-large members • Chairs or representatives of other committees