Pastors are schooled in theology and ministry, but few receive training in the fine points of church administration. Learning how to handle a congregation's finances "on the job" can be a harrowing experience. Yet efficiently managing your church's business affairs is a key element in keeping current members satisfied with their pastoral leadership -- and in attracting the new members you need for your church to grow in size and influence. In Basic Business Principles For Growing Churches, Arnold Cirtin shares expertise gained from more than four decades of corporate and academic experience. He provides a clear and helpful primer for pastors with limited training in business administration on such practical topics as accounting, fiscal management, and marketing. This is an indispensable book for pastors of small- and medium-sized churches (who typically are also their congregations' principal financial officers), as well as for church treasurers, trustees, and other financial board members. When you follow the guidelines in Basic Business Principles For Growing Churches, your church will be fiscally responsible, managed efficiently, and able to maximize its growing stewardship of God's resources. Arnold Cirtin is professor emeritus of accounting at Ball State University, and is a certified public accountant (CPA) in the states of Indiana and California. Cirtin is the author of Principles of Accounting Study Guide, as well as numerous articles in professional journals.

Church leaders understand that managing the day-to-day operations of a church can be challenging because of limited resources, managing volunteer labor, and supporting the needs of the congregation. Smart Church Management: A Quality Approach to Church Administration, Third Edition is an updated guide for managing the resources of a church - which is people, time and money. This book provides tools and examples for decision making and problem-solving for church administration that is easy to understand and more importantly, quick to implement! This book also includes discussion questions to provoke thought and discussion for church teams. This book is ideal for ministry students, church boards, church leadership and church administrators.

A highly practical guide for nurturing relations between believers and the Spirit, in order to better advance the Kingdom of God.

With nearly fifty years combined global church-planting experience, Craig Ott and Gene Wilson are well qualified to write a comprehensive, up-to-date guide for cross-cultural church planting. Combining substantive biblical principles and missiological understanding with practical insights, this book walks readers through the various models and development phases of church planting. Advocating methods that lead to church multiplication, the authors emphasize the role of the missionary church planter. They offer helpful reflection on current trends and provide best practices gathered from research and empirical findings around the globe. The book takes up a number of special issues not addressed in most church planting books, such as use of short-term teams, partnerships, and wise use of resources. Full of case studies and real examples from around the world, this practical text will benefit students, church planters, missionaries, and missional church readers.

If the church is to thrive in the twenty-first century, it will have to take on a new form as it ministers to the 120 million unchurched people in the United States. Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century is still virtually the only available text on church planting in North America and beyond. In this third edition, readers will find material on the importance of healthy, biblical change in our churches, updated appendixes, insight on our postmodern ministry context, and strategies for reaching new population demographics such as Generations X and Y. Pastors, ministry leaders, and church planters will find the information and advice found in this book invaluable as they carry out their ministries.

This substantial resource offers pastors and church leaders practical insight into the daily issues of running a church. Conceived and compiled by the editors of Leadership journal, this book covers the full spectrum of ministry practice. Readers will learn about perennial topics such as time management, negotiating the terms of a call, handling crisis and conflict, hiring and managing staff, conducting special fund drives, spending church money, and dealing with tax and law considerations. This revised and expanded edition of a proven ministry resource contains new contributions from prominent ministry leaders. Contributors include Leith Anderson, Rick Warren, Brian McLaren, Luis Palau, John Ortberg, Aubrey Malphurs, and many others.

Our entire understanding of funding and sustainability must change. Tithes and offerings alone are no longer enough to provide for the needs of the local church, enable pastors to pursue opportunities, or sustain long-term ministry impact. Growing financial burdens on the middle class, marginal increases in contributions to religious organizations, shifting generational attitudes toward giving, and changing demographics are having a negative impact on church budgets. Given that someday local churches may be required to pay taxes on the property they own and/or lose the benefit of soliciting tax-deductible gifts, the time to pivot is now. What's needed is disruptive innovation in church economics. For churches to not only survive but thrive in the future, leaders must learn to leverage assets, bless the community, empower entrepreneurs, and create multiple streams of income to effectively fund mission. You'll learn why you should and how to do so in The Coming Revolution in Church Economics.