Three Healing Hurdles

Recently a post was submitted called From Pain to Humane. Even the best work situations can heat up when personalities collide. Laying things out in order to draw clear boundaries around behavior is just one part of the process. Three big hurdles include extending grace, placing trust and offering forgiveness. Grace is unearned favor. No one can earn it. No, it is based on notion that all people are inherently valuable. The second, hurdle is placing trust in someone who has fallen short of expectations of behavior or performance. It is hard to rebuild trust when emotions run high, or destructive behavior continue, or performance sags. Inflicting willful harm must be dealt with immediately. Consequences must be made clear and efforts to help or coach an employee need to be well documented. Lastly, forgiveness is necessary so the person who has been hurt can heal, and so the person doing the hurting can be released from guilt. Sometimes a participant can't admit fault. This does not prevent the affected person from extending grace, demonstrating trust or forgiveness.

Faith-based Grants

Approximately one-third of grants in the United States are faith-based grants. That is great news for the faith community. Some grants are for Christian minstries and have broad guidelines, but many are also denomination specific or give a preference. One of the first things to rule out is geographic area. Applying for a grant for ministry needs on the West Coast from a grantor that only serves New Jersey or Tennessee doesn't work.

Although some grants are earmarked for the faith community, other grantors may provide funding if the ministry falls within the funding guidelines, serves the community and is in the foundation's geographic area.. Examples include food banks, nutrition programs, innovative programs to reduce obesity or compassionate health care, emergency housing, a teen center, the arts, gardening, the environment or sustainabilty.

If your program or project cost is $35K, it may take five grants to get it done. When researching for grants consider the funding limit of each grantor and what aspect of a project they are most likely to fund. After reading the instructions four times contact the foundation to find out if the grantor is interested in the proposal. Expect to write at least five grants for every one that is funded. If your organization is small, has an inadequate track record or lacks manpower, expertise or finances to hire a grant writer, consider working with project partners. Each project partner must have some decision making authority and bring something to the table. The project group is assembled before the grant is written, lays out a strategy, identifies who will manage the grant and how funds will be allocated. All project participants manage their own budget and report to the grant manager. The grant manager assembles all the information, gains approval from management and submits the grant. The same process applies to the evaluation and reporting process. A little creativity goes a long way. The next post will address secular nonprofit organizations.

Encouraging Church Resilience

 Encouraging church resilience is a six part workshop series. Each workshop can stand alone, be delivered in a six week series or a full day workshop.

Ten Ways to Bolster Church Finances
Many churches are struggling to pay bills or expand ministry. In this workshop attendees will learn four practical steps to improve finances. In addition, break out groups will address specific skills to boost church revenues.

Opting In: How to Create a Culture of Service
Research says that a few members carry the work load. This can lead to burnout. This sub-topic addresses how churches track and improve participation?

Public Information Officers in the Church-What’s Next?
Is your church invisible? If it closed its doors would anyone notice it was gone? Public information officers can play a unique role in improving visibility. Listen to some astonishing principles the church can apply to revitalize ministries.

Hamming It Up: The Role of Amateur Radio Teams
Communications are a essential to resilience and sustainablity. Redundant communications help the faith community serve each other and others expecially during times of adversity. Amateur radio has applications for missions, building community partnerships, and maintaining resilience and serving others during adverse conditions. 

Safeguarding Our Most Precious Resource: How Safe Is Your Child Safety Plan?
The world has changed and child safety has become a major concern in churches. Failure to address child safety may lead to harm, criticism and legal consequences. Churches also need policies and procedures that outline how to safety Reunite  children who have been separated from parents or caregivers following a critical incident.

Nurturing Church Workers
Research indicates new church workers are not adequately supported emotionally or vocationally. Expections lack clarity. Without a fair appraisal process, imrovements are not made causing small problems become big problems. Learn how to implement processes that help develop new resources perform well, mature and in turn develop others.