Should we change how we live our own lives?
Oct 24, 2025Governance is the way a church is managed, run, and held responsible. It is very important for the health, compliance, and success of any organization's mission. Many churches, especially those that are growing or becoming more complex, may need to change the way they do things. If the governance structure is old or not good enough, leaders cannot know what to do, break the rules, or make the ministry less effective.
This book talks a lot about how churches can tell when they need to modify the way they do things. It talks about the dangers of poor governance, the advantages of modernization, and how to effectively review and reform. The handbook talks about how Tier 3: THE PASTOR SUPPORT PLAN supports churches with executive strategy, leadership training, and governance assessments to make their governance structures bigger and stronger so they can be successful in the long run.
Part 1: Learning about how churches work
Church governance is the set of rules, obligations, and procedures that allow leaders to make decisions, keep an eye on things, and be responsible. The pastor leads the church, and the board of directors or elders, committees, and rules tell everyone how things should be done. A successful governance model strikes a balance between power, openness, and the ability to adapt to the church's mission, growth, and legal duties.
Part 2: When to Change Your Governance Model
If churches see one or more of the following symptoms, they should think about modifying how they are run:
- Decision-Making Bottlenecks: Leaders don't know who is in charge, and approvals take too long.
- Fiduciary Risks: If you're not honest or don't keep an eye on your money, you could be in danger of not following the rules.
- Board Dysfunction: This happens when leaders can't agree, people aren't involved, or their roles aren't clear.
- Growth and Complexity: More campuses or ministries that do a lot of different things and need more than one level of oversight.
- Legal or Regulatory Issues: Organizations that don't obey the rules or get warning letters or audits.
- Bad Communication: When information doesn't get to the right people, it might make people feel unsure and untrustworthy.
- There are problems with leadership succession since there isn't a clear plan for how to cope with changes and keep things going.
Part 3: What could go wrong if you keep doing things the old way
- Legal Exposure: Not obeying the rules imposed by your employment, the IRS, and the state.
- Poor controls can cause money to be stolen or wasted.
- Leadership problems: unclear roles and fights over authority.
- People don't give as much because they don't trust the organization to perform a good job.
- Mission Drift: Poor management that makes it hard to stay focused on your goal.
Part 4: Why You Should Change Your Governance Model
- Clearer Roles and Responsibilities: Things move more smoothly when everyone understands who is in control.
- Better management of money and operations through better monitoring and accountability.
- Better Board Engagement: The ministry can only be successful if its leaders are involved and aware of what's going on.
- If you follow the rules, you're less likely to get sued or punished.
- Better communication: People trust each other more when they make decisions in front of others.
- Strategic Growth Support: Governance arrangements that may change to meet new needs.
- Sustainable Leadership Pipeline: Make sure you know who will take over.
Part 5: Looking at How You Govern Right Now
- Do evaluations and audits of the board on their own.
- Check to see if the group's rules and bylaws are still helpful.
- Check to discover how successfully leaders and committees work together.
- Look at how decisions are made and how information gets around.
- Find places where compliance and risk management aren't doing their jobs.
Section 6: How to Change Things and Make Governance Better
- Get people who have a stake in the project to assist you in coming up with a vision and offering you feedback.
- Get a lawyer to make sure you do things right and follow the law.
- Set clear guidelines that show how the new structure operates.
- Set up committees that help the organization reach its long-term goals.
- Teach and guide board members and leaders.
- Make plans to continually check on things and make them better.
Section 7: How Tier 3: THE PASTOR SUPPORT PLAN Can Help Make Governance Better
- Learn what works and what doesn't with full governance audits.
- Executive Strategy Sessions: Help with planning and board retreats.
- Check to determine if your rules and bylaws are up to date.
- Leadership training: Help all leaders lead better.
- Ongoing consulting: Help with making adjustments and getting things done.
This webpage is only for studying and not giving legal advice. Churches should talk to good lawyers about how to run their businesses.
To sum up, when your business expands, gets harder, or has legal problems, you need to adapt how it is run. A modern, well-organized governance structure gives your leaders and board the tools they need to do their jobs well, follow the rules, and move your ministry's mission forward. Tier 3: THE PASTOR SUPPORT PLAN gives churches all the audits, strategic aid, legal advice, and leadership training they need to make improvements to their governance that will last for generations and help them grow.
Links Inside
- A report on the Church's legal audit and compliance
- A Look at the Plan for the Future
- Help with the Law for Running a Church
