What is a "Compliance Fire Drill"?

Practice makes perfect, right? No . . . perfect practice makes perfect!

First responders do it regularly. Military recruits do it daily in boot camp. You did it when you went to school. Your children do it at school today. You practice until what you need to do comes naturally. A fire drill is simply a device to make sure you’re doing all the right things at a most critical point in time. At the most critical points in time, you have to be able to operate without giving it a second thought.

Churches have two “personalities.” We’re all familiar with the most recognizable one – the spiritual side of the church – because it practically takes care of itself. Seminaries do a great job of preparing ministers to manage the spiritual nature of a church . . . they teach courses like biblical interpretation or hermeneutics, biblical genres, the “original” languages, the “art” of preaching, even “pastor and his work” . . . but they don’t always do so well when it comes to teaching ministers what they need to know about actually running a church, which is the other “personality” – the civil, or business, side of the church. Even Jesus knew this side of the church cannot be ignored.

One thing that is particularly noteworthy when it comes to spiritual gifts, however, is that ministers rarely have the gift of administration, a crucial skill necessary when it comes to running a business. And 21st-century churches are definitely businesses.

At Church & Ministry Compliance Consulting we focus our energy on helping churches with the business side of things. But we have a competitive edge . . . we’re formally educated in and have also been on the spiritual side of the equation . . . so we know how to strike a proper balance between the two. It’s a unique skill that few others actually have. So we’ve come up with our Compliance Fire Drill to help ministers and other church leaders – vocational or lay – identify the particular strengths and weaknesses in your church’s governance, compliance, and financial awareness and management areas. Once those are identified, then we can work with your church to fine tune what it is doing and what it needs to do to get and stay on track. Perfect practice makes perfect!

We can accomplish this in a half-day or full-day session, on-site or via Zoom, according to your preference. At a minimum, we’ll cover these 20 topics:

• Governing Documents

• Policies & Procedures

• Corporate Compliance Responsibilities

• Board of Directors' Responsibilities

• Business Meetings

• Child Safety, Sexual Abuse/Harassment Prevention

• AB 506 Compliance

• Employees vs. Volunteers, Compensation & Benefits

• Minister’s Compensation & Housing Allowance

• Accountable Reimbursement Plans

• Money Handling Best Practices

• Budgeting and Accounting

• Financial Reporting

• Property/Casualty & Workers’ Comp Insurances

• Risk Management & Mitigation

• Hazards of Deferred Maintenance

• Property Tax Exemptions

• Rent/Leasing of Church Premises

• Generosity/Stewardship Issues

• Personal Financial Management

By special arrangement with the MinistrySafe organization, churches not currently a member of MinistrySafe that complete a Compliance Fire Drill will receive a complimentary one-year MinistrySafe membership – a $250 value – with full access to the training and background check resources, sample policies and procedures, and more. For more details about a Compliance Fire Drill for your church, simply submit the inquiry form to the right . . .

Take the next step and find out how to schedule your Compliance Fire Drill

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