Video Transcript: Why Serve as a Board Member?

welcome to this Christian leaders Institute mini course titled How to be a  productive board member. Maybe you're taking this course because you are a  board member, or you are contemplating board membership, or maybe you  have experienced board membership in the past, and it was not a productive  experience for you, but being a member of an organization's Board of Trustees  is a calling. There are opportunities that exist to serve organizations on the  board that are unique and special. Why would someone want to serve as a  member of a board of trustees. Well, board membership is an excellent way to  serve and support Kingdom causes that you care deeply about. Maybe it's the  board at a church, maybe it's the board of directors at a parachurch ministry or a charitable organization or a mission organization, some other not for profit,  cause that is important to you. Board membership allows you to use your gifts  and skills, talents and abilities, to make an impact in the kingdom through the  organization that you serve as a board member. You can benefit as a board  member, by collaborating with other board members in making Kingdom  decisions and leadership decisions for the ministries and organizations that you  serve as a board member. As a board member, you meet amazing people other  board members who come from different walks of life, different backgrounds,  and you have an opportunity to rub shoulders with them, learn from them, and  bless them as a board member. Board members also have the opportunity to  see the Lord at work in the organizations where he calls them to serve board  membership is a kingdom Minister calling a kingdom Minister serves on a board  as an ambassador of Jesus Christ, and uses his or her gifts and abilities to bless the church, the mission, the ministry, the organization that the Lord has called  them to serve. And a kingdom minister called to board membership serves to  glorify Jesus Christ in their role as a board member. I Corinthians 10:31, so  whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, including board membership, do  everything for the glory of God. This is the privilege of a board member. Well, in  this introductory session, I want to give you a little bit about my experience as a  board member, and just share with you my history as a board member. The first  board that I served on was in my early 20s. I was a college student president,  and that position was a non representative member on the board of trustees, a  non voting member. And so in my early 20s, I observed this College Board of  Trustees, these businessmen and influential people in this city where the college was located, and I met people that I would have never met had I not been on  that board. And I first saw how decisions are made in organizations at the board  level, and saw how meetings were run and minutes were taken and votes were  made, and it was a fascinating and incredible learning experience for me. My  impact on that board was minimal. My opportunity on that board was to learn.  The next board I served on was a ministry board, an advisory board for the  Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Chicago, Illinois. I served on that board for 15 years, and early on in those years, I was again in a learning role, and as I 

continued in my role as a board member and became one of the senior  members on the board. My role became more influential and was involved in  more of the decision making of the board level, and it met so many people over  those 15 years who have influenced my life and who I still continue to stay in  touch with today, after my service on the Fellowship of Christian Athletes board,  I also began service on the board of Christian leaders. And Christian leaders  was formed in early 2000s and I've been on that board since then, and I  continue on that board, and that board has been a tremendous blessing in my  life, and I hope only that my service to the board has been as much a blessing  to the board as it has to my being there benefit I've received from it in terms of  growth, in terms of meeting people and serving the Lord and. I've also served as the founder of a board in 2004 we started a ministry called Peace fire. And as a  founder, it was incumbent on me then to recruit the initial board and continue to  recruit board members as we've grown in those, what 15, 16, 17, years now, of  our existence. And so my board experience includes starting a board from the  beginning. I've also served on three church boards as an elder, a small church,  a medium sized church and and a larger church. And so all of those experiences have been uniquely different. They've been unique and they've been powerful in  their own way and but the one thing about board membership that has impacted me the most is the people that I've met on my prayer list. There's a section that I call my Barnabas list. It consists of the names of men who have made a  tremendous impact of encouragement on my life. You know, the name Barnabas means a Son of Encouragement. And so when I look at that list of names and I  remember them before the Lord in prayer, I'm grateful for how the Lord has used them to impact my life. And as I was preparing for this class, I realized that half  of that list consists of names of men that I met early in my walk with the Lord.  They were friends of mine. One of them was a man who witnessed to me that  and when I became a Christian in 1976 as a freshman in high school, there was  there are other brothers who were followers of Christ at that time that we grew  together in the early formative years of my walk. But the other half of that list  consists of names of people that I have served with on various the various  boards that I've mentioned to you. And so board membership has had a huge  impact. The Lord used it to make a huge impact in my life. And I pray that as you either are engaged in board membership or contemplate board membership in  the future that the Lord will use your board participation in as powerful, if not a  more powerful, way in your life as he has in mine. I'd like to pray for this course  before we move on to the next session. Heavenly Father, I thank you for my  brother my sister, watching this class, learning from you and I ask you that you  would teach them, that you would give them revelation of the opportunities you  have for them as Kingdom ministers, serving on boards of directors, Lord, make  them people of influence and bless them and give them vision for your calling on their lives as board members. And Lord, for those who are on board members, 

now I pray that you use this course to enhance their vision. For those who are  not on boards yet, that you will give them vision for being a board member and  that you'll lead them and guide them the opportunity to serve as a board  member. And I pray Father, that whatever their experience is in serving on a  board, that you'll make them a blessing and that you will grant them the grace to serve in manner that glorifies Jesus Christ and brings great blessing to the  organizations that they serve and we thank you and ask you to bless the rest of  our time together in Jesus name Amen. Well, before I close off this session, let's  give you I want to give you a quick outline of the rest of the course. In the next  session, we're going to talk about the formation of a board. How is a board of  directors formed. When is it formed? Then we'll talk about the board's role and  function in an organization, then the skills of a productive board member. Then  we'll talk about maximizing leadership capacity, and our final session will be on  Spiritual Warfare and board ministry. Thanks for being a part of this course. I  pray the Lord bless you in it, and we'll look forward to seeing you in the next  session.