Video Transcript: The Creation of a Board

Hi everybody. Welcome back. This is Dr Hunt again, and welcome to part two of  how to develop a ministry board. In part one, we talked about the initial steps for developing a ministry board. And first of all, we need to pray as Solomon prayed and asked for wisdom and discernment. And then we need to listen for his voice, as Samuel did. Sometimes we get ahead of ourselves and we don't listen. And  

so once we pray, we trust God to answer us. And if we have to wait for a while,  we wait until he gives us confirmation. And then number three, once he gives us  affirmation, once we hear His voice, then like Isaiah, we say, Lord, send me. So  we go out. So this is part two for the second in the series, and we want to talk  about the different phases of developing a ministry board. So we want to talk  about phase one, phase one. And so let's look at that phase one, phase one.  Phase one is creation. Phase one is creation. Just as in the beginning, God  created the heavens and earth. You're you've got God's permission to go forth  and create this ministry board, this wonderful ministry board that you're going to  create. And so that's the first phase of board development to creation. So if you  understand what God is trying to do, God is trying to allow you to begin to have  your ideas. This is when you generate ideas. It's just when you talk about your  vision and your mission. So look at this particular slide with me. You only go  through this phase first in the beginning, but you might go back to it to some of  these bullet points as you begin to crystallize what you're trying to accomplish as a board. So of course, you want to make sure that you get the vision and the  mission and the purpose and the values, you need to know what it is that you're  trying to do. And then one of the primary steps are important, probably more  important than anything else, is that you need to register and incorporate your  ministry. You know, we got a wide audience, and so there's different statutes and requirements, but you want to make sure that your ministry is official, that is  sanctioned. And one of the reasons that you want to do that is that you open  yourself up to receive grants and receive funding from other sources. And so  that's really very critical. It's really important. So you want to register and make  sure that your ministry is official that's incorporated. Number three, the third  bullet is, decide which groups or communities should be at the table. Now you  have yourself. You probably have a few other folks that have you considered the community, some of the members or other stakeholders that would be important  to your particular ministry. Let's say, for example, you have a food pantry. Have  you talked to the community Chamber of Commerce or or to the village, the city  hall or see what the need is? So that's what you want to do. You want to make  sure that you have the right roots and communities at the table, and along with  that, you need to make sure that you have those strong ties with the  communities or with those stakeholders, because if they don't like you, if they're  not aware of you, if you don't have a relationship, it may be a little bit more  difficult to establish your ministry. So you want to make sure that you have  established some strong ties in the midst of creating your board, your ministry 

next is really important, it's critical as a matter of fact. And sometimes, if we don't do this, we miss the mark, and we wonder why the ministry is not a success. We wonder why the board is not working. It's because we missed the mark. In other  words, I'm not talking about sinning. I'm talking about really understanding  

what's needed by the community. You might think that the community needs a  certain, certain ministry. For instance, you might think that the ministry needs  daycare, needs daycare, after school, daycare, and what the community really  wants. They really want something activities for their young people. So you need to do an assessment. You need to go out and find out what's needed in the  community. You can do that by having a survey. You can do that by. Talking to  village officials. You could do that by just just walking around. So you want to  make sure that you've done an assessment of what's needed in the community.  Next, you want to adopt a structure that serves your organization's purpose. And let me explain what I mean by that if you're going to develop a ministry board,  and it may be that you may be the only one, you may be the executive director  or the chief executive officer or the ministry director and the board chair, that  you're hitting this thing, but you want to make sure that if you have a big board, if you have a big organization or big ministry, you need to make sure that it's  compatible with what you're trying to do, because if you have a small ministry, it  doesn't make any sense to have 15 trustees. So you have to consider what's the right structure for your board and your organization, your ministry, and then you  need to make sure that you organize a group of committed, energetic people  who will create motive, momentum and carry the vision forward. what I mean by  this, you need some folks who have are like minded, who are excited about the  prospect of delivering or serving this community. And you need to make sure  that you have surrogates out in the community. You have surrogates on the staff, you have folks who are willing to champion your cause in your ministry. So it's  very important. It's very key. And then lastly, you need to make sure you have  the right CEO. If that's the case, it may be a ministry director or a second  director of your ministry group. It may be you, but if you go get one. If you get  someone from the outside, make sure that they have the same passion that you  have for this mission that God has given you. And so that's the very first phase  of board development is called Creation. So what you want to do again is make  sure that you written down, that you've got it on paper, that you documented  your vision, your mission, your purpose and the values that you cherish. Make  sure that you have incorporated your board nest so that you can get funding.  That's so that you can make sure that you're meeting all the requirements of  your local government. Number three is make sure you understand who your  community and the stakeholders are that you are serving. Make sure you have  relationships with them, because they will be key to the success of your ministry  Next, you need to make sure that you're doing an assessment of the community. You want to make sure that your goal, that your ministry, that your board, is 

aligned with the community. It doesn't make any sense to do something that the  community doesn't need, that there's not a need for that, and then you're kind of  missing the mark. So make sure that you do an assessment to make sure that  you're aligned with the community needs. Then you need to understand that you need to adopt a board structure that fits your organization. You need to have a  staff that fits your organization. It doesn't make sense that you have a small  ministry, and there's not a lot of folks. Your scope is not big. And so you have 15  trustees. You don't want to have 15 trustees. You might just need three or four or five. And so you need to make sure that you are aligned, that your structure  meets the needs of your organization. So make sure that you have a structure  that fits you. And then you need to make sure you have a group of folks who are of the same mind, who have a passion just like you do, and same goes for  external if you hire a CEO or Executive Director or ministry director, they need to have that passion. They need to make sure that they have the same mindset  that you have, that they want to make this organization, make this board, make  this ministry work, make it be successful, that you're on the same page. So  that's phase one of board development. Is called Creation. We'll move on to the  next one in our next mini series course, or I should say, the next phase, and that will be phase two. So stay with us, and we'll come back soon.