The duties assigned to church administrators are often complex and daunting, regardless of church size or the administrator’s experience and training. The challenges can intensify when the administrator also serves in other capacities, such as senior pastor.
Brian Davis, Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) executive leader for administration and convention relations, said the complexities of modern church administration duties often require administrators to seek additional training beyond the basics.
“Church administrators are telling us that there are a lot of resources out there for introductory church administration matters,” Davis said. “However, they want something more advanced, something to help them in dealing with the key areas of strategic planning, communication and managing volunteers.”
To assist North Carolina Baptists in this important area, the BSCNC congregational services group, in cooperation with the Convention’s Christian Higher Education Committee and Campbell University, will sponsor an advanced church administration training conference May 2 at Campbell.
The conference will include plenary and small group sessions focused on training church administrators to become more effective leaders by equipping them to understand their own strengths, and how to invest in and utilize the strengths of others.
Faculty from Campbell University’s Lundy-Fetterman School of Business will lead the plenary sessions.
Lynn Sasser, BSCNC executive leader for congregational services, said the conference will give North Carolina Baptists an opportunity to learn important insights from leading experts in the field of leadership development.
“We are excited to have Campbell University faculty partner with us. Their expertise in the area of leadership and administration will be a tremendous value to all who attend,” Sasser said.
Cost to attend is $40 per person, which includes meals and materials. Once registered, participants will receive a copy of Strengths Based Leadership and instruction for how to complete the Strengths Finder assessment that participants are asked to complete prior to the conference.
The event is designed to be an advanced level training that will benefit church administrators from all backgrounds.
“These are tools that everyone in ministry can use, whether they are paid or volunteer, clergy or laity, the pastor of a single staff church or the paid administrator of a large church,” Davis said. “Anyone who is tasked with church administration responsibilities will learn how to improve their performance at this conference.”
The schedule includes a morning and afternoon session, with the morning session featuring a “Utilizing Strengths in Leadership” plenary session, followed by small group sessions.
The afternoon will include the “Using Strengths to Enhance Leadership Strategies in the Church” plenary session, followed by another small group session when participants will work through various leadership and administration challenges. The conference also includes a time for participants to share best practices and summarize solutions discovered throughout the conference.
Registration deadline is April 15. For more conference information, contact Cynthia King at (800) 395-5102, ext. 5501, or [email protected].