“They did this regularly…” (2 Chronicles 24:11)

    Joash and Jehoiada established a set process to be followed.  A collection chest was placed in a prominent place.  As they entered the temple the people deposited their gifts in the chest.  When significant funds had been placed in the chest the Levites transported the money to a counting room where the royal secretary and the high priest supervised its counting and recording.  After the amount had been determined the money was placed in bags and eventually paid to the craftsmen repairing the temple.  The Chronicles passage contains a capstone phrase; “they did this regularly.” 

    This phrase reminded me of a cardinal rule of efficient organizations.  Key: Efficient organizations become efficient by establishing well defined processes.  Joash and Jehoiada operated according to a plan.  The plan was orderly, it had a fixed routine, it didn’t vary and it was repeatable.  All of this was done with two objectives. 

•  First, they desired to conduct the business of the temple with a high degree of integrity. 
•  Second, they had a desire to accomplish the mission at hand, restoring the temple.

     Unfortunately, too many churches follow a “shoot from the hip” process.  Some even take pride in it.  In the name of “flexibility” some churches disdain established polices and processes as too confining.  Those that choose this route do so at their own peril.  There is a fact of the business side of churches that everyone should be aware of.  Every church has processes even the ones who take pride in their flexibility.  Key: The challenge is this: will the church be in charge of the processes, or will the processes dictate to the church?

    If a church has no written policies, those participating in the church’s financial activities will establish them.  The processes will be made up along the way and will change each time the church experiences turnover in administrative staff, from the pastor down to the secretaries.  The church’s processes, policies and procedures will be in a constant state of flux.  At least until the train wreck.  That is when too many churches finally say, “You know, we need to establish a routine around here!”

    To avoid the train wrecks time needs to be taken to establish processes.  This doesn’t have to be complicated and the policies and processes do not have to be exhaustive, resembling a military or government code of regulations.  Key: The church processes should be defined in writing and should be simple and straightforward, understandable, repeatable, and yes, flexible.  Some of the areas that should be covered are:

•  Cash receipts and disbursements
• Personnel; hiring, terminations and benefits
• Facilities usage
• Member contributions.

Verne Hargrave is the Church and Ministry partner at PSK LLP and author of the book, Weeds in the Garden.