CMA - Advancing Ministry Effectiveness

We are grateful again to Myles McGregor-Lowndes, Murray Baird and Elizabeth Shalders for trawling through the recent legal cases that have implications for Christian organisations, and then summarising them for us to present at our webinar on Thursday (August 29th, 1pm) - hope you can join us!

If you are a church or ministry leader or board member in Canberra, we'd love to have you join us at our Canberra breakfast - hear from one of our Board Internship graduate interns, Andrew Pfeiffer, and also Steve Kerr (CMA Standards Council) and Gary Williams (CMA National Director). There's also a CMA Fundraising Network meetup afterwards for Christian fundraisers.

In the book "Keeping Faith - how Christian organisations can stay true to the way of Jesus" written by Stephen Judd, Kara Martin and John Swinton, the important topic of Mission Drift for Christian organisations is addressed. Stephen has given breakfast presentations on this topic for CMA in Sydney and Melbourne previously, and on this occasion, he has kindly agreed to repeat the session for our Perth audience. If you serve as a leader or board member in a Christian church or organisation in Perth, we invite you to come along, engage with Stephen on the topic, and pick up a copy of this important book.

On Friday the CMA - Advancing Ministry Board spent a "Compass Day" together as a time of strategic thinking and prayerful discernment ahead of further work on an updated Strategic Plan. We were priviliged to be hosted by one of the accredited partners of the CMA Standards Council, Hillcrest Christian College, and were given an inspiring introduction to the mission, ethos and facilities of the College by Dirk Van Bruggen - what a great place for students to spend their school years! We were also encouraged to see the display of posters of another of our accredited partners, PeaceWise, emphasising as part of the college environment a desire to preempt the harm of conflict by proactively building a culture of peace. And it was fantastic to be joined for the day by our two new The Board Internship interns, Emily Bowman and Liesel H., who within minutes of the start of their first meeting with us were making seriously insightful contributions to our thinking and discussions. It was a poignant experience thinking and praying strategy on the campus of an Accredited Partner joined by our Board Interns, we are so grateful for the Christian community we are privileged to serve alongside.

Coming up on August 7th, our next CMA Fundraising Network webinar will unpack what redemptive entrepreneurship (as outlined by Praxis at the CMA 2024 conference) means for fundraisers working in Christian non-profits and ministry. Join an interactive session with June Steward where we review the three ways of working – exploitative, ethical and redemptive – and brainstorm ways to apply the redemptive frame to: - The goals of fundraising - Fundraising as a spiritual calling - Donor relationships - Our attitudes to money and giving FREE for CMA Members, and for members of the CMA Fundraising Network

On Friday 85 Board Chairs, Senior Pastors and ministry CEOs were blessed to spend the morning with Peter Greer, visiting briefly from USA. Peter is the CEO of Hope International, and author of "Mission Drift", "The Board and the CEO", and "Succession", among over a dozen other titles. The morning session looked briefly at the importance of the board / CEO relationship, then dove into the Succession topic, leading to lots of discussion at the tables and questions / observations from those attending. Peter described how risky it can be to think of succession merely in terms of an "event" that cycles around from time-to-time, compared to the value of treating succession as part of the culture of an organisation. "We are all interim!" Everybody in the room is an Interim CEO, or an Interim Chair - holding the position for a short term or a long term but still only stewarding the organisation until the next interim CEO or Chair takes the baton. "It is irresponsible to focus on where we are going with no thoughts or plans about what will be left behind." Thanks to everyone who attended. Your presence helped make the day more valuable for others, and we were encouraged by the responses of many who have already told us they found the day helpful.

Twice in recent days, we have encountered situations where church staff have moved from a volunteer role to a paid role, but with the expectation that they would still perform some voluntary duties (alongside the other church volunteers) in addition to their paid role. Nothing is well documented, in either case, and it starts to look a little like wage theft when the total remuneration is apportioned across the hours 'worked'. Well-meaning churches and generous people seem to be on a collision course with this confusing mix of paid & volunteer duties! In 'CMA's Essential Standards for Church Workplaces', we outline 113 simple dot-point standards that we think should be true of all church workplaces. Standard 7.4, under the Principle of Reasonable Remuneration, states that "We differentiate clearly between volunteer roles and paid roles, and we do not blur the two as a means of circumventing fair remuneration or industrial obligations". What do you think? Is it fair to expect unpaid volunteer effort from staff members in addition to their paid role? And how does that sit when some people are paid for church work, while others may do similar duties as a volunteer? What do you think best practice looks like? (The 26-page print booklet is available from CMA in two versions - one for Churches, and one for other Christian organisations. $7 for CMA Members, $10 full price plus postage at cost - email info@cma.net.au to order).

We are grateful to have Dr Ruth Knight presenting an upcoming CMA webinar on Winning Grants. She led this session at the recent CMA Conference, and has kindly agreed to update and repeat the session so that those who weren't at the conference can get a few pointers.