Stewardship Ministries Transition

The Stewardship Ministries/Ministerial Services Director will no longer be an appointed position, nor a stand alone department effective September 1, 2012. However, stewardship will continue at all levels in the Church of God of Prophecy. The General Presbyters will fervently be modeling, promoting, and teaching stewardship. The Caribbean General Presbyter has already made stewardship one of the core values in his area.

The Center for Biblical Leadership team will be teaching stewardship to pastors and leaders in the forty nine scheduled Schools of Practical Arts and Science.

Much seed has been sown in stewardship over the last fifteen years. This seed fell on good ground and will produce a many-fold return.

The 403(b) Retirement Plan will continue as well. The American Funds are outpacing the market and are proven sound investments for long term perspectives such as retirement funds. Our Agent of Record is Kelly Miller. She is a properly credentialed financial consultant with years of experience in guiding people through good and bad financial times. Kelly can be reached at 800.477.2344 or 770.319.1700. Her email address is kmiller@resourcehorizons.com.

Kelly has always proven to be very helpful. She has participated in numerous General Assemblies by making her expertise available at the Stewardship Ministries Booth. I encourage you to make use of her skills and knowledge. There is no separate charge for her services.

The 403(b) Retirement Plan is a win, win situation—no Income or Social Security Tax on the minister’s contribution. Taxes on withdrawals taken after age 59 ½ can be offset as housing allowance. American Funds are out-performing the market. Retirement has its own challenges, but being prepared financially eases the transition. It is a scriptural principle to save during the fat years for the lean years.

Direct your 403(b) operational questions to Chief Accountant, Paulette Wilbanks at 423.559.5113. Paulette is knowledgeable on tax issues as well.

Stewardship questions should be directed to the Financial Director, Bishop Paul Holt.

This has been a fulfilling, blessed fifteen years for Milton and me. We are very grateful for the opportunity to have moved from the business world to ministry, where our work has eternal significance.

Jan Couch
Stewardship Ministries/Ministerial Services Director



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Transition of International Stewardship Ministries

Stewardship Ministries Transition

The Stewardship Ministries/Ministerial Services Director will no longer be an appointed position, nor a stand alone department effective September 1, 2012. However, stewardship will continue at all levels in the Church of God of Prophecy. The General Presbyters will fervently be modeling, promoting, and teaching stewardship. The Caribbean General Presbyter has already made stewardship one of the core values in his area.

The Center for Biblical Leadership team will be teaching stewardship to pastors and leaders in the forty nine scheduled Schools of Practical Arts and Science.

Much seed has been sown in stewardship over the last fifteen years. This seed fell on good ground and will produce a many-fold return.

The 403(b) Retirement Plan will continue as well. The American Funds are outpacing the market and are proven sound investments for long term perspectives such as retirement funds. Our Agent of Record is Kelly Miller. She is a properly credentialed financial consultant with years of experience in guiding people through good and bad financial times. Kelly can be reached at 800.477.2344 or 770.319.1700. Her email address is kmiller@resourcehorizons.com.

Kelly has always proven to be very helpful. She has participated in numerous General Assemblies by making her expertise available at the Stewardship Ministries Booth. I encourage you to make use of her skills and knowledge. There is no separate charge for her services.

The 403(b) Retirement Plan is a win, win situation—no Income or Social Security Tax on the minister’s contribution. Taxes on withdrawals taken after age 59 ½ can be offset as housing allowance. American Funds are out-performing the market. Retirement has its own challenges, but being prepared financially eases the transition. It is a scriptural principle to save during the fat years for the lean years.

Direct your 403(b) operational questions to Chief Accountant, Paulette Wilbanks at 423.559.5113. Paulette is knowledgeable on tax issues as well.

Stewardship questions should be directed to the Financial Director, Bishop Paul Holt.

This has been a fulfilling, blessed fifteen years for Milton and me. We are very grateful for the opportunity to have moved from the business world to ministry, where our work has eternal significance.

Jan Couch
Stewardship Ministries/Ministerial Services Director



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sorting and Organizing Data

Now that you have gathered data from your local church/state or regional records, it is important to sort and organize the data.  For those of you who are familiar with Microsoft Excel, this is very simple, as is Apple Numbers or any other spreadsheet program.  If you are not familiar with these, regular paper spreadsheets are available from your local office supply store.  If you are going to benchmark several areas, I would recommend you obtain a spreadsheet with enough columns to properly organize your data.

The process is the same, whether paper or electronic for this next step.  Here is an example for your benefit:

Year	Tithe	Offerings	Sunday School	Morning	Church	Baptisms	Conversions
			Attendance	Worship	Membership
				Attendance
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011

Begin by entering the information you collected in the appropriate place:

Example:  For the year 2000, enter the total tithe in the column with that heading, do the same for Offerings, etc.  (Don't worry about doing anything else until you have entered all of your data).

Finally, as you can see, this is ONLY a method of ORGANIZING your data.  Future posts will cover how to determine averages.  I hope this is helpful.  God bless

Gather Information

You might wonder why I posted an entry featuring one of our Senior Saints in my last blog entry.  The reason is quite simple; these people have left us a starting point.  In some cases, you may be in a new church plant but in most, you are in a church that has been established for some time.  The next step is critical as we begin to cast vision in our local church; understand your past.

WHAT IS OUR HISTORY

I will readily admit that there are some who do not see the importance of this step, but I personally believe it to be vital to success.  Too often, we have such a desire to look forward that we don't realize the need to look back.  I like to say, "it's okay to look back, but don't stare."  Ask a few questions that will help you determine and find the proper place to gather your data from.

1. Church minutes are an excellent source to turn to in this step.  When did the local church start?  Where was the first congregation meeting?  Were there any special circumstances surrounding the plant of the church.  Who were the charter members?
2. Long-time members of the local church are an invaluable asset.  Quite often, they will be able to tell you how and why the local church was established in your city.  Was it the result of a church split?  Unfortunately this has been the starting point of many local congregations, and in my personal opinion, is NOT the best way.  Too often the seed of discontent and discord are sown into the DNA of the local church.  Most of the time, the local church was started because someone had a burden for a particular city or town, or there was a genuine push to expand the church into unreached areas.  To this day, we still celebrate when the Church of God of Prophecy has reached a new nation of the world by highlighting it in our biennial International Assemblies.  Long-time church members should be interviewed, and it would be a great idea to make a video recording of their memories.  This is a great tool for celebrating later.
3. State/National records.  Make an appointment to meet with your state/national overseer to see if there is something in the records that might help you in your quest.

Be sure to keep good records from the present time forward.  As mentioned before, interview the members who have been affiliated with your church from the beginning (or as close as you can get to it) to understand the impetus for the church plant.  In the next post, we will discuss the SWOT process a little more, followed by information on the development and implementation of your MISSION and VISION statements.  

God bless!

Senior Saints at the Assembly

As I sit thinking over the past few weeks, it dawns on me that my time has gone by so quickly. It seems like we anxiously awaited the International Assembly in Louisville, then suddenly it was on us.

I was there a total of ten days, participating in International Presbyter meetings leading up to the assembly and then taking in every session once the assembly officially started.

While these assemblies are important for our overall planning and to conduct business, they also afford us the opportunity to see folks we haven't seen in years, some we see everyday, and what heaven may look like...all nations, tribes and tongues gather in worship.

These pictures are of Sister Lilley of the Crown of Life Church in the Memphis area. She has been a member of our church longer than I have been alive. As I spoke with Sister Lilley and her son Gary, I sensed there is so much for me to learn about the work of the Lord.

Today, I thank God for the Senior Saints who have made this such a special movement of God...while some may complain, criticize and make fun of the earlier generations, we must never forget we are here because of their efforts to raise funds, to pray and to carry the message to the next city. I do so appreciate those who have gone before us.


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Where do I start?

Almost 30-years-ago I was appointed to serve at my firsts pastoral assignment.  I had been mentored by a wonderful Senior Pastor, Bishop William L. Gaddis, who is still serving at that same local church.  It was a very small church that had gone through a church split and if looking at it with the natural eye, one might have little hope for it's success.  However, the Lord intervened and we witnessed His hand at work for the next four years.

When I arrived there, I really didn't know where to start, but soon learned that the prayer closet was the best place.  When we spend time in prayer, it doesn't change God, but it DOES change us.  As we begin the process of walking through the CORE VALUES of the Church of God of Prophecy, I encourage you to set aside a certain time each day to commune with the Lord.  Remember, the minister who does not talk with God cannot expect to walk with Him.

Next we will start through the process of completing a SWOT (pronounced the same as SWAT) analysis to gauge the health of your church.  I hope you will check back regularly as we walk through the process.

Vision 2020 Strategic Plan

Participate in Poll

With the rollout of my COGOP Vision 2020 blog, I invite you to participate in a poll on the direction of your local church. This poll is for everyone who would like to participate, however, I especially encourage pastors and local church leaders to participate.

May God bless you, please continue to check back


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SWOT Analysis

As we approach the strategic planning for the State of Tennessee, you will hear the SWOT analysis referred to often. This is a very simple concept that helps your local church analyze:

Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats

Check back as teaching series will be added by video streaming and with powerpoint presentation. We will make everything available for download and by computer disk.