Governance

Governance and Ministry: Rethinking Board Leadership, is an excellent book to use as a reference for church governance. Hotchkiss identifies three criteria for measuring the effectiveness of governance in churches. They are ‘A unified structure for making governance decisions, a unified structure for making operational decisions, and an open, creative, and accountable atmosphere for ministry.’
Governance is about administration, procedures, policies, and decision making. It incorporates your constitution and bylaws at a minimum. These give clarity and order to the role of the pastor, board committees, and the members—all doing ministry together. This is often a topic that is seldom studied or discussed by church boards. Having a good working knowledge of church governance is important for a church to function well.
~Dan Hotchkiss, Governance and Ministry: Rethinking Board Leadership, 2nd ed. (Lamhan, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009, 264 pages).