Recently in Church Business Category

When you see sin or damaging behavior in someone else's life, how do you know when to keep quiet and when to speak with them?

Christianity Today, our sister publication, recently asked several financial advisers, researchers, and other observers to weigh in on whether churches should increase their operating budgets next year. Here are their responses:

None of us intend to cause or allow a child to get hurt emotionally. Ideally, when a child comes to our classroom, we want them to feel safe to make friends with other children and trust the leaders. Above all, we want to create a safe haven where children can come to explore the mysteries of God, and discover his goodness.

Your congregation should feel secure in your house of worship. Learn what you can do to protect your church members in the event of a violent attack. Plus, tips on how to recover in the aftermath of every faith community's worst nightmare.

The buzz surrounding electronic giving options continues to grow as online donation capabilities improve and text-messaging campaigns take hold. The American Red Cross, for instance, says it raised $35 million within 48 hours of the January earthquake in Haiti, with half arriving via its website and $5 million through texts.

Computers allow churches to collect and store vast amounts of personal information. Unsecured, this data is vulnerable to computer criminals--putting your ministry and church members at risk.

I recently spoke to a church staff member who had been working with youth full-time for 12 years. Yet in his dozen years of service, he had only attended one Youth Specialties conference--that was all the training he ever received. I couldn't help but think how much he and the thousands of youth he worked with over the years could have benefited from additional training at conferences.