PRC - Practical Resources for Churches
Management and Organization
RECORDED WEBINARS
How to Create Transformative Ministries Through Theological Innovation Workshop
Leader - Meghan Hatcher
How to Create Ministries that Transform Workshop Handout
Well Done: A Good and Faithful Path to Church Closure
Leader - Charlie Kuchenbrod
Writing a Protection Policy that Works for Children, Youth, & Vulnerable Adults
Leader - Elizabeth Christie
Writing an Effective Child Protection Policy
Learning Change: Congregational Transformation Fueled by Personal Renewal
Leaders - Jim Herrington, Trisha Taylor
Creating Innovative Responses for Churches in The Turbulent 2020s
Leader - Tom Sine
Cultivating Change in Small Towns and Rural Communities
Leader - Jon Anderson
Cultivating Change in Small Town and Rural Ministry Final (1)
Cultivating the Craft of Asking
Leader - Bonnie Ives Marden
Cultivating the Craft of Asking Slides
Best Practices for Personnel Committees / HR Teams
Leaders - Patti Berner, Traci Smith
Best Practices for HR Teams - Slides
Becoming a Mental Health WISE Congregation
Leader - Rev. Dr. Sarah Griffith Lund
WISE Slides
Countering White Christian Nationalism in Churches
Leader - Rev. Jennifer Butler
How Community Organizing Practices Can Strengthen Congregational Life
Leader - Rev. Chris Dela Cruz
3 Steps to Engaging Conflict Productively
(This webinar is listed for for Judicatory Leaders, but would be helpful to anyone.)
Leader - Rebekah Simon-Peter
Moving the Church Forward with Lessons from Pandemics Past
Leader - Rebekah Simon-Peter
Forging-a-New-Path-Discussion-Guide
Church Lighting 101: Evaluate and Update Your Lighting to Reduce Cost
Leader - Steve Jones
Church Relamping 2022
New Life for Old Church Buildings
Leader - Rev. Dr. Rochelle A. Stackhouse, Partners for Sacred Spaces
Transitioning Older and Historic Sacred Places
How Broad Based Community Organizing Might Transform the Church
Leaders: Chris Dela Cruz, Shani McIlwain, Katrina Pekich-Bundy
How to Recognize and Deal with Church Bullies
Leader - Rev. Dr. David Woolverton
Navigating the Maze of the Unique Compensation and Tax Aspects of Ministers
Leader - Elaine Sommerville
Best Practices for Church Accounting
Leader - Elaine Sommerville
2022 Best Accounting Practices
Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change
Leader - Tom Sine
Thriving in Accelerating Change
TomSinePRCWebinarHandout
Strategic Ambiguity: 5 things every church can do in times of uncertainty to move towards health
Leader - Mark Meyer | The Unstuck Group
UCC Search and Call Q and A
Leaders - Elizabeth Garrigan-Byerly, Isaac Lawson, Jeff Nelson
search and call powerpoint 2022 for PRC
Energize Your Church Through Listening
Leader - Joy Skjegstad, Heidi Unruh
Energize your church through listening
Eight Game Changers for the Post Pandemic Church
Leader - Kay Kotan
Does your church need a sabbatical?
Leader: Larry Doornbos
Best Practices for Pastoral Search Committees
Leader - Laura Stephens-Reed
Best Practices for Pastoral Search Committee Slides
Celebrating Smallness: Unleashing New Life through Collaborative Models of Mutuality
Leader: Lydia Kelsey Bucklin
What is mutual ministry
Mutual Ministry Annotated Bibliography
Narrative Budgets: You can do this!
Leader: Cesie Delve Scheuerman
Getting and Keeping Talented, Engaged Volunteers
Leader: Judy Urban
Volunteer presentation
Gift Bank Inventory Form 2021
Small Church, Big Impact
Leader: Blake Bradford
Small Church Big Impact 2021
Welcoming Guests to Your Church
Leader: Kim Pope-Seiberling
Welcoming Guests Slides
Church Signage: Make You Maze Easy to Navigate
Leader: Kim Pope-Seiberling
Signs Presentation
Faithfully Steering a Closing Church
Leader: Gail Cafferata
Unfreeze, Change, Refreeze: Wisdom from Lewin's Model of Change
Leader: Susan Townsley
Hope Beyond Pandemic
Leader: Bruce Epperly
Hope Beyond Pandemic Notes
New Questions for A New Day
Leader – Michelle Snyder, MDiv LCSW
New Questions for a New Day
When the Center Does Not Hold: Conflict in the Age of Polarization
Leader: David Brubaker
Powerful Ministry Policies That Build Trust and Generosity
Leader: Bonnie Ives Marden
Creating a Safer & More Secure Church (An Ounce of Prevention)
Leader: Dwight Lee Wolter
An Ounce of Prevention Notes for Registrants
Renting Church Property: Opportunities, Pitfalls and Tax Consequences
Leader: Renato Matos
Focus Group How-To: A Way to Listen Purposefully
Leader: Jim Merhaut
Church Meeting Magic
Leader: Jim Merhaut
How Teams Can Motivate Members and Get Things Done!
Leader: John Wimberly
Handling Your Church Records
Leader: Leslie Reyman
Welcoming Those with Disabilities: Becoming a Barrier-Free Congregation
Leader: Sharon McCart
ANTI-RACISM POLICIES
Anti-racism Policy
This policy of the Reformed Church in America could be adapted for local church use.
ELCA Anti-Racism Pledge
The actions listed in this pledge could be used as a the basis for a local church anti-racism policy.
Renewal Anti-racism Policy
This policy comes from a UK church.
BACKGROUND CHECKS
First Advantage
They offer volunteer and employment background screening for nonprofit organizations.
Intellicorp
Pre-employment and volunteer background screening packages are offered by Intellicorp.
Lifeway OneSource
The publisher of the Southern Baptist denomination has a program which provides discounted prices on background checks for churches and religious organizations.
National Sex Offender Website
This site lets you search sex offender registries for all 50 states, The District of Columbia, U.S. Territories, and Indian Country. You can search by name or location.
Oxford Document Management Company
They offer a full array of background investigation services—from formal written reference checking programs to criminal history, motor vehicle and credit bureau records.
Praesidium
They do backround checking, searching more than 415 million public records from national and international sources. They also offer other prevention tools.
Safe Hiring Solutions
They offer comprehensive background checks for employment and volunteers.
Shepherd’s Watch
Group Publishing offers background checks through Shepherd's Watch.
New York State Criminal Records and Sex Offenders Registry Information
Office of Court Administration
Criminal Search Intake Unit
25 Beaver Street
New York, New York 10004
(212) 428-2810
www.courts.state.ny.us
Criminal background records are obtained through name and date of
birth checks.
The Sex Offender Registry hotline is (900)288-3838.
BOUNDARY TRAINING
If you are part of a denomination, contact your judicatory; they may have boundary training requirements either in-person or online or may have required training conducted by an outside organization.
Best Practices
This page of the Episcopal Church website has videos addressing various aspects of training and continuing education for awareness of “red flags.” That training must include financial reporting practices, boundaries, safe church concepts, and learning how to take care of one’s mental and physical health, among other important topics.
Healthy Boundaries for Clergy, Spiritual Teachers, and Lay Leaders
VAWnet offers a free curriculum for issues that impact those in the role of leadership in faith communities. Founded on a theological and ethical discussion of power and vulnerability, it focuses on the particular roles that pastoral caregivers fulfill within a spiritual community. The downloadable resources include workbooks in English and Spanish, a teacher guide, and a module to assist you in talking to your congregation about healthy boundaries. There is also a link on the page to A Sacred Trust video series: Healthy Boundaries for Clergy.
Keeping Our Sacred Trust
The Lewis Center for Church Leadership has ecumenical online training on ethical boundaries in ministry with .5 CEU and a certificate of successful completion awarded.
Safe Connections
The ELCA has a downloadable document entitled “What Parishioners Can Do to Understand and Prevent Clergy Sexual Abuse.”
The Way of Integrity
This curriculum from the UMC was developed to encourage living in right relationship with self and others within the faith communities of local UM ministries. There are downloadable leader and participant guides, as well as a #MeToo toolkit.
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CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION
Denominational Resources
Catholic Church
VIRTUS is a program created by the National Catholic Risk Retention Group in the United States with a "Protecting God's Children" component that combats sexual abuse of children in the Church.
Episcopal Church
The Safe Church page of the Episcopal Church's website offers resources and sample policies for the protection of children, youth, and vulnerable adults.
Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
This page of the ELCA website offers information on reporting child abuse and sexual misconduct. There is a list of resources for dealing with child abuse as well as clergy sexual misconduct.
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
This website offers a downloadable copy of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Sexual Misconduct Policy and Its Procedures. PCUSA also has a sample Child/Youth/Vunerable Adult Protection Policy.as well as other resources.
Unitarian Universalists
The UU's Safety for Religious Education and Children page offers recommended practices for children's safety and other resources.
United Church of Christ
The Safety and Protection of Children in Church page is a guide to help churches design policies and procedures to help prevent abuse of children.
United Methodist Church
The New York Annual Conference of the UMC has Safe Sanctuaries guidelines, sample policies and documents, background check information, and resources which include a video series.
Nondenominational Resources
Church Law and Tax
They offer several products for purchase including the Reducing the Risk DVD Training Program.
Church Mutual Insurance
They have resources for child abuse prevention and partner with MinistrySafe® to provide a training program for those who have policies through Church Mutual. However, they also have a condensed version of their child abuse prevention workshop, so it can be viewed online at no cost.
Guide One Insurance
They offer resources related to child abuse prevention. Their SafeChurch resources are available at no cost for those who have Guide One policies.
MinistrySafe
Along with background checks and other services, they offer live and online training for child sexual abuse prevention.
Praesidium
They offer screening and training to prevent child sexual abuse.
CHURCH CONFLICT
Alban at Duke Divinity School
Blog posts about conflict are available here.
Style Matters
Style Matters is an "easy-to-use, all-purpose learning tool about conflict resolution. It is research validated and the subject of several current studies"
CHURCH MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Breeze
Breeze is a top-rated church management system. You can see a free demo of the program on their website.
Church Metrics
This is a free church management software. It counts worship attendance, small groups, and so much more. Run reports to see trends at your local church.
Flocknote
This email and text message "phone" tree service is for churches under 40 people it is free.
CHURCH MARKETING
Church Marketing on a Limited Budget
This article on the ResourceUMC website has low-cost things you can do to effectively market your church.
The Top 20 Church Marketing Strategies for 2024
Vanco offers information on free or inexpensive church marketing strategies.
CHURCH MEETINGS
Writing Minutes Like a Pro
This one page document comes from the ELCA website.
CHURCH SAFETY
Brotherhood Mutual
The Safety Library of the Brotherhood Mutual website offers free risk management articles, forms, videos, and publications.
Church Mutual Insurance
This website offers resources in many areas of church safety.
FEMA
This Government Agency offers information and grants to Improve the safety and security of your place of worship.
Insurance Board
The Insurance Board of the UCC offers videos and other resources about preparing for and responding to an active shooter situation, as well as other resources regarding the safety of property and people in your church.
What's Going Wrong in Your Church Building While You're Gone
This article discusses things to maintain when your church building is not being occupied such as heating and plumbing systems, roofs, etc.
CHURCH SIGNS
Sayings For Church Signs
This website has free church sign messages in a number of categories which were submitted by people from all over the world.
Church Sign Sayings
This Pinterest board has almost 200 pins of church signs with inspirational and humorous messages.
CLERGY SABBATICALS
The Center for Congregational Resources Pastoral Resources
They provide for the renewal of clergy, both full-time, and bi-vocational, through a variety of educational, networking, consultations and grant offerings.
Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Programs
Lilly’s programs provide opportunities for pastors to engage in a period of renewal and reflection. Here are to links with tips for applying for a Lilly grant: What Makes a High Quality Proposal and Tips for Proposal Writing.
Louisville Institute Grant Programs
The Louisville Institute Pastoral Study Project Grant (PSP) awards grants of up to $20,000 to support individual or collaborative study projects.
Grace Place Wellness: Ministry Sabbaticals
This site offers resources for both clergy and congregations on how to prepare for a clergy sabbatical.
The Pastor’s Sabbatical
This PDF document comes from the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ and discusses the benefits of sabbaticals for clergy and congregations, as well as financial and other preparations to consider.
The Pastor’s Sabbatical and Tax Implications
This article comes from the Church Law and Tax website.
Sabbatical and Renewal Resources
This is a list of grants and programs for clergy renewal from the Massachusetts Council of Churches.
Sabbatical Leave Booklet
The United Church of Christ offers this downloadable booklet which includes these topics: Theological Grounding and Relational Value, Policies and Best Practices, and Case Studies and Resources.
Sabbatical Resources for Tired Pastors
This article on the Patheos website has links to articles and resources related to clergy sabbaticals.
Sabbaticals Are a Must for Healthy Pastors and Healthy Congregations
This article from the Presbyterian Mission Agency discusses how sabbaticals are an affordable must for the health and vibrancy of ministry.
What Kinds of Activities Can the Congregation Do?
This excerpt from Robert C. Saler’s book, Planning Sabbaticals: A Guide for Congregations and Their Pastors, offers advice for congregations during a clergy sabbatical.
LEADERSHIP TRAINING
Theocademy
This website has faith formation materials for Presbyterians including high quality video series and study guides. There is curriculum for New Members classes, and training programs for Ruling Elders and Deacons, and Confirmation.
The Episcopal Christian Educator’s Handbook
This book is for anyone who teaches children, youth, or adults in a congregational setting. It includes handy forms, teaching tidbits, plus important information on "all things Episcopal", sprinkled with humor and advice on how to handle many of the situations that occur in a teaching setting.
MUTUAL MINISTRY COMMITTEE (ELCA)
Mutual Ministry Handbook: Guidance from Healthy Congregations
This handbook is from the South Dakota Synod of the ELCA.
Why Are We so Confused About Mutual Ministry?
This post is from the Lutheran Confessions blog.
SEXUAL & OTHER HARASSMENT PREVENTION
PRC offers Sexual Harassment Prevention webinars which meet the NY State requirement for annual training. Visit the Webinars page of our website for more information and to register for a webinar.
Anti-Harassment Policy
This sample policy is from Church Mutual Insurance.
NYS: Combating Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
This document has links to sites with information about the NY State Sexual Harassment Prevention Training.
Policy Review
This is a list of considerations for creating a Sexual Harassment Prevention Policy.
PRC Webinar Slides for Sexual Harassment Prevention Training for Employees
The slides are from the training offered by PRC.
Sample Local Church Abuse Prevention Policy
The Office of General Counsel of the United Church of Christ has prepared a sample abuse prevention policy.