27Oct 2010 by Nigel Ring

Planning and Implementation – Pt 4 – Strategic Decisions and sharing Vision

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Biblical Administration, Equipping, Good Practice, Planning
Strategic Decisions When beginning to plan there may be some key ‘in principle' decisions to make, decisions that will be strategic, and will affect how a plan is implemented and what the final outcome will look like. What do I mean by ‘strategic'? For me strategic decisions are those that have added value or affect the quality of the outcomes. For instance, when Nehemiah first heard of the news about the walls of Jerusalem being broken down his first action was not to contact an architect or to phone the suppliers of building materials. Rather, he saw that there was a fundamental problem that had brought about the situation - the rebellion of Israel (Neh 1:7). Until that was dealt with any plan he would be implementing would be on an insecure…
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19Oct 2010 by Nigel Ring

Planning and Implementation – pt 3 – Goal setting

Administrative Skills, Biblical Administration, Equipping, Good Practice, Planning
Where do we start? The starting point of any planning exercise must be the finishing point! Where are you aiming to go and how are you going to get there? Planning is about taking a journey with many stages. It is no good just leaving your starting point ‘on a whim' and hoping you will go somewhere useful. It is vital that you have clear goals in mind. It is also important to know where these have not yet been fully defined in order to allow flexibility in planning and be able to make adjustments as the journey progresses. Look forward to look back When teaching on planning I sometimes ask people to imagine that they are meeting the day after an event has taken place. I then get them to suggest the…
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19Apr 2010 by Nigel Ring

Effective Meetings pt 1 – Overview

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Biblical Administration, Christian ministry, Equipping, Meetings
The future of Time Management I still have one more Time Management posting to make about PDAs but am not yet ready to do so. In the meantime I want to begin a new series on meetings. I hope you will find it helpful. Meetings in abundance Do you ever feel that the Lord got it wrong?! When he says he came to give life in abundance do you sometimes feel that he must have meant meetings in abundance? We all seem to attend so many! I am sure that many in leadership feel that their lives consist of attending meetings. I don’t mean worship meetings, but planning and strategy meetings, finance and administrative meetings etc. It is obviously vital that such meetings take place in order for your church…
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29Dec 2009 by Nigel Ring

Administration in the Church and Ministry with the Poor: Index ~ June – December 2009

Administration in the Church, Biblical Administration, Christian ministry, Equipping, General, Good Practice, HIV, India, Kenya, Ministry Report, Poor, Zimbabwe
I have been writing this blog for about 6 months and am aware of a growing following, so some may have missed the early material. To help you find that material it seems appropriate at the turn of the year to Index these 6 months. Clicking on the Topic will take you to the first in the series. There have been 3 main series on Biblical Administration and The Poor. There are also some Ministry Reports and National Reports, and two on Conference Administration which punctuate these Series. Series June 17th – Aug 29th Lessons from Jesus the Administrator in Mark 6. Jesus - The Administrator! Sept 3rd – Oct 22nd Some ‘good practice’ Indicators when ministering with the Poor. The Poor deserve the Best - part 1 Oct 26th -…
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15Dec 2009 by Nigel Ring

Biblical Administration part 12 – Qualifications of an Administrator – Dignified and ‘open’

Administration in the Church, Biblical Administration, Christian ministry, Equipping, Leadership
1 Tim 3:8-13 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. (9) They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. (10) And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. (11) Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. (12) Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. (13) For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. In recent postings we have been looking at the qualifications for overseers that Paul includes in 1 Tim 3:1-7.…
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11Dec 2009 by Nigel Ring

Biblical Administration part 11 – Qualifications of an Administrator – Life at home

Administration in the Church, Biblical Administration, Christian ministry, Equipping, Leadership
1Tim 3:4-7  He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, (5) for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? (6) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. (7) Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. Having seen some of the disqualifying characteristics in 1 Tim 3:3 we will return to the positive actions and attributes, and warnings. ‘…manage his own household well…’ The standard set in verse 4 is high. There is an unassailable logic to Paul’s argument – home is…
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