Getting It Done: Practical Tools for Managing Ministry

Surprised by the management skills needed for ministry? Gain the ones you need—no degree required!

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Church and ministry leadership is more than a role; it's a calling. Yet, as vital and meaningful as the work may be, the daily task list can sometimes feel challenging or overwhelming. You’re wearing multiple hats, managing the minutia, and deliberating over how to stay ahead of an ever-changing ministry landscape: no wonder it's so easy to feel stuck. Whether it's time management, team empowerment, governance issues, or financial planning, ministry demands a multifaceted skill set. —and we’re here to equip you with the tools you need.

Our on-demand course, "Getting it Done: Practical Tools for Managing Ministry," is your roadmap for tackling this holy work and its everyday challenges head-on! From setting boundaries and preventing personal burnout to leading teams, mastering governance, and aligning finances with your mission, this course provides practical solutions to transform your ministry role.

What You'll Learn

  • Confidently Manage Your Time and Energy: Learn to set boundaries, manage your time effectively, and avoid burnout.
  • Empower Your Ministry Teams: Discover strategies for leading and empowering volunteers and teams, fostering a more engaged and motivated church community.
  • Connect Money and Mission: Hone your financial skills to effectively read budgets, create narrative budgets, and ensure that every dollar supports your ministry's mission.
  • Execute Events and Projects Like a Pro: Learn the principles of successful project and event management, turning every event into an opportunity for ministry.
  • Maximize Digital Communication: Harness the full potential of digital tools to build a vibrant online community that reflects your ministry's values and priorities.

About this Course

  • Modules

8

  • Learning Elements

66

  • Videos

19

  • Practices & Activities

17

  • Time

6 hours, 30 minutes

  • Price

$55

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Here's What's Inside...

Get oriented to the course, meet your instructor, download the interactive handbook, and more.

In this module, you will:

  • Learn the importance of managing time and setting boundaries
  • Explore systems and options for time management
  • Reflect on your time usage and expectations
  • Employ the spiritual practice of setting and keeping boundaries

In this module, you will:

  • Learn the importance of empowering ministry volunteers and team members
  • Understand how to empower ministry volunteer volunteers and team members using the four pillars and/or coaching strategies
  • Practice decision making in leadership settings
  • Discover resources for working with ministry team members

In this module, you will:

  • Learn the importance of strategic planning
  • Apply principles of contextual, historical, and futures thinking to strategic planning
  • Explore approaches to strategic planning
  • Analyze a sample strategic plan

In this module, you will:

  • Explore structures of governance
  • Learn principles of efficient meeting management
  • Consider unconscious assumptions that may hamper ministry
  • Practice strategies for having difficult conversations

In this module, you will:

  • Understand why connecting money and mission matters
  • Learn how to read your congregation’s budget from a financial and missional perspective
  • Discover how to create a narrative budget

In this module, you will:

  • Learn the basic principles of project and event management
  • Discover tools for managing ministry projects
  • Begin to see the execution of events as ministry
  • Create a draft project or event plan

In this module, you will:

  • Learn to maximize digital communication tools
  • Understand principles of effective digital communication
  • Appreciate digital tools as a means for building community
  • Create a communication plan for your ministry that reflects its values and priorities

Find out your next steps as you complete the course and how to stay connected with your group. You'll also be able to submit feedback about your course.

You'll Learn How to Shift Ministry Models
Person working on a computer with checkboxes being checked as items are being completed.

In today’s world, ministry leadership requires quite a bit more than a weekly sermon from the pulpit. Pastors, preachers, and lay leaders alike need a comprehensive administrative skill set just to get through the day! But let’s commit to doing more than simply getting through the day. Let’s thrive together, effectively applying the management tools we need so we can keep our eyes fixed on our God-given purpose and mission.

What to Expect

  • Self-Paced Online Learning: Our engaging videos can be accessed at your convenience, allowing you to learn at your own pace.
  • Expert Guidance: Each resource-packed module, whether it’s focused on event management, budgeting, or digital communication, is facilitated by an expert in that particular field.
  • Skills and Resources: This course is practical, hands-on, and actionable. With each module you complete, you'll have the opportunity to immediately apply what you've learned in your own ministry setting.
  • Supportive Community: Connect with a community of like-minded church and ministry leaders who share your journey.

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Enroll in this one on-demand course today or unlock free access to this and all on-demand courses plus more with Faith+Lead Membership →

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Access to monthly group coaching

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Looking for just in-time training resources?

Use this on-demand course as a complementary ready-made resource for small groups, Bible studies, discipleship growth, and equipping lay leaders in your specific ministry setting.

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Meet Your Instructors

  • Joy McDonald Coltvet

    Pastor Joy is the lead pastor at Christ on Capitol Hill. She was ordained in 2001 and has served in several congregations, a campus ministry and a seminary of the ELCA. She was called to this congregation in 2014 and delights to serve in this diverse community where we encounter Christ, the tree of life. She is a graduate of Luther College (BA), the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (M.Div.), and the Catholic Theological Union (D.Min.). When she’s not at church, she enjoys conversation with her children who are in college, high school and elementary school, sharing time with her life partner Ben, or enjoying music and the arts.

  • Susan Brooks

    Susan Leigh Brooks is a lifelong literacy educator with a passion for learning and teaching. After more than three decades of teaching reading and writing to learners from preschool age to graduate students, she currently serves as the Associate Director of Faith+Lead Academy. She creates online courses to encourage and equip people in their faith. Along with reading, of course, Dr. Brooks loves to garden and hike. She also loves to travel, having been to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area over 50 times. She and her husband have two adult children, two amazing children-in-law, and a new grandson, all of whom receive books for Christmas.

  • Terri Elton

    Terri is a teacher who loves Jesus and God’s world. She currently is a Professor of Leadership and Dean of Academic Affairs at Luther Seminary, but has also served in congregations and non-profit settings. In her free time, Terri loves to bike and explore nature. She, along with her husband Eric, believes the world is interesting and together they travel to different cultures and places as often as they can.

  • Melissa Cooper

    Rev. Melissa Cooper is an ordained Deacon in the United Methodist Church. Prior to serving at St. Luke’s, Melissa served as Program Coordinator for the Life Enrichment Center and Warren Willis Camp. Before receiving her MTS in 2009, Melissa earned a B.A. in English from Middle Tennessee State University. She is originally from Tennessee, but began her full-time ministry in the North Carolina Annual Conference at Camp Don Lee, where she served as the Faith Formation and Retreat Ministries Coordinator. From 2011 to 2017, Melissa built a ground-up program ministry at the Life Enrichment Center, at which she was the first program staff member.

  • Grace Duddy Pomroy

    Grace Duddy Pomroy is the Director of the Stewardship Leaders Program at Luther Seminary. She’s a lay, millennial stewardship leader, speaker, and financial educator based in Allyn, WA. She is the co-author of the stewardship book, Embracing Stewardship: How to Put Stewardship at the Heart of Your Congregation’s Life, as well as author of the 2013 ELCA stewardship resource, “Stewards of God’s Love.” She is currently working on a book about alternative financial models for ministry with Fortress Press, an imprint of 1517 Media. Grace blogs on her website where she helps people connect their money and their values to create a more fulfilling life.

Connect as you learn

Connect inside the Faith+Lead Learning Lab

Learning happens best when you do it together with folks who are on the same journey as you are.

That's why our private social network, the Faith+Lead Learning Lab, hosts conversations about course content with other learners, instructors, TAs, and community leaders.

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Study together with a small group or congregation

Want to bring Getting It Done: Practical Tools for Managing Ministry to your Bible study, small group, or even your entire congregation?

Choose "Enroll a Group" at checkout and select how many people you'd like to provide access to the course. You can go through the course together in-person, watch lessons together via Zoom, or even create a private group in the Learning Lab where participants can connect asynchronously.

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