Church of God Ministries reduces staff by 25%

General Ronald Duncan sent out a notice today that in order to cut expenses Church of God Ministries is reducing its workforce by approximately 25%. This is in response to the continued decline of giving to the basic World Ministries Budget.

Obviously these are tough financial times in our world, a fact that makes these cuts prudent. The decline in giving, however, began well before the current global crisis.

There will be many opportunities to sort through all of this, including analysis of why, and how we should respond for the future. For now, however, prayer for the families affected by these layoffs should be our priority.

I noticed that this information is not yet available on the Church of Ministries website, so I will include the text of his email for those of you who did not receive it.

Dear Fellow Servants of the Church,
 
It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that Church of God Ministries has found it necessary to release eight current employees in an effort to reduce our overall expenses to within our projected income. The elimination of their employment, combined with seven other full-time and four part-time positions that have been vacated over the last few months that we have chosen not to fill, represents a reduction in our workforce of approximately 25 percent. This is one of the numerous steps we are taking to ensure compliance with the Ministries Council’s Ends Policy that specifies Church of God Ministries submit a balanced budget with no deficit.

It was especially difficult to let these valued and high quality employees go who have dedicated their work to the service of the church.  Those losing their jobs included a team director, three ministry administrators, a graphic designer, an educational administrator, a church and donor relations consultant, and a part-time ministry assistant. To help them through this difficult time we are offering them a separation package. The terminations are effective November 28, 2008. Please pray for these individuals who have lost their jobs.

During the 2008 General Assembly, I proposed a baseline budget process to better align our budget with actual income. This resulted in a 10 percent reduction of the Basic portion of the 2008 World Ministries Budget. This baseline process guides our efforts towards the development of the 2009 and 2010 budgets. Regrettably, giving to the Basic Budget has continued to decline.
 
A detailed financial analysis this month of our income streams, expectations, and anticipated expenditures has led us to a difficult place. Our Leadership and Management Teams have worked diligently to cut expenses, find efficiencies, and increase revenue. In early December, I will share with you the 2009 and 2010 budgets and enumerate the additional reductions related to ministries (either reduced or deleted) we find necessary to realign our budget.
 
Our vision and mission remain the same-to transform culture by being the body of Christ. Please continue to pray for the church and our efforts here at Church of God Ministries as we coordinate the collective ministry of the Church of God at the national level. The Lord is good and greatly to be praised-even in these difficult times.
 
Grace and peace,
 
Ronald V. Duncan
General Director

 

New conversations

It has been interesting to see the prolific growth of blogging within the Church of God. On my blogroll are listed as many as I am aware of, but I'm sure there are many others as well. Blogging is certainly representative of a new, decentralized media that permits a wide range of voices to contribute to important (and even unimportant) discussions.

But, blogging is only one example of the new conversations that are occurring across our movement. The latest involves Internet social networking, best represented currently through Facebook. New webs of communication are facilitated here. An example of the power of social networking conversations can be seen in a brief post that one of my "friends" started last week on Facebook. The topic was entitled "Church of God (Anderson) If we're so right...?" Within 8 hours over 32 responses had been shared, created a relatively vigorous discussion.

With whom are you talking?

Coaches event

Over the past few days I was in Phoenix for the second-ever Coaches event, designed specifically for coaches involved in either SHAPE or CTI (Coaches Training Initiative). Church of God Ministries has invested heavily in this event (along with Lily Endowment funds), believing that these are probably some of the most significant transformation agents for congregations and pastors. Approximately 100 were in attendance this year.

What has made these events so significant are the high caliber of resource people brought in and the timely topics addressed. This year was no exception. For example, David Ferguson (a return guest from last year) led us through a insightful examination of relational leadership. Gary Kinnaman spoke in our evening gatherings, challenging us to adopt beliefs, attitudes and practices that will contribute to bringing about healthy, lasting leadership. Our last morning together featured a presentation on holiness led by Jeannette Flynn (more on this in a future post).

A common theme that permeated the three days concerned the priority on relationships in ministry, certainly a message that is relevant for this time and the Church of God.

Update

Over the past month this blog has been considerably quiet. There just hasn't been much time for blogging.

In addition to taking some vacation time with my wife, there has been much activity within the district I serve. Our annual meeting was held on October 4th, at which time there was overwhelming support for a new structural change and bylaws that will transform our organization and ministry. This will have considerable impact on my workload as we transition in this new direction. The next year will be particularly demanding, but nevertheless exciting.

Today I am traveling to Phoenix for the second Church of God Coaches Event. As I reported last year, this was a milestone event in our history and reflects part of the cultural change among our leadership. Later this week I will post my reflections on this year's version.