APPENDIX

Once you have established the church and begun holding services, you need to complete the administrative foundation of the new church.

The Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is legally responsible for the operation of the corporation. The board is made up of the president (usually the pastor), vice president, secretary, treasurer and directors. The minimum number of board members is three. The board serves as the governing body and empowers the pastoral staff to handle the daily operation of the church. The board is required to meet annually, but should meet more often as the need arises. The approval of the board is necessary to establish a budget, approve major purchases, approve salaries and benefits for the staff, hire and terminate pastors/ministers, ordain ministers, enter into contracts or leases, buy or sell property and authorize expenditures over a preset limit. The duties of the Board of Directors is stated in the Bylaws.

When the church is first formed (see the section "Establishing the Corporation") the three incorporators usually become the first board members. Do not be hasty to add additional board members. 1 Timothy 5:22 says, "Do not lay hands on anyone hastily". In searching for additional board members use 1st Timothy 3 and Titus 1 as your screening tools. When you find good candidates, invite them to attend your board meetings as guests and invite participation. After a couple of such sessions you will know if they are right for the position. Among your additions to the board should be a balance of spiritual leaders and business leaders so that the board will maintain a steady course. You can look to pastors from your home church, pastors from nearby Calvary Chapels and/or proven leaders who have come with you in forming the church. Over time your board will migrate to men from within your fellowship.

We must not forget the purpose of the board, which is accountability and creditability. The board is accountable to God and the congregation. In turn the pastor is accountable to the board. The board also maintains credibility before the congregation and before the world.

Board meetings are called at the convenience of the board members. An agenda is set and supported by reports and proposals. This package of information should be distributed to board members in advance so that they can have time to study and pray about each item. A sample agenda follows:

Financial Reports should include a balance sheet and income statement for the fiscal year to date. This should be augmented with quarterly comparative income statements and a budget report comparing the approved budget to the current spending. Depending on the specific needs, additional reports may be added.

Ministry Reports should bring the board up to date on activities in each of the ministries of the church. Special attention should be given those ministries that have pending items for either new or old business.

Building Reports are necessary when a situation exists with the property that may result in board action.

Old Business consists of those items carried over from past meetings that require a vote of the board. Any action taken as a result of a vote at a previous board meeting would be reported under ministry reports, the building report or whatever report is appropriate.

New Business is for those items that have not been raised before and require a vote by the board. On many occasions a New Business item will be tabled for further study and prayer. At the next meeting it will be brought up as an Old Business item.

The meeting is generally conducted by the person who assembles the Board Meeting Package. When the Administrator conducts the meeting, the President of the Board (Pastor) still presides over the meeting.

Register with Calvary Chapel Outreach Fellowship
This is a lengthy, but important process. First you must call or write to Calvary Chapel Outreach Fellowship (CCOF) and request the Application for Affiliation. Once you have completed the required material you will be considered for affiliation. WARNING You cannot use Calvary Chapel in your church name until your church has been added to the affiliation list.

Calvary Chapel Outreach Fellowship
3800 South Fairview Road
Santa Ana, CA 92704
Phone 714-979-4422
Fax 714-979-8916

Procedures for Handling Tithes and Offerings

One of the most sensitive areas of the church is the handling of tithes and offerings. First, there must be strict financial accountability without even the slightest perception of mishandling. Second, there must be confidentiality concerning who gives how much. This is an area of the church operation that is a magnet for criticism, where both insiders and outsiders are quick to question.

The Count Sheet should list the entire deposit. This may include tithes and offerings as well as other income or be used for a ministry event such as the Ladies Luncheon. Other Income may be reimbursements for the Men's Conference, the Ladies Luncheon or any income other than tithes and offerings. All Other Income will be broken out in the box "Income from other Ministries included in the Deposit". This will enable the bookkeeper to assign these monies to the proper account, thus keeping the amount of your tithes and offerings accurate for tracking purposes. See the Count Sheet

The following suggestions will go a long way in preventing criticism. If a question surfaces, written procedures closely followed will enable you to defend the church against accusations.

• The procedure for handling tithes and offerings requires a minimum of four people from the Leadership Team.
• Two people must work together from the time the offering is taken or the tithe box emptied until the deposit ticket is completed. Once the money is collected it must be moved quickly to the counting room by a minimum of two people. When the money is in the counting room and the door locked, two or more people count the money, complete the count sheet (Appendix 4) and fill out the deposit ticket. Each must count the cash and checks and each must sign the count sheet. If you have only two people counting be careful that you don't have a man and a woman together alone in a room with the door locked. Rotate counters periodically and do not let a married couple count alone.
• You may have additional receipts from other ministry functions that are not tithes, but are included in the deposit. In this case you can specify all other income in the "Income From Other Ministries" section of the count sheet. The amount and the account that is to receive the credit must be recorded so that the bookkeeper can split the deposit between Tithes & Offerings and the other designated accounts, when it is entered into the computer.
• A third person, not involved in the counting, takes the money to the bank. You can either deposit the money in a night deposit at your bank after the last service or place it in a safe for deposit the next day. Another option is to place the uncounted money in the safe until the next day when it can be counted. If you do not have a safe the money should be deposited the same day.
• The bookkeeper cannot be part of the Counting Team because it is he/she who receives the count sheet and records the deposits. The bookkeeper will compare the counting sheet with the bank statement at the end of the month. There may need to be adjustments for counting errors or returned checks. Either case will be handled with journal entries. The original deposit amount will not be adjusted.
• No one can serve in more than one role.

Another related issue is the recording of contributions. If you have a small number of checks and envelopes they should be entered once the counting is completed. If the recording of contributions cannot be done before the deposit, the checks can be copied for entry at a later date. This is less desirable because you incur the cost of copying and the chance of illegible copies.

Procedures for Accepting Workers for the Nursery, Children's & Youth Ministry
With the issue of child abuse constantly in the news and the general animosity of the media toward the church, the potential for a major problem is very real. We in the church must understand where the attack will come from and, as Nehemiah did, build a wall. The first area of defense is in screening workers. This can be done by asking each applicant to fill out a Ministry Application (Appendix 5), submit to a background check (Appendix 6) and be interviewed by the staff member responsible for that ministry. The interview must be documented and filed in the event that it is needed in the future. The second area is training. Workers must be properly trained in the specific area in which they will serve. For example, a new Sunday School teacher would serve as a Teacher's Aid for a period of time before being given his or her own class. The third area is retention. If you suspect a problem with a worker you must ask that person to step down immediately. If a problem is known and not immediately addressed it is looked upon as negligence on the part of the employer. Remember, in the eyes of the law, a volunteer is an unpaid employee.

Many of us have been frustrated in our attempts to have background checks run because the local and state law enforcement agencies would not run the checks. This is because the National Child Protection Act was fatally flawed. In order for nonprofit youth-serving organizations to access the FBI criminal records checks under this Act, the states were required to enact implementing legislation. The act did not require the states to enact the legislation and only a few did so. The Volunteers for Children Act was enacted to remedy the flaws in the National Child Protection Act. The FBI national criminal history record system is the most effective method of doing background checks because it is national in scope and it uses fingerprints to identify an individual, thus eliminating the possibility of a person changing his or her name or Social Security number. The first thing that must be done is to determine if your state has designated churches as a "qualified entity". This can be done by calling your State Legislators, a local attorney, the State Attorney General, the Governors Office, child welfare agency or other youth-serving charities.

If so, you can obtain nationwide criminal records checks as follows: (1) The employee or volunteer completes a form authorizing the request, and containing the required information. The state agency will have acceptable forms for you to use. (2) Obtain ten sets of the employee or volunteer's fingerprints. (3) Submit the application with fingerprints and the application fee to the designated state agency.

If your state does not designate churches as "qualified entities" you still need to implement other means of screening persons who have access to minors in your church. This can be done through applications, interviews, reference checks and adequate supervision. You should also consider conducting state or local criminal record checks.

In all cases you should only use a person who has been a part of the fellowship for at least six months.

It is impossible to insure against every situation, but you must do everything that you can. Anything less is looked upon as negligence. The legal term is negligent selection and that is all that must be proven to find your church guilty.

Remember that Volunteers in Nursery, Children's and Youth Ministry must:

• Fill out a Ministry Application
• Submit to a Background Check
• Be Interviewed by the Staff Member Responsible for the Ministry
• Be Trained
• Be Asked to Step Down Immediately if His or Her Competence is in Question