Resources e-letter 21:6 - December 2021

NEW: How to conduct a disability audit

These notes are designed for church leaders, administrative and operational staff, and all who are responsible for pastoral care. They provide an introduction to what constitutes disability and the practical implications of the Equality Act. But of course this is a topic about Christian love and care for everyone.

Four actions are recommended:

• An access audit – focusing on your buildings and grounds
• A services audit – relating more to the provision of services
• Practical advice – listening to the experts: disabled people
• External advice – gaining advice from specialist organisations

Seventeen areas to audit are listed and explained.  These include:

• Website and signage
• Entrance
• Flooring
• Screen and print
• Emotional needs
• Children / young people
• Meeting rooms/halls

Training Notes TN135, How to conduct a disability audit, are now available without charge from the Training Notes index page of this website.
  
  

NEW: Restructure your committees

Committees are sub-groups of your church Trustees (or PCC) but can become stale and prove ineffective. These notes link with Training Notes TN58. Beware committees, and after some general principles, including dropping the word ‘committee’, offer seven different possible structures. Using the term ‘Action Groups’ these are:

1. No Action Groups at all
2. Short-term groups only
3. Structure by need
4. Structure by church activities
5. Structure by church purpose
6. Structure by teams of workers
7. A hybrid arrangement

For each of these seven there are examples provided and sets of advantages and disadvantages. Perhaps it is time you reviewed and rethought your church committees. These note provide ideas to help you do this well.

Training Notes TN136, Restructure your committees, are now available without charge from the Training Notes index page of this website.
  
  

Resources on planning

Here is a list of resources on the website that deal with principles of planning ahead.
  

Articles index page

A4     Twelve questions to help you plan – A jargon-free toolkit
A35   Mapping your church – Practical planning tools
A44   Making things happen – Project management for churches
  

Training Notes index page

TN17    Suggested questions for an annual review
TN25    The radical values that Jesus taught
TN32    What do you mean by ‘vision’?
TN48    Let’s get purpose statements right
TN54    Creating space for a Planning Retreat
TN64    Help!  I’m a consultant
TN74    Understanding values
TN103  How to encourage creative thinking
TN108  What do budgets actually tell us?
TN114  How to prepare a church profile
TN124  What’s the point of church?
TN133  Planning the next step
  

To print out a complete listing of all resources, scroll down to the bottom of the Resources page and download the pdf there.

Please ensure all these materials are widely promoted in your church. Thank you for your interest in my website.