Whenever I talk about a board's fiduciary responsibility, everyone immediately thinks of money. But the fiduciary responsibility that is the second practice of a congregational board is so much larger than money. Boards that approach their fiduciary responsibility solely from the perspective of protecting and preserving financial assets are missing the point of this responsibility of a congregational board. A board that is living the second practice of their fiduciary responsibility well, is ensuring that all of the resources and assets of the congregation are being used to fulfill the congregation's vision and mission. And so you cannot fulfill your fiduciary responsibility as a congregational board if you do not have a clear and adaptive understanding of the congregation's vision and mission. This is why the first practice of congregational boards, the practice of vision and mission discernment is so critical, because all of the other practices arise from that foundation. If you as a board do not understand the world your congregation is trying to create, or what the congregation is committed to working on right then in creating that world, then you cannot ensure that the assets and the resources of the congregation are being properly utilized for the fulfillment of that vision and mission. A congregational board that is fulfilling its fiduciary responsibility is assessing all of the assets and resources of the congregation and seeking the best ways to utilize those assets and resources to fulfill the congregation's mission. And the assets and resources of a congregation are much larger than just money. Congregational boards have a fiduciary responsibility to make sure that the staff and the lay leadership of the congregation are not burning out. Because fulfilling the congregation's vision and mission will take a lot of time. Boards have a fiduciary responsibility to make sure that the congregation's building, and other property are being utilized in the ways that are most likely to help fulfill the congregation's vision and mission. Boards have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that the resources of the congregation's reputation and identity in the community is helping to fulfill the congregation's vision and mission. Congregational boards have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that new leadership is being developed and encouraged to accept leadership roles. For the vision mission of our congregations will hopefully outlast any of our tenures in leadership roles. The second board practice of holding the fiduciary responsibility of a congregation is so much larger than money. Though of course money is one of the primary resources of any congregation. Ensuring the congregation has the monetary resources to fulfill the vision and mission of the congregation is a primary responsibility of the congregational board. And to do that well, it requires the board to do the leadership work of the congregation well, which takes us to the third board practice of Policy Development