Part of equipping congregational board members is to make sure they have all the information they need at their fingertips. One way of doing this is supplying an up-to-date Governance Manual with key documents. Going through this manual can help with on-boarding of new board members.

Here's a short list of the kinds of congregational documents that board members would need.

• Table of Contents
• Brief Introduction to the Manual for new board members
• Board Covenant
• Board Meeting Procedures
• Perpetual Calendar
• Congregation Mission
• Congregation Vision
• Congregation Covenant
• Bylaws
• Executive Limitations (Policy Governance)
• Ends Statements
• Strategic (Long Range) Plan
• Policies

  • Safe Congregations Policy (which would include information on the Right Relations Team and their processes, Disruptive Behavior Policy, emergency response policies, etc.)

  • Personnel Policies (or a separate section for the Personnel Manual)

  • Finance Policies

  • Other policies

  • Descriptions of / Charges to all board committees including any term limits for chairs

• Procedures
• Appendix (as needed)
  • Organization Chart or other visual representation of church structure
  • Committee Directory
  • Annual Board Goals
  • Letter of Agreement with Called Minister
  • Financial equations for determining endowment income or the like
  • Any other key information
  • Current Line-Item Budget
  • Previous Year's Annual Report