Governance Manual for Congregational Boards

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