Becoming a Skilled and Knowledgeable Board Chair

If you need further development in these, or any areas with which you are charged as board chair of your particular congregation, there are several ways to cultivate new knowledge and skills.

• Continue in this course. We hope to prepare you for many of these tasks and needed skills!
• Have a conversation with the prior board chair, or a board chair from another church, and ask what they found invaluable for their work.
• Practice the skills and knowledge you learn in this course. New ways of doing things can feel strange at first, but will become more natural over time.
• Seek out help when needed. If you don't understand something that is discussed, or can't make heads nor tails of a balance sheet, ask someone who does know the situation. If you need to, go beyond your board to friends and colleagues outside your congregation whose expertise is relevant, to ensure you have a complete understanding. Just be sure to keep board business within the bounds of confidentiality set forth by your congregation's governance structures and documents. In a sensitive matter, your denomination or association may be a more confidential avenue for broadening your understanding.
• Also remember to ask for feedback from your board members as to how meetings and decision-making activities are working, and adjust as necessary.

I hope your journey as board chair will be a source of spiritual and personal growth, and that although you will inevitably face challenges, you will find joy and the satisfaction of a job well done in your service to your congregation.