Download The MBA Life January 3, 2008, 10:29PM EST Mastering the

The MBA Life January 3, 2008, 10:29PM EST
Mastering the Business of Church
Some universities now offer MBAs for church workers and
officials who may struggle with management responsibilities
they haven't been prepared for
by Alison Damast
When he was in seminary school studying to be a priest, the Reverend John Burger never
thought he'd have to deal with the day-to-day bookkeeping and budgeting for a church. But over
the past few years, he has gradually taken on a greater leadership role in the Columban Fathers, a
missionary society of Catholic priests.
In his new role as general councillor at the society's headquarters in Dublin, he will assume more
fiscal responsibility than ever before, reviewing the budgets of missionaries all over the world
and tracking donated funds. It's a job he feels unprepared for, he admits: "I'm kind of nervous
about it, to tell you the truth, because I don't have any training in this kind of stuff.… I studied
philosophy, theology, pastoral counseling, and those kinds of things, rather than statistics or
accounting."
Professional Skills for Pastors
Burger's insecurity about his business skills led him to apply to the Villanova School of
Business, which will begin offering a master's of science degree in church management in June.
The two-year program, which is offered online and requires a one-week campus residency,
should help Burger master basic business and management skills.
The program, which costs $23,460, is open to parish business managers, diocesan and religiousorder managers, and managers of church-related social service ministries. Admission is based on
a number of criteria, including experience, letters of recommendation, and a personal essay.
Classes will cover topics normally taught in business school, such as accounting, development
and planning, and human resources management.
But unlike most MBA or master's programs in nonprofit management, all of the coursework will
involve case studies that look at business exclusively through the lens of a religious organization,
notes Charles Zech, director of Villanova's Center for the Study of Church Management.
"Students in MBA classes sit there learning about finance on Wall Street, but that doesn't help
church workers much," he says. "We've designed the program [such] that every course has to
target folks in a faith-based context."
Catholic Schools Lead the Charge
A handful of colleges and universities—many with Catholic affiliations—are starting to offer
master's degrees in church management or, in some instances, a dual MBA and master's in
church management: Duquesne University in Pittsburgh began offering a master's degree in
community leadership with a concentration in parish management this past fall, and St. Mary's
University in Minnesota offers a similar program, with a two-week residency and mostly online
classes. The University of Notre Dame offers a master's degree in nonprofit administration for
church workers and employees of other faith-based organizations. A Boston College program
offers a choice between an MBA in conjunction with a master's in pastoral ministry or a pastoral
ministry degree with a concentration in church management.
The new programs are a response to the religious community's realization that many of the
volunteers who step up to assume management roles lack the skills required to run an
organization, says Kerry Robinson, executive director of the National Leadership Roundtable on
Church Management, a Catholic nonprofit in Washington, D.C. "It is a growing phenomenon
across the country," she says. "Catholic colleges and universities, especially those with business
schools, are taking very seriously this need facing Catholic churches in the U.S."
Villanova's Zech points out that while large companies routinely recruit business-school
graduates, many managers in religious organizations don't have backgrounds in business. Indeed,
many parish business managers were church workers who rose through the ranks and haven't
studied business. In other instances, retirees with business experience are brought in to
administer church finances, but problems can arise if "they are accustomed to doing things the
way they're done in the business world," Zech says.
The worst-case scenario, he says, is when a pastor is forced to manage a church's financial
operations because no one else is available to do it. As Zech puts it: "No one became a pastor
because they wanted to run a small business, which is what a congregation or parish is."
Clergy Scandals Unbalance Church Books
While any religious group can benefit from better financial management, the issue is resonating
strongly within the Catholic church as it faces the financial repercussions of recent sex abuse
scandals involving clergy. Fraudulent financial reporting, such as the 2006 case in which a pastor
in Darien, Conn., was sentenced to 37 months in prison for stealing $1.3 million from the church
he led, is another reason for the recent urgency. According to a 2006 study by Villanova
researchers, 85% of U.S. dioceses had detected embezzlement over the previous five years.
As a result, parishioners are demanding more financial transparency and institutional financial
controls, which can be challenging in organizations where the same person who tallies donations
from the collection basket and deposits them in the bank, for example, may also be the person
who balances the checkbook, Zech says.
Duquesne's Administrative Focus
Duquesne's online curriculum helps church workers balance the many daily demands they face,
including budget management, human resources, parish marketing and fund-raising, school
administration, construction project management, and social outreach projects, says Dorothy
Bassett, dean of Duquesne's School of Leadership & Professional Advancement. It also
emphasizes the difference between civil law and canon law, the internal ecclesiastical law that
governs the Roman Catholic Church, and how that difference plays out in scenarios involving
church assets.
"One of the reasons we started the program…is the responsibility placed on these folks is just so
incredible," says Bassett. "What you find now is more and more churches have laypeople
handling everything but the actual church service. It is everything from soup to nuts and then
some…."
Bassett says the program, which signed up a handful of students when it began offering classes
in the fall, is slowly attracting the interest of church workers. The cost is $23,544, and applicants
should have a bachelor's degree and either currently hold an administrative position at a church
or parish or plan to pursue such a position. Non-Catholics are eligible to apply, though none have
so far, reports Bassett. "If I had someone come in…from a synagogue or mosque or Hindu
temple, I'd probably sit down…and work with them [to select] courses appropriate for them in
terms of their day-to-day administration."
Fiscal Responsibility for a Higher Purpose
Concern over the complexity of financial issues led Marcia Wilske, the parish social ministry
coordinator for Catholic Charities of Idaho, to apply to Villanova's program. She first learned
about it from an ad in Commonweal, a Catholic magazine. Her interest was piqued because, after
she becomes chancellor for the diocese in July, she'll work closely with the director of human
resources and chief financial officer, providing supervision and overseeing salaries and budgets.
Wilske, who has previously worked as a director of religious education and a youth minister, has
no formal business training and wants to feel comfortable in her new role. "There is that sense of
responsibility that the money given goes to support the work of the church," she explains. "How
do you maintain that responsibility and transparency so it's a fiscally sound operation?"
Directors of these programs hope the religious community's interest will spur more schools to
offer such degrees and ultimately raise the standards of church management. Although only a
few schools offer these programs now, Gregory Sobolweski, the director of Saint Mary's Institute
in Pastoral Ministries, believes it's a step in the right direction: "The fact that the church [is
asking] questions about how can we be good administrators [is] a fresh take on faith."
Damast is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com.