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 religious-order 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."