Handling Difficult Financial Conversations with a Congregation

Posted in Buildings and Property, Entering and Engaging the Congregation, External Relations, Financial Management, Staff, Stewardship, Volunteers Tagged with

8 min 16 s

Rev. Dr. Laura Barnes

  • What their financial documents reveal about the condition of the congregation – what to look for
  • Here’s when and how I ask for their financial documents and what I do with them
  • What if I don’t have any financial training? Should I just leave all that to others?
Rev. Dr. Laura Barnes

The Rev. Dr. Laura Barnes has served in two official interim ministries – one as the Interim Senior Minister for a UCC/DOC congregation in Austin and one in Dallas for a Presbyterian (USA) church. After two long-term settled pastorates, Dr. Barnes felt the call to interim ministry, so she chose to be certified by the Interim Ministers’ Network (IMN) in 2015-2016.

Dr. Barnes had spent many years with the Northern California Nevada Conference (NCNC) of the United Church of Christ (UCC). She led both the Congregational Church of San Mateo and the Danville Congregational Church as their Educational Minister for Children, Youth and Families. While her ministry has centered on youth, young adults and education, she also has a heart for transformative mission and social justice work.

Before attending seminary, Laura was a commercial banker (Chase Manhattan and Bank of America) and a full-time single mother. As previously mentioned, she is a trained Interim Minister who has experience in assisting congregations during times of transition and transformation.  She served on the Board of Trustees at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), associated with the University of California in Berkeley, CA.

Laura received her Doctor of Ministry (DMin) degree from the University of Creation Spirituality (now Wisdom University of Graduate Studies) in Oakland, CA, and her Masters of Divinity (MDiv) from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. Her undergraduate studies were completed at the University of Texas in Austin.

She previously served on the executive board for Focus on Teens, an outreach program for homeless students in the Dallas Public School System. She also participated on the board for Contra Costa Interfaith Housing (CCIH) in Pleasant Hill, CA – a permanent, supportive housing development for formerly homeless families. As a past Moderator for the NCNC of the UCC, Laura has extensive experience in leading and participating in effective committee and task focused gatherings.

Laura currently lives in Northern California, and has two grown children, Mac (32) and Becca (30) who live in the San Francisco Bay Area with their spouses, Laura’s two grandchildren and four granddogs.

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