A catalyst causes change or action. I am suggesting that there are some things that can trigger a change in a local church whereby it goes back to or maybe for the first time tries strategic planning. For each catalyst, I am also suggesting some assessment questions to help you see if this specific one is at work in your midst.
Catalyst #4: You have
outgrown your infrastructure leading to organizational schizophrenia.
One
essential understanding of the Church is this: larger churches are not the same
as smaller churches with more people, any more than Wal-Mart is the same as a
“mom and pop” grocery story with more square feet and customers. Greater sizes
demand many more things than the “mom and pop” small church: more space, more
options, more systems, more training, more role definition, more leadership
development, more attention to the difference between governance and staff
management.
Some of the leadership team will
realize this before others do and that can easily lead to a form of organizational schizophrenia. While some
will cling to a small church mentality longing for the “good old days”, others
will see a path forward and try to assert it. One dimension of the path forward
is to be staff-led, but that is not the whole answer because staff need to
delegate, equip, and be leaders of leaders (Eph. 4).
In the midst of this complexity, there is a
need to make complexity invisible and achieve clarity. Somehow, we need to
arrive at one preferable future, more effective communication, and a
systematic-organic way of doing things. This leads many into a focus on
planning. For example, Larry Osborne once said, “We plan every year because we
are a different church every year”. Here is a short list of how you may be a
different church now than you were before. Each one requires planning attention
to avoid slipping into and perpetuating schizophrenia:
·
The Sr. Pastor can’t keep up with all of the
expectations the church puts on him: governance, preaching, ceremonial duties, overseeing
a growing staff, pastoral care and counseling.
·
The board is sensing that the church has so many
ministries that they no longer know how to adequately manage ministry decisions.
·
We are maxing out the capacity of space in our
worship service (or two services or three…)
·
The church staff complains that 20% of the
people are doing 80% of the work and that they have no margin to do the last
thing you asked them to do
·
You are getting feedback that people don’t know
how to get involved in the church
·
Your back door is as big or bigger than your
front door
·
You are getting feedback that the care needs of
the church are not being met by the ministries of the church.
·
The administrative staff is struggling with
several different church databases none of which “talk” to each other.
·
The church has grown in attendance, but
financial giving has stayed flat since the end of the Great Recession.
Assessment Questions:
1.
Do we have organizational schizophrenia where
there is more than one preferable future? If so, how will we transition into a
one-size-mentality?
2.
If we could start over, what would be different
about the role of staff members, the role of the board, the role of lay
leaders, and the role of other ministry participants?
3.
On the way to becoming staff-led, did we leave
or are we leaving Ephesians 4 behind?
4.
Is our church known for how people are cared for
or are many care needs falling through the cracks? Is that because of the way
we are organized, the way that we do things?
5.
Are we regularly frustrated because our giving
base has not grown with our size?
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