Growing Your Church

Church Management is not a term that is widely accepted by all sections of the church. In reference to the same thing, many prefer to speak of Church Administration instead of Management. Whichever term you prefer, the issue is organizing the ministry of the church.

Organizing Church Ministry
Some leaders are fearful that to organize ourselves for ministry is to suppress the Spirit. On the other hand, there are those who believe that to “leave everything to the Spirit”, without acting responsibly for organization is not being true to the Spirit. I believe balance is what makes the difference.

I have some difficulty grasping the desirability of not having any organization. While at the same time, I know that in getting fanatical about organization and structure, you lose something. A close look at the loss will reveal that we no longer give consideration to people but to the structure. When you box people into a strict routine all the time without room for variety and spontaneity, they can die from monotony and boredom.

Management and the Gift of Leadership
Church Management and ministry are not mutually exclusive terms. Neither are they enemies of each other. The word management, because it is a word used mostly in the secular world sometimes comes under much suspicion in the church.

Over the past decade there has been an outcry for ‘good’ leadership in the church. Inherent in the cries I have heard, is the need for this very issue under discussion. The church needs pastors and leaders who are able to ‘manage’ the task of ministry.Managers of ministry are stewards put in charge of God’s people and resources.

We managers are all subject to God’s leading. Wise church leaders submit to the leading of the Spirit before attempting to lead God’s people. However, submission to God’s leading does not mean that you do not need additional resources to get the job done. We need tools to help us in this regard.

Church Management Tools For Ministry
We all love growth. However, unmanaged growth results in chaos and sometimes even malformation. Church growth, if left unmanaged can be malformed. The growing church soon recognizes their need for additional tools to better organize their ministry. A lot will depend on the church’s outlook and their budget. Some areas to consider are:

• Church government
• Membership growth and movements
• Technology and church communication
• Ministry and Mission
• Worship needs and trends
• Stewardship especially finance and property

Pretty soon you will find yourself combing the bookstores looking for ministry handbooks and manuals. You or someone you appoint will be scouring the web searching frantically for church membership software, church accounting software, and worship software.

You know you are in too deep when you find yourself dreaming of wonderful automated systems that could keep track of everything in one place so that you have a lot more time to visit your members and spend less time in the Church office. Church management resources can help you do your job much better, just don’t begin to put your ‘trust’ in them and no longer depend on God.

Want to learn more about some specific tools that we personally find useful? Just stay tuned, those updates are coming soon.

Marvia

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