The Role of Management in Church Growth

Unless a pastor fully appreciates, understands, and implements the management process, a church will never achieve it full potential. The complex body of believers we call a church is make up of married people, single people, the divorced, the widowed, youth, and children. A growing church will succeed in blending this diverse group into a God-glorifying unity.

By Tim Massengale 

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“I don’t understand it,” Pastor Gordon said with disgust, stirring his coffee slowly. “I’ve done everything I know to make it work. I asked Sister Judy to oversee the Visitor Follow-up program. She accepted. I explained how everything worked. I gave her a detailed, written job description. I even worked with her for several weeks and trained her how to do it. Everything looked great.

 

“Now here it is, less than six months after she started, and I just found out the whole thing has fizzled. Guest cards are not being filled out, follow-up assignments are not being made, and letters are not being sent – nothing! When I confronted her on why, she lamely claimed that Brother Jones, our head usher, wasn’t getting the visitor cards to her. Why didn’t she tell me that sooner? And the typewriter is broken. How was I supposed to know? Why didn’t she get it fixed? Doesn’t anyone feel any responsibility to the Work of God? And not only Visitor Follow-up, but Bus Ministry, Home Bible Study, Saturday Door Knocking, – they’re all dead or dying. Do I have to sit right on top of everything and ‘bottle feed it’ to make it work? My entire organization is falling apart! What’s wrong with my people? Don’t they have any burden? What’s a pastor to do?”

 

A COMMON PROBLEM 

 

Pastor Gordon’s problem is a very common one. All across our fellowship pastors are launching programs and starting ministries, organizing departments and training directors, spending hours developing a plan to reach their city, only to look around in amazement and see all their hard efforts gradually crumbling, almost before they were fully started.

 

“What’s wrong?” Pastors ask; voices edged with desperation.

 

And it’s not from lack of effort. Pastors can often pull from their files one organizational plan after another – all have failed. No wonder many sincere shepherds have become so despondent that they now say, “I preach, I pray, and I leave the rest to God.”

 

But is that all God called them to do? Is it getting the job done? No! Than what are they doing wrong?

 

The problem is not that of burden or poor delegation. The problem lies with administration.

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