Church Management: The Architecture of Ministry: Structures to Control Change

The art of working for and through people.

Good management principles, far from being restricted to the business community, can play an important role in the church and in Christian organizations. Good church management by clergy and lay officials enables the church to establish and carry out its mission. Management involves both organizational and spiritual leadership, and it requires that leaders work through and with people to achieve the group’s goals and purposes.

Why Worry About Management?

Why should Christian workers be interested in management? I can think of several reasons. First, management is a powerful teaching tool. Through management one’s teaching and preaching take on visible, corporate form. When people listen to a sermon on stewardship of time and resources, they hear what the pastor says; when they observe the way the pastor structures and leads the officers and committees, they see what he or she means. The difference is significant: people remember only about 25 percent of what they hear, but about 70 percent of what they see. In other words, what you do thunders so loudly in my ears that I can’t hear what you say. Management is one way of fleshing out our theology so that people can see as well as hear the Word of God.

Second, Christian leaders should be interested in management because a rapidly changing environment requires new procedures in order for the church to be effective. Before his death in 1947, Alfred North Whitehead said, “The rate of change in our time is so swift that an individual of ordinary length of life will be called upon to face novel situations which have no parallel in the past. The fixed person for the fixed duties who in the old society was such a godsend will in the future be a public danger.” How much more true his statement is thirty years later! Either you manage the change going on in your church, or the change manages you.

Managing change does not mean stopping change, however. No one can do that. A good manager learns to modify the organizational structures and methods so the church can remain effective in the midst of change.

Rapid change brings much uncertainty. The only certain thing today is the certainty of uncertainty. It simply isn’t good enough today to “do things the way we’ve always done them.” Emerson called that kind of attitude “a foolish consistency.” Change (and the uncertainty it brings) creates both problems and opportunities. A church will either be pushed by problems or led by a vision of opportunity. Its leader’s style of management will largely determine which will be the case.

Effective management will help to prevent your group from losing sight of “the Way,” and to use all of its resources to acquaint a changing world with the unchanging promises and mercies of God.

Third, good management will broaden a church’s decision-making base. People today tend to criticize leaders and refuse to take their word at face value. Twenty years ago, when a national leader spoke, people responded, “How true!” Now they say, “Prove it!” Whether we like it or not, our congregations reflect this sentiment. They no longer trust church leaders to set directions and make major decisions alone. Church members want a greater share in decision making. They want the structures and policies of the church to be public and open for critical examination.

Unfortunately, some church leaders have earned the mistrust of their congregations. I recently talked with a pastor and church board who are hiding $80,000 in a secret savings account. The congregation knows nothing of this money. The board fears that people would reduce their giving if they knew the church had this money. They do not trust the congregation to make good decisions to remain faithful in their giving to God’s work. But what they should really fear is the type of organizational climate such a practice creates—one that likely already influences the pattern of giving in that church, though the pastor and board are not aware of it.

Management practices that treat the group as immature cause people to be immature. Goethe said, “Treat people as if they are what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of becoming.”

When the pastor preaches unity and participation but manages in a “Lone Ranger” style, making unilateral decisions and working alone, the congregation hears a gospel of love and acceptance but sees only isolationism and one-upmanship. Similarly, sermons of love and justice do not jibe with covert board actions.

Perhaps the greatest management concern for the church is that it be organized and managed so that it fully reflects the truth, love, and justice that God demands of all leaders and institutions. Management practices, like speech, can be untruthful. In preaching and teaching, the church can speak the truth. In good management practices, the church can do the truth. Perhaps doing is more effective in some ways than speaking. The medium of management is a powerful message.

A Theology Of Church Management

Management in the church is theology in action. The structures and programs of the church give body to the life of Christ within the organized church. Management practice is perhaps the purest form of practical (practicing) theology, giving flesh and blood to the sacraments, creeds, liturgies, and to the confessions of the church.

Just as pastors are called to perfrom priestly and prophetic duties, so are they called to manage. In his Institutes, Calvin writes that Christ’s office gathered together the three separate offices of ministry in the Old Testament: prophet, priest, and king. The kingly office was a call to manage wisely and effectively the human and organizational resources put under one’s care by God. Not only did Jesus incorporate these three offices into one ministry, but he challenged those who were to follow him to continue in his ministry. This includes today’s pastors. To accept only a part of the pastor’s threefold office is to cripple the ministry of Christ to that congregation.

The Bible in various ways stresses the importance of good management. In 1 Corinthians 4:1, Paul writes, “We must be regarded as Christ’s subordinates and as stewards [managers] of the secrets of God” (NEB). When we are called to manage in any part of the church, we are entrusted with the care of an organization that has the marks of eternity upon it. Further, God has given several gifts of ministry to the church, including pastors (Eph. 4:11).

Pastors share not only in Christ’s calling, but also in his anointing. God anoints the pastor through Christ, so that “the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and power, a spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord” (Isa. 11:2, neb). This anointing applies to the ministry of management just as seriously as to the priestly and prophetic ministries; it is not to be shunned or taken lightly.

Church leaders often question whether management has any place in the church, since it implies authority and accountability, and since secular organizations use it. Yet Jesus and Paul had much to say about management, as expressed in the words stewardship and steward. It does no damage to Scripture to insert the terms management or manager wherever stewardship or steward appear. Try this with Jesus’ parable of the unrighteous manager (Luke 16) or with 1 Corinthians 4:1–2. Managers are expected to show themselves trustworthy. If we observe the behavior of responsible, truthful, and humane managers, we will find that it conforms to the concept of stewardship in the New Testament.

Management combines authority and accountability. Authority without accountability is ownership; accountability without authority is workership. A manager has authority but is also accountable to the owner. Is this not the same as stewardship? Church management or stewardship is accepting responsibility for a part of the church while remaining fully accountable to the Master and Head of the church. It requires not unique concepts and skills as much as a clear sense of who has given us this stewardship and to whom the church belongs.

The main qualification for church managers is to have the faith and wisdom perhaps best described in James 1:5–8 and 3:13–18. They should make no excuses for ignorance and lack of skill in their responsibility, but they should believe that God will anoint their efforts to gain and apply effective skills. An integral part of preparation for church management is the manager’s own spiritual growth. Management and spirituality go hand in hand. Both are part of a pastor’s call; both are spiritual gifts that can be developed.

A final aspect of a theology of church management is what I call the principle of versatility. God is a God of variety and has created a world of variety. The church reflects a variety of needs, interests, and skills. In order to minister effectively to its own members and to the world, the church must be versatile or flexible in the way it responds to the needs of the time and place in which it finds itself. It must regularly initiate, change, and terminate many of its external forms and ministries in order to be true to its Great Commission. It should be neither passive nor reactionary; rather, it should actively seek the best possible ways to “stake its claim” of God’s rightful ownership of the church and the world.

Paul’s description of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12) expounds this principle of versatility most clearly. Members of the body are all different in appearance and function, yet are all subject to the head and vitally important to the health of the whole body.

This principle requires that leaders be open to pluralisms of programs, structures, and ministries. Leaders who try to mold the church after their own preferences or understanding deny other members, whose interests differ, the spiritual and material resources they need to be fully effective. A church is not a collection of little tin soldiers who look, think, and act alike. This was not true of Jesus’ disciples, nor of God’s creation in general. Pastors should desire and develop the same kind of versatility.

Resources for Church Management

There are many more church management resources than can be listed here. Those following are some examples that relate explicitly to topics discussed in the article.

1. Theory X-Y. You can measure your own view of persons and learn more about McGregor’s Theory X-Y by ordering a Management Appraisal Survey by Jay Hall, Teleometrics International, 2203 Timberloch Place, Suite 104, The Woodlands, Texas 77380 ($4.00); Organization Styles in Community Groups and Leadership Roles in Community Groups, both by Jerry Robinson, College of Agriculture, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801 ($.75 each).

2. Leadership Styles. You can discover your own preferred leadership style, other styles you may develop, and the conditions under which each is appropriate by ordering Taking a Look at Your Leadership Styles by Norman Shawchuck, Organization Resources Press, 2142 Oxnard Drive, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515 ($5.00).

3. Church Management and Systems Theory. Books include Management for Your Church, by Lindgren and Shawchuck, Abingdon, 1977 ($7.95); The Management of Ministry, Anderson and Jones, Harper & Row, 1978 ($8.95); and Getting the Church on Target, Lloyd Perry, Moody, 1977 ($6.95). Experiences in Activating Congregations, by Shawchuck ($4.45), and Dry Bones Breathe by Robert Worley ($4.95) both published by the Center for the Study of Church Organizational Behavior, McCormick Theological Seminary, 5555 S. Woodlawn, Chicago 60631.

4. Management Training Programs for Church Leaders. Some seminaries are now offering D. Min. degree programs that focus on church management. Courses are so structured that pastors need not take study leaves or be away from their churches on Sundays. Two schools that have such programs are Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago.

5. Leadership: A Practical Journal for Church Leaders. Beginning in January, CHRISTIANITY TODAY will publish this quarterly journal to provide practical information on church management for pastors, pastoral staff members, elders, deacons, and other church leaders. Watch for announcements in September issues of CHRISTIANITY TODAY or write to Leadership, 465 Gundersen Drive, Carol Stream, Illinois 60187.

Approaches To Church Management

Several issues will determine to some degree the success leaders will have in managing a church organization. First is their view of human nature. Thomas Jefferson said, “Men by their constitutions are naturally divided into two parties: those who fear and distrust the people and wish to draw all powers from them for their own benefit; and those who identify with the people, have confidence in them, and cherish and consider them as honest and safe with the public interest.” Bonhoeffer in Life Together asserts that the church belongs to God and its members are his children and delight. Pastors who complain about the church they serve fail to recognize its relationship to Christ or his devotion for it.

Management practices can betray one’s view of human nature. Some church leaders tend to distrust people, and to see them as lazy and unequipped to handle significant responsibility. As a result, these leaders will work to gather power to themselves, to control information, and will hesitate to allow any groups a significant measure of autonomy. When the people resist or grow apathetic, this kind of leader may complain that the group lacks motivation or is not spiritual enough. Management literature often describes this view of persons as “McGregor’s Theory X.”

Other church leaders view their members differently. They assume that people belong to their church because they sincerely desire to serve God and others, and that each one has some ability to serve and potential for growth. This kind of leader empowers people and structures, sees failure not as sin but as part of the growing process, places greater emphasis on granting forgiveness than on seeking permission, sets persons free to explore ministries in keeping with their interests, and leads the congregation in celebrating every small and great success. This view of persons has been called “McGregor’s Theory Y.”

The leader’s view of persons has tremendous influence on the organization’s climate and its effectiveness. A group with a “Theory X” leader will be more of a “one-man show,” perhaps with little enthusiasm or celebration. A group with a “Theory Y” leader will probably have more member involvement, strong mutual support, more celebration, and more freedom for God’s Spirit to motivate and inspire.

Another view of persons, sometimes called “Theory Z,” embraces a naïve, unrealistically high opinion of people’s capabilities. Leaders of this kind are the opposite of “Theory X” leaders: they do not provide enough structure or direction to the group. The members feel respected and comfortable, but nothing gets done.

A second issue that determines the success of a leader is the relationship between his or her leadership style and the overall maturity of the group. Each leader has a preferred style of leadership. Each will tend to use that style even when it is inappropriate and ineffective. Few church leaders know what their preferred style is, what other styles are at their disposal, and under what conditions a given style becomes most appropriate. Further, they tend to be oblivious to the leadership needs of the group and respond only to the tensions inside themselves. Pastors can greatly increase their effectiveness by developing a variety of leadership styles and the ability to use each one at the right time.

When to use a particular leadership style depends in large part on the group’s leadership needs—that is, their maturity in relation to a particular task. A skillful leader must learn to analyze the task-relevant maturity of the group and modify his or her leadership style accordingly. The inability to adapt in this way often explains why leaders are effective in some situations and not in others.

A third issue of importance to leaders is how the church relates to its environment. The church is an open system: it both influences and is influenced by its environment. From its environment the church receives new members, supplies, finances, and so on. Into its environment the church sends committed members, missionaries, and monetary or social help.

The environment of the church is changing faster and more unpredictably than ever before. Church leaders must develop the skills to read the signs of environmental change, establish new goals and programs in response to it, and manage the conflict that will inevitably arise when change is introduced. No single tool or technique exists to do this. What is needed is a basic understanding of the organization of a church and the skills to manage it appropriately amid the tension between the need for change and the congregation’s reluctance to change.

Unfortunately, Bible colleges and seminaries have not adequately equipped church leaders for this part of ministry. Practical theology courses deal more with how to conduct funerals and how to visit in the hospital rather than with the largely neglected management issues of making decisions, managing conflict, setting goals, and evaluating. Pastors and church leaders need these skills today in order to keep the church on target. Theological education has equipped leaders to be mechanics—that is, to do what’s needed to keep the machine running. But church leaders today must be architects, not mechanics; managers and shapers of the future, not precedent followers of the past. Guiding your church toward an open system through a better understanding of organizational theory and management skills will help you to be an architect.

We cannot escape the fact that the church requires management. Every leader has his or her own management style. Any time you spend to improve your management skills will pay dividends of personal satisfaction and greater effectiveness in the ministry of your church. We must no longer try to meet today’s challenges and problems with yesterday’s tools and concepts.

G. Douglas Young is founder and president of the Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem. He has lived there since 1963.

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