I want to manage the church to God's glory. Anything less contradicts the Creator, who after creation surveyed his work and said, "It is good." He didn't say, "Oh, it'll do."
—Don Cousins

Few pastors graduate from seminary hoping to become administrators. The term administration, itself, hardly sets feet dancing. In many people's minds, administration stands precipitously close to bureaucracy. It smacks of endless details, of rigidity, red tape, and routine.

Yet, administration—managing the affairs of a church—often spells the difference between pastoral effectiveness and ineffectiveness.

The ministry philosophy of Willow Creek Community Church, where I'm associate pastor, has been adopted by a number of other churches. One pastor, who started a ministry like ours several years ago, recently returned to Willow Creek.

"We duplicated Willow Creek's philosophy and strategy pretty well," he told me, "and that led us to about four hundred members. But now we've hit a wall."

He came back to figure ...