By: Rev. Dr. Paul Raybon
We emerged from COVID with a new understanding of how much congregational life had changed. The line from Wizard of Oz has never been more true; “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore!” But when we have time to reflect, we realize that what we’re seeing now is really just a clearer picture of what we’ve known was happening all along.
I’ve been working with churches on reimagining how we structure for ministry for over 20 years. When I started, we were realizing that the structure handed down from the heyday of the 1950’s just wasn’t working for most churches. Dozens (sometimes scores) of committees of 6-10 members formed an organization that sought to involve every active member in the life and ministry of the church.
By the turn of the 21st century, declines in attendance and institutional involvement meant there were more slots to fill than there were members, or at least members willing to fill them. Many committees existed in name only or served to preserve silos of personal interests and power. Good leaders were wearing so many hats that burn out and ineffectiveness were constant concerns.
Church strategists designed “team ministry” structures as a more organic and fluid way to connect members with ministry, based on giftedness and calling more than “filling slots.” Instead of standing committees, teams can be formed around key tasks of the church like Worship Discipleship, Evangelism, Ministry, and Fellowship. Administrative teams cover the work of Finance, Personnel, and Property. Other ad hoc teams can be formed and disbanded as needed. I still believe in that model as a baseline for how to organize congregational ministry.
But twenty years later some of those team ministry models are too large and complex for the shrinking pool of leadership that most congregations are facing. A congregation that averages 120 in worship might be blessed to have 30 individuals willing to serve in leadership. When you count deacons, teams, teachers, and worship leaders, the stack of hats is once again too tall to fit through most sanctuary doors. Add to that the reality that many of our wisest and most experienced leaders are facing real life limitations of advancing years, and many younger generations have less time and interest for the “sausage-making” part of doing church.
This is where I’m supposed to offer the solution and invite you to ask me to come make it happen. But as a congregational coach I’m mulling over some questions we need to ask ourselves in local churches. Here are a few:
- What are our essential tasks? What must we do in order to be true to our identity and mission? Or, if we didn’t do ____ would we still be us?
- How many leaders, with what gifts, in what capacity, do we need to accomplish our goals? Do we need 10% of our leadership pool on one committee?
- How often and in what manner do leaders need to gather and or communicate in order to accomplish their tasks? This meeting could have been a Zoom call or an email or a text.
- What principles of church polity (structure and governance) will guide us? If congregational authority is our highest principle and we only have 20 people, do we really need a lot of structure? Do we forfeit involvement for efficiency and delegate all decisions to pastors and staff? Our frontier predecessors effectively functioned as a “committee of the whole” without a pastor present.
These are hard questions. And the questions and answers will keep evolving. But as we try to orient ourselves in this ever-shifting landscape, we can be comforted by the reality that local congregations have weathered plague, pestilence, war, famine, economic and political upheaval, all manner of interpersonal strife and millions of changes in paint and carpet color. Not by might, or power, or brilliant reorganizations, but by God’s Spirit.
These thoughts are from Rev. Dr. Paul Raybon, our partner in ministry in the Western Carolinas, who can help you and your ministry navigate congregational identity, mission, and effectiveness. He is Co-Pastor at Hominy Baptist Church near Asheville, NC and works with churches and leaders as a coach and consultant in communication, visioning, administration, and spiritual formation. Contact him for more information about how he can help you.