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    Elephant in the Boardroom:  What Drives a Church?

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    Let's consider what it is that drives a church.  At the human level, a driver is the propellant that gives energy to a church.  Broadly speaking, churches are driven by either knowledge or personality.  Of course, both knowledge and personality are important to a church.  But generally a church chooses one as the primary driver of its corporate life and relegates the other to an auxiliary function.  Some churches are personality driven; others are knowledge-driven.

    In the personality-driven church, the pastor uses his or her personality as the primary resource for accomplishing the mission.  There is an emphasis on the relationship with the pastor and the benefits of that relationship through pastoral care; influence, political function; or the unique gifts of the pastor related to presentation, communication, or charismatic function.

    In the knowledge-driven church, the pastor uses specialized knowledge as the primary resource for accomplishing the mission.  There is an emphasis on the knowledge that the pastor holds regarding history, tradition, and liturgy or to the knowldge that the pastor is skilled at transmitting through teaching, training, coaching, or mentoring.  The critical knowledge can be Biblical, theological (a particular theological perspective), or practical (how to work for justice). 

    Of course, pastors serve in both these roles.  Generally, they prefer to function in one role more than another, and the members expect this to be so.  The member expectation becomes part of the social contract that glues them to the Body.

    In addition to drivers connected to the pastor, there are generally two sets of criteria that members use to judge the success of the church.  Broadly speaking, members judge that the church is successful either through style criteria or effectiveness criteria.

    In an effectiveness-based church, the members evaluate its success according to how successful the church is in accomplishing its mission.  There is an emphasis on evaluation, benchmarking, and best practices.  Many mainline denominations chaff at the concept of "success" as a criterion for their churches.  However, even a church as committed to social justice as the Presbyterian Church indicates in its governing documents that the church must be open to changing its institutional forms so that they are faithful and useful.

    In a style-based church, the members evaluate the success of the church by how well the leadership preserves a certain style or tradition regardless of effectiveness.  There is an emphasis on history, tribe, and ritual.

    If we combine the two pastoral drivers with the two criteria for success, we can develop a chart with four quadrants that represent church cultures (see the top of this posting)

    image

    Members in these four church types have differing implicit social contracts that glue them together.  In addition, the four church types represent four cultures.  Though all have allegiance to Jesus Christ, they have four distinct sets of ideas governing them, often their own vocabulary, and identifiable set of values, their own set of rewards and punishments.  As differing cultures, each church type has its own feel and distinct role for the pastor.

    DISCUSSION:  Take a look at the chart above.  Is your church blatently in one culture camp?  Take a moment to share with us what kind of church yours is.  How does understanding this culture help you in your leadership and the way you approach your ministry position?

    Have a great day!

    Todd

    In the past few week’s we’ve been looking at excerpts of Carolyn Weese and J. Russell Crabtree’s new book "The Elephant in the Boardroom:  Speaking the unspoken about Pastoral Transitions".  There is a fascinating chapter in the book about the four variations of churches.  I encourage you to get a copy of the book to read the whole chapter for yourself (It, by itself is worth the cost of the book in my opinion!).  This week, we’ll take a quick look at the four different types of churches, and next Tuesday we’ll finish up our discussion of the book by giving some detailed examples of each.  Carolyn and Russ write…

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    1. Ricky on Tue, March 08, 2005

      Quote:


      “Broadly speaking, churches are driven by either knowledge or personality.”


      Which is exactly the problem with the so-called “churches” of today.  They are DRIVEN by the humanistic ideals of the above, both of which lead to a form of pride and idolatry, instead of simply being LED by the gentle, loving winds of the Holy Spirit.

      As someone has said, the shepherd (i.e., Jesus) leads sheep while the butcher (i.e., man) drives them.


      God, please help us.

       

    2. bernie dehler on Tue, March 08, 2005

      I’m in a seminary class now called “Church Ministry and management.”  The general consensus from the teacher and textbooks is that authoritarian leadership is bad, democratic-participative leadership is preferred.  This whole article revolves around the Pastor too much.  It is true that we need clear line-staff boundaries (responsibility of the pastor to lead), but this article looks too “old school” and ineffective.  The focus should be less on the pastor driving things, and more on the Pastor equipping and leading the team/staff.

      So I guess I’m voting for the “family Culture” quadrant.  The Pastor should be a nurturer and guide (feed and lead), making use of the spiritual gifts and callings of his staff. 


      Yes, it’s not about the Pastor, but about God.  Too many Pastors put themselves first, which is backwards from the words and deeds of Christ, our example.

       

      ...Bernie


      http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/247

       

    3. Jade on Tue, March 08, 2005

      I think love for Christ, and the lost should be what drives the church.  As far as what model works, I suppose each church is different.  Churches should make a list of their strengths and weaknessess.  Whatever areas they are strong in focus in on those areas and do them well.  Whatever areas a church is weak in set a plan with goals to improve in those areas as well.  This way your ministry as a church has a good balance.  Do you get what I am saying.  I would not ask the question what drives the church, but rather what is the passion of this church.  What does the church feel God wants them to do, and how do we get there from here. 

      Just some suggestions


      With respect

       

    4. Harry Miller on Wed, March 09, 2005

      The passion of the church should be Jesus.

    5. Bob on Thu, March 10, 2005

      I am so sick of people trying to figure their pastor out. If they really wanted to help him they need to serve along side him as he leads them. These articles are a waste of time unless it is used to build up the pastor.

    6. Jade on Fri, March 11, 2005

      “The passion should be for Jesus Christ.”  We all know that! When I said what is the church passion about I meant, what do they think God is calling them to do for the community around them.  Did you not read my open statement, “I think love for Christ should drive a church.”

    7. John AVONG on Fri, March 18, 2005

      The Church is ordained by God to do the following things:


      1. To reveal Jesus as the LORD and the SON of God to humanity that men may believe in Him and be saved.


      2. To prepare the Saints for the indwelling of God.


      These two objectives should be the ELEPHANT that drives the Church.

    8. Daniel Zepeda on Fri, March 18, 2005

      Amen and amen to John Avong


      Preaching the Gosple of Jesus Christ to save mankind and restore fellowship with God is our number 1 purpose. I like how John Avong put it “The Church is ordained by God to do ...” What God has ordained He will empower us to do! It is when we leave this basic purpose that we must rely on our own strength and that is why today so many of our churches are floundering and society so fallen. Lets get back to:

      1. To reveal Jesus as the LORD and the SON of God to humanity that men may believe in Him and be saved.


      2. To prepare the Saints for the indwelling of God.


      Brother John your right on!

       

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