If we create an effective organizational map, the people can naturally fit within the framework and use their talents to be a healthy church.
By Jody Dean
Complexity, over-programming, lack of volunteers, lack of clarity, or frustration with the calendar can be common challenges in the local church as we grapple with systems to coordinate our work effectively. If you find yourself how you should map everything you’re setting out to accomplish, you’re not alone.
In church administration, “program” often refers to a ministry such as kid’s worship, student Bible study, or choir rehearsal. The program nomenclature will change from generation to generation or minister to minister, as each shares their vision for accomplishing the mission. A program can also be defined as anything that requires people, property, and finances and thus has to be scheduled.
Let me illustrate this idea. Worship has to be programmed for Sunday at 11 a.m. The people who serve need to know when to be there. The property has to be reserved for the time allotted. And any required financial resources must be set aside to accomplish the objective.
Worship may involve media, praise, and first impressions teams, each arriving at different times for their scheduled volunteer responsibilities. The property is set aside for worship. And the whole time slot needed to practice and participate in worship from beginning to end is programmed (scheduled). The financial resources required for the programmed worship service may involve paid staff, training, utilities, and janitorial services.
Programming and mission
As you evaluate your organizational map and the mission of the church, begin by listing every programmed aspect of your church. This will give you a rough sketch of your organizational map. The next step would be to assign a leader to each programmed area. You could do this on a dry-erase board, computer program, or large paper.
“As you evaluate your organizational map and the mission of the church, begin by listing every programmed aspect of your church. This will give you a rough sketch of your organizational map.” — @jodyddean Share on XIf it’s a programmed activity or event, consider whether it’s connected to your mission. People have limited availability. So scheduling them for anything that doesn’t link directly to the mission would be regarded as mismanagement in the business world. In the ministry realm, mismanagement is a lack of stewardship of time, talent, or treasure.
The people who volunteer week after week in the programmed activities of the church are a limited resource. The push for free time amid work, hobbies, sports, and rest causes people to have limited availability for weekly responsibilities. A few examples include shift work at the hospital that takes people away half of the Sundays a year or the empty nest parents who frequently visit grandkids living in another town. And as people live longer, families struggle to figure out care for elderly parents or grandparents.
When you schedule people for a program, you are using a limited resource. So choose wisely. Are the programs you’ve chosen achieving your church’s mission? Suppose you schedule something people don’t understand as a value add. They will vote by their lack of attendance. We’ve seen this as recent decades revealed many people who voted by not attending Sunday evening services or church discipleship.
Time, talents, and treasure
After considering each program and listing every area with the assigned oversight leader, assign an estimated dollar amount to each program, identifying how much it costs to run that program. If worship costs $2,000 per hour for utilities and staff, then it costs $104,000 per year across 52 Sundays. You don’t have to be exact for this activity, but it’s helpful to be as realistic as possible.
Now, take the program and consider how many people it takes to pull it off. Take that total and multiply it times the number of times it occurs in the year. Now you know the treasure (financial) cost and the time (people) cost.
The talent cost would be the gifts of the people serving, which is subjective. So, you should consider talent cost based on who’s serving. You have a talent pool from your people that you must manage well so each program has a well-developed talent group.
Brainstorming how you program the ministry of your church can help you determine areas you could streamline, eliminate, or redevelop for a healthier overall organization. I outline a few aspects of organizational management, ministry challenges, and coaching tips in my book, Managing the Ministry. Your desire to do better as a pastor or church leader in this crucial area is an ongoing aspect of shepherding. If we map the work well, the people can naturally fit within the framework and use their talents to be a healthy church.
For permission to republish this article, contact Marissa Postell Sullivan.
