Structure, Staffing, and Systems: The Big Three for Transforming Your Church

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Structure, Staffing, and Systems The Big
Three for Transforming Your Church

• Simply Strategic StuffHelp for Leaders Drowning
  in the Details of Running a Church! Tim Stevens
  and Tony Morgan

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The Big Ones

• How can our ministry structure evolve to maximize
  our ministry?
• How can we staff for growth?
• How can we create systems that maximizes our
  ministry goals?

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1. Organizational Structure
A. Your organizational structure should change
often.
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B. Your structure should mirror your mission.

• VBMB structure under Kingdom Advance
• Empowering Leaders matching pastors/churches
• Emerging Leaders developing the pool
• Glocal Missions missionary partnerships
• Courageous Churches community transformation
• Exec Leadership Team vision
• Support Services under-girding

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C. Maintain an appropriate span of care.

• Youre responsible for too many people if you
• dont have time to listen to them.
• dont have time to return their calls and email.
• dont have time to pray for them.
• dont have time to talk about life.

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D. Eliminate the committees and multiply
the teams.

• Team vision, goals, purpose, unity, equal
  effort, accomplishment
• Committee bureaucracy, policy, power, status,
  lots of meetings

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E. Let your leaders lead.

• Biblical model of Acts 6
• Apostles decision-making
• it seemed good to us and the Holy Spirit
• Rule of thumb
• the larger the church becomes,
• the fewer people
• Make more of the decisions
• From democratic to representative form of
  decision-making
• A pinch for Baptist priests!

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Next Staffing

• How can our ministry structure evolve to maximize
  our ministry?
• How can we staff for growth?
• How can we create a culture that maximizes our
  ministry goals?

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Staffing

• 1. Your new staff member already attends your
  church.

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When to add staff

• 2. Staff ahead of the growth
• Staff for maintenance 1/200
• Staff for growth 1/100

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Money and other stuff

• Pay well and give staff perks.
• early on, when you cant afford to pay what you
  need to, contract promises, and make up for it in
  the mean time with days, certificates, and
  affirmations

Elders who do their work well should be paid
well, especially those who work hard at both
preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says,
Do not keep an ox from eating as it treads out
the grain. And in another place, Those who work
deserve their pay. (1 Tim.518)
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Questions to consider

• What do normal people in our area make?
• What would it cost to replace this person? How
  easy would they be to replace?
• What do other churches our size pay?
• Percent of income and average area housing costs?
• Organizations with salary surveys
• National Association of Church Business
  Administration (nacba.net)
• Christian Management Association (cmaonline.org)
• Leadership Network (leadnet.org)
• www.vbmb.org biannual survey

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Deal with drainers and critics.

• 4. Disgruntled complainers drain dynamic leaders.

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Hiring and Firing

• 5. Make hellos long and goodbyes quick.

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Finally Systems

• How can our ministry structure evolve to maximize
  our ministry?
• How can we staff for growth?
• How can we create systems that maximizes our
  ministry goals?

• Ninety-five percent of the failures are due to
  internal problems. I cant tell you how many
  companies Ive been to that have the
  fast-growing-company plaqueon the wall and are
  about to go under. They dont have the systems
  and people in place.Dave Ferrari, founder of
  Argus Management Corporation

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Leadership, Culture, Systems

• Without systems, all decisions rise to the top.
• Jimmy Carters tennis
• Examples
• Staff handbook
• Purchasing policies
• Facility scheduling

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Two out of three aint bad

• 2. You can pick only two Function, Quality, and
  Cost
• Your choice will be driven by
• your culture,
• your target,
• your leaders,
• your growth history,
• your growth potential, and
• your financial philosophy.

F
Q
C
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3. Volunteers and Hires

• You cant fire volunteers when the construction
  project stalls.
• The free help may cost more.
• More important than bid...
• Reputation Honesty Affinity Workmanship
  Ownership
• Accepting no breaks
• Issues of jobs, integrity in community
• FBC Fredericksburg

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4. In case of emergency

• When you mess up in the leadership, dont cover
  it up.
• Sphere of influence dictates scope of the
  confession
• Get legal counsel
• Get pastoral counsel
• Where no counsel is, the people fall but in the
  multitude of counselors, there is safety.
  Proverbs 1114

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5. Culture takes time.

• There are no shortcuts.
• But these things I plan wont happen right away.
  Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches
  when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems
  slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take
  place. It will not be delayed.
• Habakkuk 22

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Conclusion Structure, Staffing, and Systems

• Focusing on the Big Three will give you 80 of
  the results that will transform your congregation
  
• Remember The purpose of transforming your
  church is to transform your community!
• Internal courage is a means to the end

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Structure, Staffing, and Systems The Big
Three for Transforming Your Church

• Dr. John Chandler
• John.chandler_at_vbmb.org
• Courageous Churches
• Virginia Baptist Mission Board