7/10/26 by Larry Barker
Is there a lid on how large a church could grow or even should grow? Carey Nieuwhof gives three factors to consider: the capacity of the leader, the size of the community, and how you have structured for growth. Having already written on the first two, let’s address the importance of structure. Hal Seed reminds us of the temptation to become so busy working “in” ministry that you never spend the needed time working “on” your ministry. Have you spent the necessary time planning your work so that now you can work your plan? The temptation of doers is to spend 90% of their time working in the ministry.
You may not have the gift of administration, but you still must work at building systems that will help you to accomplish what you believe God has called you to undertake. A system can be defined as, “reproducible and interconnected processes by which the organization actualizes its values and achieves its mission.” Does everyone know and understand how you will disciple others to be disciple makers? Does your team know and understand how you will on-ramp volunteers into the right positions for them to thrive and be a blessing to your church?
One possible myth is that there are not enough leaders for the ministries you already have at your church. Could it be that the problem is too many ministries? It is also a myth that the more ministries you have immediately translates into more people. Quite often, the more ministries you have, the more diluted they become. Dan Reiland states, “The majority of churches that practice a lean and simple ministry typically reach more people.” Your church cannot do every ministry, nor should it try. The real question is how many ministries are too many? Has the time come to eliminate some?
Are you wondering why you do not have more help and more willing volunteers? Maybe the issue is proper training and equipping, not an unwillingness to serve. Revisit the mission because that is why you do what you do. Then refocus on your vision for carrying out the mission because that is what you do (ministries). Now you are to the implementation (strategy) of that mission and vision in how you do what you do. Carey Nieuwhof states, “Focus on why twice as much as the what and the how.”
Why? Because people are motivated much more by why you do what you do, than what you do and how you do it. An empty slot on your team and a need for more help is not a mission. Your mission (why), vision (what), and your strategy (how) cannot be fuzzy. They must be crystal clear. Once they have bought into the mission, the why, there is still no guarantee they will remain connected if the strategy is not well organized. Set a high standard by clarifying responsibilities and expectations and then hold the team to that standard.
If you want a better team, you must do a better job of training them. Do not throw them to the wolves and expect them to fend for themselves. Think through a process of preparation where you plan out each step for onboarding. Focus heavily on relationship building where you are focused on using your ministry to build people and using people to build your ministry. Provide coaching and mentoring along the way by regularly checking in to see where they need help and how you can help them.
Make sure you build into your system rhythms of rest and relaxation. The normal church has 20% of the people doing 80% of the work. It is easy to overwork and overload the 20%. Be creative and think through ways to reward your team with time off and how to practice celebrating as a team. Occasionally take your foot off the gas pedal and allow your leaders and workers to coast, but always be praying about how you can improve on all of these steps in your system. Take action and decide to decide by determining when you will follow through on these practices.
Micro-managing is an absolute no-no. It will drive you and those you are working with crazy. Give permission to others to do what you have asked them to do, and everyone should be focusing on delegating 75% of what they do. Work from a matrix that defines what is urgent and what is non-urgent. Then determine what items only you can do and what items someone else can do. This is not about passing off to others what you “don’t” want to do but rather zeroing in on what is your responsibility and what will impassion someone else by handing that item off to them.
The urgent that only you can do needs to be done immediately. The not-so-urgent that only you can do needs your attention by deciding when you will handle it. The urgent that someone else can do needs your attention by deciding who on the team is best suited for that assignment. Once again, you must be willing to delegate. Then the not urgent that someone else can do might help you to finally resolve some of the ministries and time consumers that need to be eliminated once and for all. That can be hard, but remaining silent to avoid hurting someone’s short-term feelings may lead to longer-term problems.
The mission and message of your church is sacred, but the methods should not be. In dying churches, the methods have become sacred, and the mission is no longer sacred. Honor the past, but that is not where you need to function and live. Be willing to learn better ways of carrying out the mission of God. Consider your context, but never forget that contextualization is about learning where people live and meeting them there, but it should never be about theology. The key is gospel clarity, not the listener’s comfort.