The theme this week has been: Going under the hood. The idea that we as church leaders get into the ‘nitty gritty’ of ministry.
Today the main sessions focused on “Church Systems”. God works through systems. One great example being our bodies, another the universe. The church, thought we don’t think of it in this way, is very much a system. If the system is messed up, no matter how much prayer, fasting, commitment we bring to the table will make it work. The main point was: Most of the struggles churches have – have less to do with the pastor and people- and more to do with Church Systems that automatically cause tension and difficulty. One example was: If a church committee hires and fires all personnel, how can the Senior Pastor expect to lead them? If the lead pastor is to create synergy and teamwork, but doesn’t get to select any of the players…it just isn’t going to work. You want volunteers for AWANA on Wednesday, and for Adults to be engaged in small groups, or discipleship. A major problem for many of us – our own ministries compete with each other. It’s a system problem.
One of the hot issues addressed was congregational church rule. If you have no clue to ‘church stuff’ and don’t know what congregational rule is – well good for you. Stanley is opposed to it. (As am I) Where is it in scripture? Well, Andy offered these examples: Joesph’s brothers voted to sell him as a slave. Aaron and the children of Israel voted for a golden calf to worship. The people of Israel voted to have a King, when God didn’t want it. You can’t communicate complex issues fully to large groups of people. Yet we try to do so, then take a vote. What happens so often is we get stuck with bad decisions.** The point was made.
The breakouts are certainly stimulating. One concept sticks out to me. North Point teaches that churches that want to grow focus on getting bigger, when the key is to focus on getting better. Because if you have outstanding quality, people will come. If you gather a crowd, with no quality – or an irrelevant environment, they go home and never come back.
McDonalds and Coke have accompished their “Great Commission”. What is keeping the church from accomplishing Her’s??
Tell me what you think
– Brad
bradraby.com 
getting bigger, when the key is to focus on getting better.How true!!!!!!I live in Australia and wanted to get to Drive 06. Listen to Drive 05 blew my mind.Do you know if they made DVD’s of the event?Regards Paul
church “systems” do have a purpose, in my opinion. They enforce accountability. If pastors and staff were left unchecked, you’d inevitably have much abuse of power. My church is experiencing this problem right now. The pastor has surrounded himself with yes-men and he has progressively over the last four years started abusing his power (not to mention other people’s money). The long and short of this is that I’m leaving this church (and possibly attending IRBC NC!)I think the staff and pastors should definitely have a say-so in hiring, however, it should be a joint effort with the committee, not a solo gig.In my opinion, it’s not the system itself that fails, it’s the people in the system. Systems that are implemented well succeed beyond expectations. When people have personal agendas and add this to the system, then they break.Just my $.02
Thanks for the $.02.It is unfortuante to hear of the difficulty at your current church – and with no details, or desire of details from either side I wouldn’t dare to comment on the particular situation – but that type of senario is exactly what a good “system” prevents. If ever financials are ever abused over a longe period of time – a good system is not in place to prevent it. For example: In our church the Staff leaders have the authority over their budgets to spend for their ministry within certain specified limits. But we have to fill out purchase orders and file reciepts which are reviewed for accountability. Furthermore a stewardship team works with us to determine what the budget is to start with. Any spending outside our budget has to approved by a Business Administrator and committiee made up of lay leaders in our church.This systems gives us the flexibility to lead in the 21st century which moves at the speed of light, but has built in measures that insure godly and fiscal responsibility.The ultimate key to the success of the system is: Evaluation – everything is evaluated in order to maintain maximum efficency and responsibility.