Church Organizational Structure- A Bit More

For those who have been following the Church Organizational Structure series, I thought it would be nice to take a second to look at a Scriptural example before moving to the next job description.  In our Small Group today, a passage was brought back to my attention and I thought it appropriate to perhaps revisit it in light of this series.  Turn with me to Exodus 18 and let’s look at these verses in particular:

13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. 14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”

15 Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and laws.”

Interesting isn’t it?  The great Moses, leader of the Exodus, had to have an outsider come in to recognize a potential problem in his leadership style.  Chances are, as most of you have been reading the Church Organizational Structure series you have thought the very same thing.  Sure, as a business consultant, one who has never served as a pastor of a church, it would be easy for me to come in a tell you to simply realign your organization.  I would imagine Moses most likely felt the same way when his father-in-law brought into question his organizational structure.  God, in all of His Wisdom, knew Moses respected his father-in-law Jethro and most likely spoke through him to finally get Moses to see the problem.  As you can see from Moses’s response, he really did not see any other way than the way he was doing it.  Look at Jethro’s response to Moses, and perhaps you as well:

17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. 21 But select capable men from all the people-men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain-and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”

Sometimes, as leaders, we begin to get so wrapped up in the day to day managing that we lose our focus and perhaps our energy to seek alternative ways of accomplishing our goals.  It seems as if Moses, new in his leadership role, was allowed to have a luxury… an outside opinion.

Sure, Jethro had no idea of the magnitude of Moses’s job, but he did know some simple truths that he imparted to Moses as well as other leaders who would listen.  Sometimes it takes someone from the outside looking in to provide the best alternatives to common problems.  In the Church Organizational Structure series, we have been and will continue to discuss ways to battle the common needs of the church versus the much needed focus of the pastor.  As a businessman, I can offer some insight into the world of “church” and much like Jethro, diagnose a problem that is clear to me, but perhaps not as clear to you.

If you are a pastor reading this series and would want to gain some perspective from Jethro, I would suggest the following bullets to consider from Exodus 18:

• *  Be the people’s representative before God and pray for those you lead.  Shepherd.
• *  Teach your flock the decrees and laws.
• *  Show them how to live life according to these precepts and provide coaching on ways to strengthen their ministries.
• *  Select capable men, who fear God, are trustworthy, and appoint them as officials or judges to handle the day to day needs of the flock.
• *  Embrace the change and not only will you be able to receive peace and strength from it, but so will those you lead.

Join us next time as we continue to break down the potential organizational structures of today’s churches.

How are some of your churches set up from an organizational perspective?  What has worked and what hasn’t?

If you would like more information, please be sure to catch our next blog: Church Organizational Structure-the Executive Pastor’s Role.

If this article was of interest to you, please check some of the others in this topic by clicking on one of the titles below:

Divide or Don’t Divide?  Church Organizational Structures

Questions for Church Organizational Structures

Reorganizing your Team According to their Strengths

Building the Right Church Team

Church Organizational Structures : A Bit More

Discovering The Right Church Organizational Structure

Discovering The Right Church Organizational Structure – Part II

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About the Writer:

Trent Cotton has spent a number of years in management and business consulting. After spending some time in the field, he joined the HR department, beginning in recruiting and eventually serving as the Department Head of HR for one of the major lines of business. With such a varied background, he works to bring all of these together to help churches and other Christian organizations incorporate some common business practices into their ministries to enable them to better serve the Kingdom. He currently works for SourcePointe, an HR Outsourcing Agency while continuing to own and operate Christian Management Consulting as a ministry. In his free time, he also writes a lot on Church Development as a Church Consultant.