As a leader, there is nothing more satisfying than to have an idea, putting together a plan, and then seeing that plan executed with a good result. The whole process is challenging, fun, and fulfilling – but far more important than feelings about the process, is how God uses leaders to effectively change their organizations (preferably for the better).
Change is one of those things that happens in life that few people enjoy. However, organizations have a choice. Either they facilitate change intentionally or they simply respond to the change that occurs around them and allow it to dictate the course of their ministry. The leader is either engineering for change, or she is reacting to events as they happen, therefore losing the ability to control the outcome of ministry.
Before we discuss the leader as an engineer further, there is an organic leadership principle that must be understood – healthy growth requires change. [1] I have four children, and my family is constantly throwing clothes into what we call the “too small pile.†As we do laundry weekly, there are items of clothes that get tossed into this pile in our bedroom. But what if all of our four children stayed the same size forever? Would they be healthy? No. While growth is not the only indicator of health, it is definitely an important one.[2]
Mark Driscoll said in regard to change in the church “Growth causes change, change causes complexity, complexity causes chaos, chaos causes concern, concern causes conflict.†[3]  There are issues other than growth that push organizations toward feeling the pinch to change. But if the need for change goes unanswered by leaders then things will not stay the same – change is inevitable. If you can identify the need, and strategically plan ahead through prayer, Bible study, and consultation then you can also control the steps that follow.
For example, using Driscoll’s steps, if you are at the “change causes complexity†stage, then you can seek to organize the complexity and take steps to deal with this change – it does not have to lead to the next step of chaos.
But if you find yourself in chaos in ministry (which is not a fun place to be), you must recognize that people tend to deal with prolonged chaos in one of two ways: (1) apathy – they will eventually quit caring, trying, growing, and just focus on their world and what they can control (2) conflict – out of concern for control people try to initiate their own agendas.
It is the leadership’s role to provide a plan (i.e. strategy to deal with the change, complexity, chaos, and concern) before it leads to apathy (decline and loss of momentum), or conflict. The key theme or main issue that would result from this would be managing or engineering the systems of your organization for change.
Can you take the overall confusion of what your organization does, and break it down into manageable pieces? If we were to use the church as an example, Nelson Searcy identifies eight systems, and then organizes the church according to these eight systems (Sunday morning, finance, outreach/marketing, small groups, assimilation, leadership, ministry, and strategy).[4]
Breaking the organization, and what you do, into bite size pieces also allows you to continually evaluate how you are doing in those specific areas. If you were to ask, “How are we doing?†and someone were to respond “ok, I guess.†This response is not very helpful. But if you were to ask, “How are doing with welcoming new guests?†Then this would be much easier to evaluate and get specific feedback.
So, sit down, pray, and plan for change – how are you going to engineer for a better organization? What are the areas that can be grouped into “bite-sized†pieces for easier management? Remember it’s about making a difference in peoples lives, not keeping everything calm, and everyone happy.
[1] Michael J. Anthony and James Estep Jr. ed. Management Essentials for Christian Ministers (Nashville, Tenessee: Broadman and Holman), 201.
[2] When we say “growth” often times, leaders think numerical growth. This is only one of several types of growth that can take place in an organization. One of the most important types of growth is personal spiritual growth. Are the people in your church growing in their relationship with Christ? If not, then while you may be growing numerically, you are headed for a serious storm ahead.
[3] Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. Vintage Church (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2008), 148.
[4]Â www.churchleaderinsights.com
