Why Church Administration is More Important Than You Think

In my work with church starters, I’m consistently amazed by the diversity, creativity, and thoughtfulness behind their faithful innovations. From a former DJ who leads worship gatherings in the nightclub he used to promote, to a church who feeds hungry people through a neighborhood food co-op, to a pastor who guides people into spiritual formation at a potter’s wheel, the range of new worshiping communities I’ve encountered truly inspires. 

However, another consistent theme steadily materializes across these stories: most faithful innovators at best tolerate church administration as a means to an end or, at worst, find themselves burdened by it. We often demote administration to an afterthought or a necessary evil, and we rarely engage it with any theological grounding. 

And yet, in my experience, weak administration has a powerful negative effect on these communities’ worship, relational, and spiritual lives. Neglecting administration leads to:  

• burn out 
• insider/outsider culture 
• failure to engage mission 
• failure of evangelism 
• mismanagement of resources 
• legal issues 
• abrasion with funding institutions 
• failure to multiply 
• personality-driven culture/cult

Carefully Tending the Life of the Community 

Think about the early stages of a house church community. Part of its appeal in connecting with people is its organic ethos. Relationship and authenticity are more important than rigid rules or structures. And yet, this kind of organic nature rarely sustains itself. Most often, the growth is spurred on by one or two personalities that intuitively bear the responsibility until they can no longer do so. Soon, they are the only ones leading, and they’re beginning to burn out while the community is yearning to use their gifts. The question of administration is, How do we invite others to lead—and know that we can count on them—without creating a system that feels too formal or “institutional”? 

Brendan McClenahan, Director of Advancement for Cyclical INC and a church starter in Western Michigan, shares a story of when a member of his house church community surprised him. They were about 6 months into their house church rhythms, which included several families sharing gratitude, a meal, scripture, discussion and prayer. The two founding couples decided to meet as leadership to discern and adapt. One of them said, “Brendan, we would like a soft agenda for the night before we arrive. We don’t always know how to help lead, because we don’t know where we would fit in or what comes next. If we had a soft agenda, it would be less of a Brendan show and we could all share in leading the night.” By administering a soft agenda they all knew what to expect and how to meaningfully contribute their gifts. As they continued to have conversations to gain clarity on their emerging mission projects, communications, and expectations, they found small ways to keep everyone on the same page, working together. A year later, the house church has developed several lightweight and tailored administrative supports, like shared calendars, a weekly email, and a few spreadsheets. With minimalistic yet pinpointed administration, the community is not solely relying on one person for leadership.

Clear Expressions of God’s Love

Even if you don’t have church members directly asking you for more structure, you can proactively build stronger administration within your new church to help you clearly engage God’s mission and share the love of Christ with those around you. 

Here are a few signs your administration is strong, along with some diagnostic questions: 

1. You are woven into multi-tiered relationships. Are you connecting on multiple levels for mutual kinship, accountability, and support? Do you have colleagues and peers outside of your new worshiping community in your local area? Are you engaged with a coach or spiritual director? Do you have broader connections, perhaps through a denomination or national networks? 
2. You have a culture of adaptation. Are you discerning and engaging with the Holy Spirit through each life cycle of faithful innovation? What are your processes for identifying when you need to pivot or adapt? How do you follow through? Who is involved in your adaptation process? 
3. You are able to take shrewd risks. Are you leveraging unique opportunities to expand faithful innovation? Are the pieces in place so that you can move quickly when the right moment presents itself? Who comes alongside you to help you discern these risks? 
4. You have a clear way of telling stories. Are you communicating stories of God’s activity across multiple platforms in order to develop new connections and inspire hope? Is your engagement on social media building mutuality and relationships? Does your storytelling (whether in person or online) communicate authentically who you are and what you’re about? 

In our last blog, we introduced the Leadership Assessment for Faithful Innovators (LAFI), through which you’ll get a copy of your results as well as an eBook that walks you through some specific questions to help you develop all 12 core values. We want to help you gain insight into your unique strengths and weaknesses as a leadership team, including administration. 

After you’ve taken the assessment, we’d love to schedule a 15-minute coaching session with you. Sometimes that conversation can help kickstart a more meaningful path for administration.

Reflection

As faithful innovators, we are helping to connect people meaningfully to God and to others. Our responsible work of administration can serve others as we direct them towards God’s love. Read the following questions to reflect on how administration is structured in your church.

• In which of these areas of administration are you most and least confident? Multi-tiered relationships, adaptation, shrewd risk-taking, storytelling. 
• Think about your web of relationships. Who is in your inner circle? How do you build meaningful spiritual friendships? Do you have connections outside of your church in your local community? 
• No faithful innovation remains static. How do you experience your emotions when you need to adapt? 
• When was the last time you took a shrewd risk? 
• When have you received surprising or powerful feedback from your community’s storytelling?