The following quotes are from Rick Warren (via J.D. Greear’s blog). Does this hit home at all for your church and ministry?
“…most churches are structured where the lay people do church maintenance and the paid staff do ministry. So you end up with, say, two hundred members responsible for the maintenance of the church while one pastor is supposed to do all the ministry! How stupid is that? This kind of structure will not only burn-out the pastor, it will also keep members, who God gifted to minister, from being mobilized to serve.”
“Here’s a common mistake I’ve observed over the years with churches who want to mobilize their members: we teach our people that every member is a minister, but then we take the brightest and best and turn them into bureaucrats!”
“If you’re serious about mobilizing your members for ministry, you must create a church structure that maximizes their opportunities to engage in ministry. The more organizational machinery your church sets up, the more time, energy, and money it takes to maintain it. That is precious time, energy, and money that could be invested in ministry to people instead. The kind of structure your church has does not cause growth, but it does control the rate and the size of your growth.”
“In fact, when I meet cantankerous and critical Christians, I usually discover that they’re not involved in a ministry that fits their shape, strengths and abilities. Yet, I’ve seen again and again that all it takes to change their attitude is to get them directly into ministry where they can see how God uses them to change lives.”
If you are looking for a vehicle to help people find their place of ministry, contact us at CSO. We’ve got the tools to help.
