Systematic Structure

Systematic - done or acting according to a fixed plan or system; methodical.

Structure - the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something

complex. “THE ARRANGEMENT OF PARTS OR ELEMENTS THAT ARE DONE ACCORDING TO GOD’S PLAN FOR HIS KINGDOM.”

Core Values articulate clearly what a congregation will value the highest. These are the elements that help the people live out their lives as Christ-followers.

To sum it up, these are the items that will be your culture.

Mission Statement - this is where you are and who you are-

Why does your church exist and what value does it bring to the community? Your mission is made up of your objectives and how you will reach them. What do you do well right now that impacts the most people? This public statement should be made up of your core values and beliefs. This is the answer to why you exist as a church. Let’s look at some examples…

“To welcome the community with open arms. To train an army of people who are passionate about living out God’s purpose for their lives. To then give that army an outlet for sharing the love of Christ through outreach and missions. - Saddleback Church

“We exist to create disciples who are deepening their faith, sharing their hope, using their gifts, and being known by their love.” - Hyland Park Church

“We are committed to helping every person believe in Jesus, belong to a family, become a disciple and build His kingdom. - Gateway Church

A mission statement gets to the basics. It answers the question of “how” and shares the core values of the church in an easy to memorize statement. There is scripture that can back up each value shared. This is how you will measure whether you are being successful or not in ministries. Is your youth ministry or kid’s ministry accomplishing this mission? Where are the areas that need work? Is this a “hole in the boat” that needs attention? At the end of the day, if these values are being faithfully accomplished, people are being impacted.

Vision Statement - this is where you are going-

What are the plans that are too big for you to accomplish on your own with the Lord? It is important people know why you exist and where you are going. This is the direction you are going that can only be accomplished by the grace of God. We tend to focus on “who” we are, “what” we are going to do, and “how” we are going to try to accomplish the task. But do we know the “why” to our existence? What are the dreams God has given you for the church? Let’s look at some examples in part…

“It is the dream of a place where the hurting, the depressed, the frustrated, and the confused can find love, acceptance, help, hope, forgiveness, guidance, and encouragement. - Saddleback Church

“For saints and seekers. For individuals and families. For those more or less fortunate. For young and old. For re, yellow, black, and white. For blue collars, white collars, and no collars. For Omaha locals and foreign refugees. At Glad Tidings, the good news is for all people.” - Glad Tidings Church

“We not only want City on a Hill to be famous for being all about Jesus, we want the person and work of Jesus to be famous in our city. This fame begins in our own lives, and extends into our homes, workplaces, universities and city. - City on a Hill Church

Habakuk 2.2 2 Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.

Core Values, a Mission Statement, and Vision Statement answer the questions of why, who, what, and how. Again, every church has these, but are they being shared? Do new guests have to guess what is valuable to you and what your dreams are, or are they being displayed, followed, and celebrated? Every ministry that exists in your church should be evaluated from these God given foundational values. Remember…in order for everyone to be on the same page, something must be written down. If a plan is to be clear, direction must be articulated and shared.

Church Board Development -

The church board is designed to be a team, and teams need leadership, clarity, and unity. As the pastor, your role is typically designed to be the chair of such a board. As the shepherd of the flock, you are responsible. There are obvious obstacles that will need to be addressed. When we consider a church board, how do we structure it? Are we walking into a situation that already has various dynamics that could be an issue when it comes to leader the church in the direction God is leading you? If so, how do we address these?

These are issues that may take more time, energy, and structural processes that may be involved in this packet. In cases such as these, feel free to contact us so that we can help walk you through the dynamics that would best suit you and your situation.

Our goal is serve the local church. Church board structures have a degree of flexibility, but there will no doubt be legal requirements you will need to be aware of. Fundamentally, the structure should serve the board in its role and responsibilities, and not restrict or limit its ability to function according to the vision given by the pastor.

Moving forward, evaluate the relationship you have with your church board. Here are some questions to answer:

  • How close are you to them?

  • Do they know your heart?

  • Do they trust you?

  • Do you trust them?

  • Have you clearly communicated the vision that God has given you?

  • Are there moments of prayer over each other and pouring into each other?

SO WHAT’S NEXT?

  • Evaluate your church and locate where you can give away ministry. Remember to do what only you can do. Be the lead visionary, the lead worshipper, the biggest giver, the lead influencer of Godly culture, and most faithful prayer warrior….give away everything else.

  • Find the most influential person in your church and share your life with them so they can see your heart for the church. Love on them and show them you care.

  • Begin putting the right people in the right place to serve. Help them find their sweet spot. Find the person who lights up the room when they walk in and start training them to serve in your Guest Experience Team. Find the person who is obsessed with organization and have them serve on your Operations Team as they help set up and organize events. Find the person who is obsessed with safety and have them serve as your Safe Church Team.

  • Set up job descriptions for existing and future staff. Have them help build that description so they will know the expectations when evaluations are due.

  • Identify how you will communicate with your staff and volunteer leads, then over-communicate all information needed.

  • Plan a staff retreat or prayer advance. Get away to evaluate and dream.

  • Get background checks on anyone working with kids, youth, or on Safe Church…ANYONE! Then keep those up to date as they come due.

  • Evaluate your church board and answer the critical questions needing answered.

The plan of God is just that…a plan. In order for there to be a plan, there must be some essence of structure. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul gives instructions on the basics of structure when it comes to our life.

Ephesians 5.15-17 15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

 Every person who walks through the door of the church wants 2 things…They want to be NEEDED and they want to be KNOWN. We will never be able to intentionally meet the needs of the people unless there is structure in place. To put it plain and simple, in our world there is a simple equation…

STRUCTURE = INTENTIONALITY

This equation is in place in every business that you enter…or it should be. My guess is that if McDonald’s didn’t have structure to make sure they ordered enough fries for your visit or the grocery store didn’t plan to have enough milk or bread for the storm coming up, you wouldn’t think they cared very much for you. Structure in place means you are being intentional about the customer…or in our case…the soul that is in the balance.

Imagine this…you are in a boat on a journey across the lake with a group of people. As you are on your way, you find a couple of holes in your boat that need to be patched. You can’t really stop the journey because there are people needing to get to their destination. In order to make it safe across the lake, you are simply going to have to “patch the holes.”

“Patching the holes” in the ministry means you are doing everything you need to do to provide foundational structure for your people. God is providing the direction and you are “called” to get people to the final destination. There are questions you can ask yourself to help identify the “holes” that may exist where you are.

  • If your church was to shutdown, would anyone in the community notice or care?

  • What does it mean for you to connect to your community and how is this done?

  • From the moment people walk through your door, what steps are in place for them to become “owners” of the vision instead of just “renters”?

  • If you have a vision for your church, who all knows what that is?

 Before we go any farther, let us be clear…APPROPRIATE STRUCTURE DOES NOT MEAN WE HINDER THE SPIRIT TO MOVE. To arrive at the Supernatural…We provide the natural and let God provide the super. God is a God of order and structure. We need to know our place. We are never to do anything that will prevent the moving of the Holy Spirit in our church. This is Pentecost 101. It is only because of the third person of the Trinity that we can even be drawn to Jesus for salvation in the first place. This is why it is important to be intentional about allowing freedom of the Spirit when we are setting up structure of our service schedules.

For example: If you run 2 services, how do you allow the Holy Spirit to move in the 1st service without messing up the timing that is needed to conduct the 2nd service for those about to enter? If the Holy Spirit is moving, let Him! If altar service goes extra-long, keep it going! Have structure in place to communicate to your staff and guest experience team of the change in schedule taking place. As people enter for the 2nd service, have your guest experience team inform them of what has taken place in the 1st service and to stay in an attitude of reverence and worship. Then do everything backwards as the Spirit allows.

Keep the altar service going however long needed before you move into the sermon. Preach your heart as the Holy Spirit allows and give opportunity for application. As you give an invitation, let the worship team do worship backwards. Start with slow worship and build up to the praise as the Holy Spirit leads. End on a high note of worship. This is systematic structure! This is being intentional and having plans in place. Over the next few pages you will find some examples to get you started in being intentional about the people you are attempting to reach with the Gospel of Jesus. Our goal is to spark ideas to provide systematic structure to help provide a foundation to launch from. Some may find areas that you already have structure that just need to be shored up. Others may find “holes in the boat” that need some major repair in the area of structure. Whatever the case, let’s agree that people are worth us being intentional about impacting their life with the Gospel with Jesus Christ.

STARTING WITH A FOUNDATION

One cannot have a clear path to where they are going unless they first know where they are. This is where our Core Values, Mission, and Vision come into play. This is in essence the culture you are creating. Even if you don’t have these statements written or painted on a wall for people to see as they enter your church, everyone has these elements in some form. Let’s break this down and give some examples.

Core Values - these are the non-negotiable foundations you are building on. These are the words or statements that define your identity and your choices. These are what are important to you. Every church has these whether they market them or not. They are in the things you do day in and day out each week and are essential in implementing mission and vision, setting goals, and evaluating new ministry opportunities.

Let’s look at some examples of some core values

Strengthening Faith

Pursue Excellence

Loving People

Church Planting

Love God

Live Generously

Social Justice

Sharing Hope

Honor People

God Focused

Community Evangelism

Training Leaders

SO WHAT’S NEXT?

  1. Get away and pray! Pray for God’s direction and vision!

  2. Ask the questions that need to be asked. What are the most important values that God is leading you into? What are the essential elements that are the make-up of your church? What are the “holes in the boat” that need patched?

  3. Once your values are discovered, write them into a mission sentence that is easy to understand and memorize. Pray over them, fast over them, and pray some more. They don’t have to be perfect, but they need to be clear.

  4. Give this statement to people you trust and allow them to ask questions to ensure it is clear and understandable.

  5. Pray for the God-given dream of the future that can only be accomplished with the Lord’s help. Write that down. Share it with people you trust and let them ask questions.

  6. Once it is clear and precise, and after you have prayed and fasted over the mission and the direction God is showing you, share and communicate that vision. When you think you have communicated it enough, communicate it again. Write it down, preach on it constantly, make banners, put it on the website…do whatever you need to do to communicate.

  7. Always evaluate your ministries against this mission and vision. Always be ready to adjust the mission and vision as God leads you. Let God drive the mission and vision as you reach people with the Gospel to impact the Kingdom of God.

BUILDING TEAMS

I hate to bust some bubbles, but church was never meant to be done alone. If you were to look at the first church in Acts, you see this very evident.

Acts 2.42-47 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

So many references of plural moments. People were reached because there wasn’t just one person doing all of the work. They shared in the ministry. They shared in the serving. If you were to break down the church of that day then you would see them following the teaching of the apostles’. But someone had to run the property selling ministry. Someone had to make the bread to be eaten and run the Bible studies. There were teams!

We understand there are a thousand different elements to consider and hundreds of options that will arise when it comes to establishing and building teams. Our goal is to help facilitate ways to build SYSTEMATIC STRUCTURE as you build healthy teams to help further the Kingdom of God.

Although this is not an exhaustive list, here are some items to consider and some resources to apply wherever you are in the process.

Whether you are a bi-vocational pastor and the only staff team member with 10 volunteers or you have 4 full-time staff, 4 part-time staff, and 150 volunteers, strategies for building teams is necessary. There has to be structure and policy in place in order to effectively accomplish the mission and vision of the church. We are not saying as a single bi-vocation pastor that you need to have a policy manual with discipline procedures and policies in place for vacation requests or Sunday School room usage. But there may come a time when those elements will allow the ministry to flow better because of the structure in place. When you are intentional about these elements, you are planning and preparing for the growth you will experience.

Here is a good way to look at it as you prepare for the harvest God is going to give you.

  • If you pastor a church of 50 people, set up your structure as if you were a church of 100.

  • If you pastor a church of 100 people, run your structure as if you were a church of 200.

  • If you pastor a church of 200 people, set up your structure as if you were a church of 400.

  • If you are a church of 400 people…well…you know what to do.

Always be a step ahead with strategies in place to accomplish the mission and vision given to you to reach one more with the Gospel. It is that important! Structure is something to build on. There will be things you do now that won’t work for the next season of your church. As the Lord grows the number of people in your care, the structure will need to be evaluated and altered.

Strategies for Healthy Staff and Volunteers-

Whatever your volunteers or serve teams look like, they exist and need strategy. Just like Sunday School classes have meeting times and lesson plans, all your teams need structure. This includes everything from expectations, to steps for kid’s check-in, to how the offering is counted and recorded.

The best marketing is word of mouth. This means the best marketing that can take place in your church can be the people that take ownership in the mission and vision of the church. But there must be strategy in place to maintain and build structure needed.

Hiring Staff: Don’t hire abilities, hire character and passion. Abilities can be taught, but passion cannot. Hire team builders. Hire prayer warriors. Hire faithful servants that would do the work even without pay because that is their character.

Staff/Volunteer Meetings: Staff meetings should take place enough times during the month that vision is clear, tasks are precise, and ownership of ministry items are given Ministry updates can be given and calendar events should be planned. Evaluate and improve.

Job Descriptions for both Staff and Volunteers: There needs to be clear expectations given and written down. Write down goals to be evaluated, tasks to be done, and communication clear.

Staff/Volunteer Evaluations: Anything of value needs to be measured. Whether you do evaluations yearly, bi-yearly, or quarterly, expectations and goals need to be clear and measured.

Staff/Volunteer Communication Elements: How is communication done so that it can be precise? Email, GroupMe, Google Calendar, task management systems such as Trello or Monday.com. Remember… over-communicate everything!

Staff Retreats/Prayer Advances: Getting away with your staff can be an incredible way to build relationships. Whether it is just meeting on a Saturday at another local church or a 3 day retreat to evaluate ministries and build your teams, these moments can be momentum boosters.

Church 101/Growth Track for Volunteers-

Here is the truth; there will be people who attend your church that you think will be with you until the Lord comes back, and they will leave. There will also be people who you think will never connect, but they will become the biggest and longest supporters of the ministry in your charge. Because of this, it is important to take advantage of whatever time you have with the people given to your care. We ARE NOT responsible for how or if people respond to the calling on their life. We ARE responsible to give opportunities for people to grow their faith and develop their calling and gifts.

So what does assimilation at your church look like? From the moment someone walks into your door for the first time, to the moment they walk out to follow the ministry that God has gifted them with, what are you doing with that time? How are you valuing these moments? Many times this is done with a meeting or class that teaches the beliefs of the church. This is typically followed by a path to become a member. A good Church 101 Class can include information such as Church Culture, Membership opportunity, Spiritual Giftings Test and ways for Volunteer Involvement. We have attached some examples of itineraries, job descriptions, and evaluation forms for you to use as starting places. Make whatever changes needed to make them your own. In the day that we live in, it is very important that background checks be done for volunteers and serve teams. It is a minimum cost that can help provide a safety net for your church. Here are some options of background check providers to check with:

BUDGETS

Overall Church Budget-

Evaluating financial trends can be a huge blessing. Knowing what you paid on your electric bill or water bill the last couple of years lets you know the amount that your facilities are being used. Knowing the months where giving is up and giving is down can help guide direction for classes or sermons. How much are you giving to missions? What percentage of your monthly budget is used for staff verses ministry operations? We believe that as you are faithful to measure and be good stewards of the funds God gives, He will bless you with more.

Luke 16.10 10 Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

Ministry Budgets Ministry budgets can be an amazing way to provide ownership of your teams and also help alleviate having to tax people with fund-raisers you might do. We know there are definitely reasons a fundraiser or capital campaign, but ministry budgets allow teams freedom to spend funds allowed to them. Because the of the proactive approach on the spending for the ministry, there is staff ownership that takes place so more ministry is done with less delay.

Approval and Board Involvement No matter what size church you pastor, there needs to be accountability held to the highest standard. This means you need an entity, such as a Advisory Council, Church Board or Board of Trustees, that can help be a level of accountability. Allowing such approval done for ministry budgets and overall church budgets provides accountability needed to help ensure a church being a good steward of all funds. We have attached some examples of church budgets forms and ministry budgets forms for you to use as starting places. Make whatever changes needed to make them your own.

SUMMARY Leadership is tough. Leading people is constant. There will be moments when we feel overwhelmed or discouraged. But there will also be times when we are on top of the world and feel we can conquer hell with a squirt gun. The dichotomy of leadership is across the board. But remember…it’s not our church, it’s God’s.

Matthew 16.18 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Jesus said HE will build HIS church. Our role is to simply be faithful to what God has given us. Be faithful in the structure as you win the lost and build the Kingdom. Be intentional in your calling and serve 1 more. MAKE HEAVEN LOOK DIFFERENT!

RESOURCES AND DOCUMENTS

Letters

  • Church membership letters

  • Encouragement letters/release letters

  • Quarterly giving letters

  • New Guest letters

  • New giver letters

Job Descriptions

Staff Evaluation Forms

Financial Forms

  • Reimbursement form

  • Church budget form

  • Ministry budget form