Your Church Staff Structure Can Be A Lid Or A Lane

Your church staff structure can hinder or help, be a cap or a corridor, a chain or a conduit, or a lid or a lane to your church’s growth and effectiveness. Most churches that are stuck or in decline have failed to significantly and consistently restructure their staff. Churches that continue to grow in numbers and effectiveness restructure strategically and draft their staff org charts in pencil.

Staff restructuring in effective and growing churches is triggered by 5 S’s: Strategy, Mission, and Vision, Span of Care and Control, Senior Staff and Staff Meetings, Strengths and Skills, Systems, Processes, and Services.

The 5 S’s of Staff Restructuring

Church staff restructuring decisions that are prompted and determined by the following circumstances have the greatest likelihood of impacting the church positively.

1. Strategy, Mission, and Vision – The church’s mission, vision, and strategy can prompt reorganization around:

• Departments or core functions
• New ministries
• Additional worship services
• New missions, evangelism, and discipleship strategies
• New campuses or church plants
• Church wide objectives of a strategic plan 

2. Span of Care and Control – An increase in the number of staff supervisor direct reports, an increase in responsibilities, and growth in members and volunteers that staff must equip and care for can prompt reorganization that might include:

• Creating an Executive Pastor Position
• Hiring of department or ministry area heads
• Adding Associate level positions
• Encouraging Part Time positions
• Developing Staff Intern and Residency Programs
• Outsourcing jobs and duties

3. Senior Staff and Staff Meetings – Too many people in staff meetings, too many staff meetings, the need for more nimble decision making, the desire for better communication and collaboration, or a group to focus more exclusively on leadership than management can prompt reorganization that might include:

• Creating an Executive Team consisting of the Senior Pastor and 2-3 key staff
• Creating a Staff Leadership Team consisting of Department or Area Heads
• Creating a Ministry Leadership Team consisting of Ministers and Ministry Leaders
• A change in church governance structures

4. Strengths and Skills – The identification of the strengths and skills of staff can prompt reorganization that might include:

• The consolidation, reduction, or addition of job duties and responsibilities
• The transfer of a staff member to a new or vacant position on staff
• The termination of a staff member

5. Systems, Processes and Services – The need or desire to add or improve church wide processes, systems, and services can prompt reorganization in areas such as:

• Assimilation, Hospitality, and New Members
• Communications, Media, Technology
• Safety and Security
• Financial Controls
• Buildings, Grounds, Food Service
• Pastoral Counseling, Weddings, Funerals, Hospitals, Nursing Homes

Proactively examining these 5 buckets of church organization will move you towards staff restructuring that will help you accommodate, plan, and prepare for growth, and free you up to pursue the vision God has given your church.

Posted on September 18, 2018
Tags: church staff organizationchurch staff restructuringchurch staff structure