In the last post I introduced the book Five Challenges of the Once and Future Church by Loren B. Mead. The first challenge we dealt with was the challenge of ownership of the ministry of the church. You can read more about that here.
The second challenge that Mead introduces is the challenge of structure. He spends much time talking about the denominational structures within which the church has operated for centuries.
While there’s nothing wrong with denominations nor the structures they use to accomplish ministry, Mead introduces the thought is this the best way to do ministry today? Now I’m not one to change just for the sake of change, but I’m also not afraid of change when it’s needed.
There was a time when denominations and their structures carried great weight and even respect and trust from the average lay person in the American church. But something has happened over time. That respect and trust no longer exists. This is partly due to abuses of power and misappropriation of finances. But it’s also due to generations of our population not willing to settle for the status quo any longer. Gone are the days when authority is respected and trusted because I carry a title.
I won’t get into the specifics that Mead suggests in this chapter. I’ll leave that for you to peruse on your own. But I will challenge you here to think about the denominational structure in which you operate. Think about the manpower that is housed in some hierarchy of leadership. Think about the clergy who fill offices of President, Bishop, etc. while there are churches closing because they don’t have pastors to lead them. Think about the financial obligations that these denominational structures bring.
Mead suggests that restructuring the way we do business as church might very well free up manpower, clergy, and finances to better use the resources God has given us. There’s not cut and dried answer to this restructuring issue. There’s a lot of conjecture and contemplation, but until something changes we’ll continue down the same path with little difference being made.
I’ve become a great proponent of a deployed staffing structure. This is a structure that would eliminate the need for brick and mortar buildings to house denominational leaders. It would allow these leaders to still serve the church in various roles including as parish pastors. This will certainly raise a few eyebrows and cause a little heartburn for some. It’s not intended to be the new way but a conversation starter to get us thinking about what ministry could look like if we started to think less about territory and attendance and more about Kingdom and discipleship.
So the short version is the church needs to re-evaluate her structures in order to continue to be effective in ministry to a new time and culture.
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