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Church Organization Development 101: A Call to Action

Chris Wethman

Updated: Aug 2, 2024



The renewal process in a faith community can be enhanced by taking into consideration the following areas that each require a Call to Action. There are five areas that – when addressed – would positively influence your church’s impact for the sake of the Gospel and increase connectedness and involvement. These are the five areas and their explanations:


APATHY

· Apathy also means unmotivated.

· One of the main reasons people are apathetic is because they don’t see how their passions connect with God’s plans and purposes.

· Apathetic people desperately need to read the Word of God and be led through a process of self-discovery about what Scriptures say.

· Community is the antidote for spiritual apathy.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

· Change management is the discipline of leading individuals, teams, and entire organizations through organizational change.

· Minimize the resisters and maximize the drivers.

· Be aggressive but realistic.

· Have a clear vision of the end-state.

· Get the people who will be most affected by change invested in the changes and involve them in creation of the vision.

· Work with the people that share your vision.

· Communicate, communicate, communicate.

· Listen to as many people as possible. Get input going in and listen as you’re working.

· Seek opinions from those who may not otherwise speak up. Anonymous polls.

· At every step, course correct.

UNDERSTANDING TECHNICAL VS. ADAPTIVE CHANGE

· Technical – Issues that have clearly defined problems and solutions.

· Adaptive – Require new learning, discoveries, and adjustments. The deeper the change and new learning required, the greater the distance.

· Crucible. A series of three (3) sessions (church-wide summits) used to address the adaptive issue of lack of vision, values, and goals.


FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION

· The way something looks should be determined by its purpose. In churches, form equates to structure and governance while function is the mission and strategic plan.

· If ‘form’ is not right for ‘function,’ it can be frustrating or impossible to advance a mission and strategic plan.

· Structure is about processes, relationships, resources, and people. Structural review must include an assessment of certain elements.

· Task-force recommendations should be phased-in solutions, not wholesale reorganization.

SELF-ORGANIZING TEAMS

· The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.


· With autonomy to self-organize, team members increase sense of ownership that team members feel.

· Increased autonomy and self-organization improve motivation within the team.

· Essentials of a self-organizing team: Motivation, Teamwork, Trust and Respect, Commitment, Improvement, Competency.

· Three steps to creating a self-organizing team: Training, Coaching, Mentoring.








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