Church Administration: Your Biggest Pain or Your Biggest Blessing?

You Decide.

When you think about your church administration, what is your first reaction? It is thankfulness, or that ‘ugh’ feeling when something is a burden when it should be a blessing?

If you are one of the people that just went ‘ugh’ I want to tell you there is hope. There is a blessing that can come your way if you are willing to pause, take a step back, and then possibly change up a few things in the way you approach ministry and church administration.

Let’s first look at what church administration is…and isn’t.

Church administration is not the ugly stepsister in the church, it is not the person bugging us to fill in the form, or the obstacle to getting things done — Or at least, it shouldn’t be.

Church administration is a biblical role that supports the work of ministry done by the church and its members. In 1 Corinthians we read that God appointed “…in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating,…”.

We also see in Exodus how Jethro, Moses’ father-in-Law, counselled Moses to appoint leaders over groups of people to better manage and administrate the people of Israel. This happened after the task of overseeing Israel became too big a burden for Moses to bear on his own. Administration became his burden instead of his blessing.

Back to us and the modern day church. Church administration is the way we organise and manage resources to build God’s Kingdom. It is how we spend the time, money, and volunteer resources that God provided us with to do the work of ministry effectively. We are called to build as a master builder would — skillfully, effectively and efficiently making use of the resources given to us.

Church administration is how we spend the time, money, and volunteer resources that God provided us with to do the work of ministry effectively.

We have many tools available to us — some work better in certain contexts — we just have to find the right set of tools for our church and community context.
Tools and methods can range from traditional, manual paper-based means, all the way to software and apps that help us stay on top of things. These tools and methods only come to their full potential when we as church leaders see the value and importance of partnering with our administrator and church office. We need to empower them with the authority and the mandate to support ministry with systems and processes that make ministry easier.

Leadership gives the vision for the ministry, that sharp point of the arrow, while administration and operations are the shaft that gives the arrow weight and the ability to carry the vision to execution.

Here are some questions for you as a leader to ask yourself and your team:

• Have you considered if your current method of doing church administration is effective for your context, community and the culture you are trying to reach?
• Are you working with or against you church administrator?
• Is your church administration team working on the same projects and initiatives that the ministry teams are working on? Are the vision and objectives of the teams aligned?
• What is the one thing you can do to start turning your administration into a blessing? (Suggestions: listen to their requests/input/concerns, provide your admin team with vision to align with ministry objectives, give them resources and authority to implement systems and processes that support ministry)
• What is the one thing that your administration can change/do that would increase your ministry fruit?

Church administration that fulfils its God-given role has the ability to lighten the ministry load and increase the fruit of ministry. It can prepare the heart of a unbeliever to receive the Gospel and open op opportunities for people to serve in God’s Kingdom. It just asks that church leaders acknowledge the role of church administration in God’s kingdom, and empower their admin team to support the vision that they are working towards.

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Next Story: Being Intentional with Church Organisation and What to do When ‘Trying Harder’ Isn’t Helping