Are churches run too much like businesses?
Are there enough business principles being applied in the church?
My old friend (but recently re-acquainted) Sarah and I got into a discussion about this topic last Friday evening. Our conversation really prompted me to sit down and have this discussion with myself, and flesh these questions out. Forgive me for dragging you on this process with me, but I feel that these questions are vital to me in my search for a church home.
Sarah believes fully that there are too many churches that are run like a business, and initially, my response was that there were not enough business principles found within the walls of your local church. I think we were coming at this issue from the same side and didn’t even know it. (Sarah, I’ll try to make this make sense. . . ).
I suppose I should start with what I think a church is. For me, it is more than a building, it is more than people, and it is much more than a service on Sunday morning (or multiple services if your church is fortunate enough to require them). Church is about what “happens” there. Church is about the community that is formed within the building’s walls, and more importantly, the community that is pursued after the doors of the building have been closed. Church is based on the principles set forth by our founding fathers (and can quite literally be traced back to the book of Acts). The purpose of the early church was a place for a community to gather and worship together. You’ll find very little in the book of Acts about youth group, contemporary services, pro-life ministry groups, Sunday school, singles groups . . . etc. (you get the point). I can not stress enough the importance of these groups, as I feel that these ministries are vital to many communities, as well as the spiritual growth of the members of a congregation. I am simply pointing out that these are not elements in the early church as the apostles were charged to create it.
Churches in the earliest history of the church met wherever and whenever they could. They didn’t have huge buildings with huge steeples, they met in peoples’ homes, in common areas, in whatever “space” they could find. We have put a premium on buildings, on space, on “having” a place to meet for our services. I could most likely spend a week talking about the pros and cons of this approach, but that is clearly not my intent for this blog. I simply feel the need to point out that there are many material things which a church purchases, and often, multiple real estate opportunities for a church to invest in, so it is reasonable for one to expect that in any modern church there is a significant amount of money changing hands for one reason or another.
Many established churches (large and small) have an individual who is their “business manager” (pick any applicable equivalent substitutable title and feel free to replace). In some wealthier churches, this is a staff member who is on the church payroll, and in some of the other more budget constrained churches, this is often a volunteer position, or done by a committee of people (I have attended churches where both are the case, and as an attendee, you can hardly tell the difference. . .it is not something that you should be able to see).
You would be a fool to suggest that any church (or any non-profit organization for that matter) could exist while having a blind eye on monetary issues. We (for better or worse) live in a society that revolves around money (having it and spending it). Having a person in place (or a committee) to make sound financial decisions for the church is vital. We are called to be good stewards with our resources, and to leave these functions up to someone with no experience in this type of decision making is foolish.
It is this foolishness that I refer to when I state that there are not enough business principles in the church today. Far too often, we have good people, with good hearts, with incredible skills in ministry, who can barely balance their check-book in the role of church business manager. How can this be? We wouldn’t pick a random man off the street to be the preacher. We wouldn’t pick someone who is tone deaf to lead the music ministry. Why are we willing to settle for less in the role of business manager?
We have churches deep in debt who are breaking ground on new buildings. We see churches who can barely make pay-roll hiring new associate pastors. Churches far too often take stands “on faith” that are clearly not sound financial decisions. Faith is clearly a good thing. Listening to God’s call is clearly a good thing. Putting the future of a church in jeopardy because of poor financial decisions, is clearly a bad thing.
In my mind, necessary business principles don’t just stop with sound financial decisions. In this litigious age, our churches need strong human resource personnel/committees (to structure employee agreements, train employees on harassment law, correctly structure benefit packages, correctly handle employee reviews, etc.). Our churches need great planners to organize all of the ministries (some of which are listed above) that occur within its walls. Our churches need Parrish councils (equivalent to business boards of directors) to keep staff accountable (particularly pastoral staff). To say that a church can “sit back and relax.” While all of these things are going on around them, and that “God will take care of the details” is insane. For those of you who are skeptical that a church isn’t in need of any HR to “protect” itself, please click here. . .then come back and finish reading. Please don’t be naive enough to make the statement, “that won’t happen in my church,” because I made that statement, about that very church. . .my church. It can happen, and it will. It is unfortunate that we live in a world where we have to be protective inside the walls of our churches, but as long as we have human beings inside those walls, that will always be the case.
Where should the business line stop in the church? Should we sit down and have strategic planning, long budget meetings, long range planning sessions, goal orientations, profit and loss meetings, lay-offs, mission statements, and should we bring in business consultants to see how well we are doing against out goals?!? Well, the best answer I have for that is: maybe.
Some pastors I have been blessed enough to encounter and have serious discussions with about matters such as these have told me that they “function” much better within the “rigid” confines of the business world. Many of these pastors made a “life-transition” out of the business world into the ministry, and let’s face it. . .old habits are tough to break. Depending upon your personality, you may very well function with hard deadlines, budget proposals, and specific attainable goals. I don’t necessarily think that is a bad thing. The problem becomes substituting the Godly principles on which any church should be founded, for business principles and relying on your business savvy to grow your congregation instead of relying on God.
Principles of business in and of themselves are not bad things, and I believe I can make a very successful argument that at their core, many of them are Biblical. I think (and forgive me in advance Sarah) that Sarah takes issue with the possibility that any church could rely solely on business savvy, and the principles of the business world to operate and grow a church. I would have to agree. I think that we spend too much time becoming goal oriented in our churches and abandon the Biblical principles on which those goals are based.
Congregations that tend to think of their “church” as a business, and try to run their church like a business, rarely see the growth they expect in their “business.” The fact is, people spend their time in the business world all week, and they come to church to be in church. When you are in a church that is run like a business, it feels like it. They are cold, “in-authentic,” and lack the true “soul” of a church. They are often very polished, you are in and out according to a set schedule (and they rarely go over time), the “presentation” is pristine, and the interpersonal communications are practically non-existent. Who wants to worship there?
(I don’t believe there is anything wrong with a polished presentation. . .especially when you are presenting to God and for God, but that is a discussion for another day and time.)
For me, the bottom line remains a big maybe. I think business principles in a church setting are absolutely necessary, but I staunchly oppose attempting to run any church like a business. Maybe you think I’m talking out of both sides of my mouth, and playing the middle, but I really don’t think I am.
Of course, this is just my $0.02, and I’m too broke to give that. . .
**this was written in one sitting, and is intended to be one conscious stream of thought. . .i’m sure it’s disorganized, and clustered, but the less polished, the more honest. When I start editing. . .I start changing. Please forgive glaring errors as they are not intentional.
