Category: Administration in the Church

So far we have seen how to consider different issues related to the ministry and have captured ideas for improvement. We now need to take these forward to a finalised Action Plan. 4. Identifying and agreeing improvements to be made By the end of Day 1 many sheets of notes have been blue-tacked to the walls of the room. On Day 2 we take each of the issues discussed on Day 1 and dig deeper until we have specific actions that all can agree need to be taken. By this stage there is an ever-growing participation and enthusiasm from the team members. Often they have had great thoughts overnight and have further contributions to bring following reflection about the process. We start by prioritising the list of topics that we wish…

Having outlined the philosophy of ‘pursuing excellence’ we shall now look at the process of carrying out a Ministry Health Check with a ministry team. 1. How long does it take? Two days, or the equivalent, are needed for the process to be carried out. This may seem a lot of time but to lessen it loses much of the benefit. 2. Initial discussion and information gathering On day 1 I work with the ministry team and facilitate discussions based on statements that are graded individually by each participant according to the extent to which they feel that statement applies to the ministry from their perspective. These statements relate to vision, team support, handling of finances, relationship with the church, and so on. There is always a range of responses. This…

Last time I proposed that a church's ministry with the poor should be excellent. Let me now share some ministries in which I have helped develop Action Plans for further improvement of what were already good ministries. School In Guinea, in West Africa, I helped evaluate a church-based school with which I have worked for many years. Originating out of the Sierra Leonean civil war of the ‘90s and into the new millennium, when many fled over the border to neighbouring Guinea. The school was started out of the church which was planted in the capital, Conakry, to serve the refugees. There are now well over 300 children attending ranging in age form 3-26. Many of the older ones have missed so much school due to civil and political unrest that…

In the coming weeks I will share how I believe churches can carry out excellent ministries with the poor. I believe that is on God's heart. It is good At creation we repeatedly read that God looked on all that he had made and declared it to be good (Gen 1:4, 10, 12 etc). Sadly, when the world looks at the church today it expects to find irrelevance or second-rate performance. The media often ridicule the church and Christians. That should not be! On my business card I have as a tag line ‘Pursuing Excellence’. If we are to be witnesses to Him and all that He has done we should expect the world to look at us and all that we do, and be impressed – not by us but by…