Who Are the Key Players in Church Mission?

The question goes back to brothers James and John as they fought for status by Jesus’ side in heaven.

It’s still a pretty good question.

We may find the answer by asking another question. What are we trying to accomplish?

The standard answer for churches is to spend a few weeks debating the wording of a mission statement (all of which are pretty much the same). Then what?

Mission statements rarely provide a road map. The statement validates us as a community. Often, we don’t have a clue how to achieve our mission. Often, we do little to try. We expect to keep doing things the same way, hoping the age-old mission strategies will miraculously reconnect with new generations and our churches will return to the 1950s with sanctuaries filled with happy offering-givers.

Things are done a bit differently in business. Business cannot afford to live on delusions.

When companies roll out a new product or service they look at every step required to achieve their goal. Usually the goal is to sell widgets or to create a demand for specialized services.

The path towards that goal may be complex. It starts with a concept. The concept must be designed and tested. Patents or licenses may be required. An interest must be created. Public Relations and Marketing go to work. As the plans and ideas take shape the product needs to be manufactured. Distributing channels must be opened. Warehousing must be arranged. Customer service must be available from day one. And then comes the wider advertising blitz (all of which was planned long before).

Some of these processes can happen concurrently. Others are more linear—process B cannot happen until process A is completed. Some very important tasks must be accomplished by people who are fairly low on the corporate ladder. But when their skills are needed, they become the focus of the project.

The process is called the critical path. Someone needs to chart and monitor the critical path. Seth Godin wrote about this in his blog yesterday.

What is the Church’s critical path?

What is the mission goal? Not the lofty pie-in-the-sky goal but the practical, measurable goal—the goal upon which the congregation’s survival depends.

What must happen before that goal can be met? When do we hope to reach our goal?

Who is going to monitor the various entities? Who plays the most critical roles at which times?

This is where the Church may be failing.

Church has an established hierarchy.  The more important—the fancier the robe!

Lutherans went against this thinking 500 years ago. Lutherans believe that all church people, whether clergy or laity, play equally important roles.

Modern Lutherans are forgetting our roots.

Perhaps we should revisit this belief. It could make the difference the modern Church so craves.

Seth’s post makes an interesting point. Some people are more critical to the success of the journey on the critical path at different times. The most important people may not be the ones wearing the robes! Seth writes about his experience monitoring one company’s critical path.

I went out and got some buttons—green and red. The deal was simple: If you were on the critical path, you wore a green button. Everyone else wore red. When a red button meets a green button, the simple question is asked, “How can I help?” The president will get coffee for the illustrator if it saves the illustrator three minutes. In other words, the red button people never (ever) get to pull rank or interrupt a green button person. Not if you care about critical path . . . .

The problem with the general failure of church structure is that age-old structure is assumed to be the proper structure of importance. So even though Lutheranism left this thinking behind, we are tempted to return to the old ways.

A presiding bishop is most important. New World Lutherans had purposely called leaders Presidents—not Bishops. 27 years ago we returned to the old ways. It hasn’t helped.

The presiding bishop may play no practical role whatsoever in the critical path of an individual congregation’s mission. Many who are busy fulfilling a congregation’s mission may not even know the name of the current presiding bishop and are only vaguely aware that they exist. Presiding bishops have visibility, an office, staff and probably the highest salary—but they may not be the most important player in any congregation’s mission strategy.

Then come regional bishops. They, too, may have no role in congregational mission. They, too, used to be called Presidents. Their major constitutional role is overseeing professional leadership. Often this becomes the focus of all mission. Congregations are expected to support at least one minister—whether or not that minister can provide the necessary skills for that congregation’s mission. When they rarely meet with lay leaders they forget to ask, “How can I help?”

Then come clergy. Now we’re getting closer to the work of the church, but they, too, may have far less role in the success of a congregation’s mission than others. Some may! Others may be biding time.

Then come staff. Closer still to the critical path.

So far, everyone on the list is paid.

But none of these people can create successful mission without the next two groups of people—laity and seekers. These are the people who can effectively accomplish mission. Often they get no help—no training, no guidance, no resources, no status, and no consideration of compensation. (Think “disciples.”) This is where James and John found themselves the day they came to Jesus with their question.

Youth leaders may be the people who can reach the families. The communications team may be the ones who can coordinate outreach. The social ministry people may know the problems of the community better than anyone. The young people may be the best evangelists to young people. That church festival is not going to happen without the cooks! All need encouragement and help. But often they are seen as the funders or the foot soldiers who are there to do what the church leaders think needs to be done. If foot soldiers are successful, the paid staff may get a raise!

Frankly, the workers are taken for granted. No wonder the pews are empty!

What if every congregation tracked a plan to achieve its mission? What if it handed out green and red buttons? Note. The colors in no way depict rank. They indicate who, for the moment, is playing the role most critical to the success of the mission. The job of facilitating is equally important.

Lutherans should be good at this! We Lutherans were so modern in our thinking centuries ago!

The green buttons would be worn by the people who have to complete a certain task on the critical path before the next group of people can successfully start the next task. The red button people must facilitate their work if the mission is to be successful. (Think “shepherd.”) The red and green buttons can be swapped as we move down the critical path’s checklist.

Red button church leaders must serve the green button church leaders regardless of either one’s rank or pay grade. It’s all in the interest of expediting Church mission.

Unfortunately, it’s not the way we think.

Instead, we seem to have accepted failure to achieve mission as the norm. This changes the Church’s mission to funding and perpetuating a structure that is ineffective. We keep doling out dollars to support structure until the money runs out.

Most churches work very hard at this. Generally, they are on the fast track to failure.

The laity will pay the fare.

Who will be rewarded in the after life? Next week’s Gospel reports that Jesus didn’t have much tie for such questions! Luke 20:28-37.