Solutions To Major Gaps In Church Management

By ‘Niyi Dunmade  October 15, 2020

Our world today is in dire need of healthy churches with healthy leaders who operate with trending mindsets and fresh perspectives. I believe the healthier churches we have, the better our communities at large will be. The crux here is, do we really care about our churches to the point of shifting mindsets for the sake of closing these gaps that may exist? Jesus cares about His Bride and as church leaders and consultants, we need to be co-labourers with Christ in building with the needed mindset.

Before I go further, I need to explain what a mindset is, how it operates, and why and how it should be changed for the sole purpose of edifying the saints and enhancing the work of the ministry. A Mindset is defined by Oxford dictionary as the established set of attitudes held by someone. Mindsets are those collections of beliefs and thoughts that make up the mental attitude, inclination, habit or disposition that predetermines a person’s interpretations and responses to events, circumstances and situations.

When things are pretty good, most church leaders do not see value in asking for help till there is a big problem to tackle. However, it is a great delight to know that there are some leaders who ask for help before the very need for help arises. This shows a high sense of wisdom and great humility that I would recommend for all church leaders. Let’s face the truth, we all need help and no one is complete in his own self in accordance with Ephesians 4:12.

The recent pandemic opened up deep rooted issues in our churches, especially those with unhealthy issues such as worsening church core functions like evangelism and discipleship. These effects would definitely take more time than speculated to get back on track to the essentials of ministry today. Considerably, it is cheaper and better to prevent an unhealthy state than to administer cure in the real world of organizational design and church life. Most recommended solutions to the unhealthy state of our churches, often provided by a consultant or outsider perspective, usually results in unpopular changes requiring new ways of thinking that are necessary to help a church move forward. These changes in our churches can vary with a possible combination of new paradigms or setting up new organizational structures or pathways that disrupt church’s daily routines to efficiencies that result in the need for significant changes that may be unbearable. These changes are needed to help our churches thrive, survive and be relevant in this present day world of challenges. The pandemic disruptions and the season we are in have made changes in our churches occur at a faster rate than usual and making our congregations be more flexible to change than normal.

Most often, from a church insider perspective, consultants are outsiders that come onto their turf and hold secret meetings behind closed doors with the executives. They huddle in their war rooms and strategize on how to disrupt their jobs by cutting minutes off of processes and eliminate as many staff as possible to justify their inflated rates. But what we have now is some bigger disruptions that are shaking the very essence of establishing the church in the first place, creating major gaps that need close attention before they get out of hand. It’s better to face the challenging realities of today but never neglecting the opportunity to engage strategic outsiders to help your church take the needed plunge forward. Let’s not forget that churches are now more open to change than ever before and let’s be willing to change our minds when the facts change. Change is always constant. Most people do change a lot of things in life and it is not that they do not like change but it is how these changes are implemented.

The pandemic brought about major disruptions and created major gaps on how we are to do church today. Some of these gaps that church leaders and consultants should discuss extensively on their table that will help doing church better are:

• The Vision (Alignment & Great Commission) Gap
• The (Strategic) Leadership Gap
• The Structural Gap
• The Culture Gap
• The Generational Gap
• The Communication Gap
• The Engagement Gap
• The Systemic Gap
• The Accountability Gap
• The Resources Gap
• The Manpower Gap and
• The Technology Gap

Findings from these gaps may vary from church to church, same with trying to address them. I advise taking each one to determine in clear terms the current position of things and future position to proffer ways to bridge such gaps that exist. We all desire a better future no doubt, but we have to be willing to bridge these gaps quickly. This is a great season and opportunity for you to reach out for help and get past these gaps so that you can achieve a better result with having a different thinking or the right mindset. Truth be told, the knowledge, resources and skills that brought us here will not take us there. In addition, as we study these gaps let’s be apt at learning new things, ready to upgrade, allow for shifts in mindsets and develop the needed capacity that will foster church health and relevance in today’s world. Be encouraged in the Lord! Thank you. God bless YOU!!!