Our Church staff recently had a discussion around a Leadership Journal article, called “Do Programs Help Or Hinder?”. I always like these conversations because it typically reveals half of the people who believe one side of the conversation, and half who believe the other side. I’ve been thinking a lot about this article over the past few days (probably because we are in planning mode for next year), because I believe there are two scenarios that cause programs to hinder:
Programs hinder when they take priority over relationships. I understand that programs are loved by people in congregations, and they are great tools in which to help a large group of people (I mean more than 10) grow deeper, connect with others and provide opportunities to serve. The danger is when a ministry is all program, and there is no space to foster and develop relationships within a program that will exist outside of that particular program.
So, the question you may be asking is, “How do you know if a program is a priority over relationships?
When we shepherd our programs more than we shepherd our people. If we are spending most of our time planning programs, setting up programs, running programs, and evaluating programs, I would argue that we are more of a shepherd of programs rather than a shepherd of people. I’m not saying we shouldn’t have programs or have time dedicated to excellent programming (relationships can grow within the team leading the program), but if we look at Jesus’ model for ministry, he didn’t have programs, and he reached thousands of people!
Obviously there is a balance. We can’t be all about programs (because we’ll never have deeper and personal connections with people), but on the other side, programs are part of our culture and society. Maybe a healthy exercise to think about is “What would we do if all of our Church programs would cease to exist for six months?”
I would love for others to add to this conversation as well!
1 comment
Daniel Griswold says:
June 2, 2010 at 12:34 pm (UTC -5)
It is a catch22 in a lot of ways. We are all used to programs, so we all expect to come to a place and get plugged into something. The program becomes a means to connect to other people. I guess it comes from being part of structured environments when growing up, in college, in working, all for the purpose of getting to the goals of the organization together. Its the corporation model of living life. Someone at the top who doesn’t really know everyone that well, studies statistics, and relies on experts to build programs that get the group to where the leader thinks they should be. Nothing really wrong with that, except that those down the rungs a bit don’t really have as big an investment in those goals. They can become tools in the process of attainment.
Churches and communities that arise naturally are a bit different, and I think there needs to be a well struck balance. On one hand, order is important, and we do have a goal (The Great Commission), and we do need to feed the sheep (Education/Fellowship/Worship/etc.), so being ordered and having some structure helps that. Common times, common spaces, anything that stays the same, allows people to remember whats going on and to be there.
What can’t be structured are the relationships. Being with people and getting to know others is a messy process. There are no timelines, everyone’s story is different, everyone communicates in a different way, and the spaces and times vary. This is a bit scary, and that is why some people find their niche in life, and never go outside of it (perhaps for years and years). So we create external structures that enable this messy process to take place, or even encourage it. The cafe area at Grace is a great example of including space for relationships. People sit down, they talk, they eat and drink sweet drinks, and they get to know each other. Sounds like a Supper with Jesus in a sense to me.
At times we start with structure and move to the relationship, and then sometimes we start with a set of relationships and move towards structure to help others understand what we are doing. Either way, they need to flow in and from each other, for the purpose we all have – to show Christ’s love to each other, to those we don’t yet know, and reach beyond our comforts.
Thanks Todd, great article.