Need a Minister of Education Short Term
One of the most crucial positions for church growthand health is the Minister of Education. Some churches call it the Minister of Education and Outreach or Minister of Education and Discipleship. As you can tell by the titles there is some variation on whether the emphasis of this position is more evangelistic or more discipling. Whichever side you fall on there is no doubt that both encompass bringing new people into the church and teaching them and assimilating them into the body of the church family.
The implications of this position are so huge. From a strictly management standpoint, to have one person whose primary responsibility is to help people get involved and assimilated into the church is a very big reason why churches grow. This person, of course, does not do all the work, but they know the principles, and processes of church growth and health, and they must be able to recruit and lead others to get involved in that process.
The Pastor cannot truly devote his full responsibility to this task, even though it is a real key to church growth. The reason is because he must devote his time to teaching, preaching, and usually administration. He should be responsible for helping to determining the direction of the church or cast the vision for the church.
Why do so few churches have someone full time in this position if it is so crucial to growth? A couple of reasons: First, it is expensive to employ a full time person. It is not just what he must take home to pay his bills, it is also FICA, Income Tax, Insurance, Expenses, Office Needs, etc. Few churches of less than 300 are able to afford a minister or education and this is one reason that churches have a very difficult time overcoming the 250-300 growth barrier. Another reason is because the need for a Youth Pastor or a Worship Pastor is a more immediate need. It is a rare and beautiful thing to find someone who is gifted to do both Music and Education or Youth and Education and also has a passion for both areas of ministry.
Even though there are many excellent people who work at the denominational level that can provide resources and specific training for church leaders, their time must be divided between numerous churches. A church growth consultant can provided focus on your church’s ministry. Focus is the primary issue for success. In order for a ministry to succeed, there must be one person who is providing single focus on that particulary area of ministry.
One Possibility
Some churches might want to consider using a church consultant who could fill some of the functions of a Minister of Education / Outreach. Actually, a church growth consultant will work with Pastor, Staff, and Lay Leaders in much the say way a Minister of Education would. It is his job to help “flesh out” the vision of the Pastor, help develop a plan to meet that vision, help to organize a group to carry out that mission, so that the church can move forward. If he / she has done the job well, then the church will be further down the road.
A church that wants to break through the next growth barrier and cannot afford to bring on another full time staff member, should consider utilizing a good church growth consultant. A church growth consultant that can devote even 8 or 10 weeks to helping the church develop its strategy and ministry can be a great short term investment with long term benefits.
Considering a Church Growth Consultant?
Feel Free to Contact Dr. Carr
Want to get automatic updates whenever there is a new post? Subscribe to the RSS. Give it a try. You can easily unsubscribe at any time.
Amazing! Not clear for me, how offen you updating your higherpurposeministries.com.
SuperSonic