Church is the first organization humans set up in history. It serves as a center for religions and the significant number of people worldwide. A church is an orderly and organized community of people who mutually adhere to common doctrines and recognize authority of a leader. A church structure determines the way activities are carried out, including services, administration, community life, charity and teaching.
The structure of a church is the arrangement of physical elements that compose the church building and its contents. This can include the floor plan as well as the components of the congregation within their physical space.
When you choose to build a church, structure and organization are of utmost importance. This is because a church has many different occupants and visitors, each of which has their own needs. The size of the building you choose will determine things like the location, the amount of parking available on-site and off, and how much space you have for classrooms. The design and style of the exterior will affect everything from what color your doors and roof are to how much area your congregation can reserve for gardens or playaways outside during services. In short, every aspect of your new church will impact its internal structure.
Structure Of A Church
The largest and most important building in the world is a church, which makes it a good target audience for any product. Naturally, because the church has no right to conduct the business of ordinary life, there are very complex procedures for holding services, identifying and admitting priests and candidates. Church government is based on the principles of hierarchical Christian organization. Of course, there are many large bureaucratic churches that freely determine their internal system of management. But usually there is one faith that is common to all people.
‘Structure’ is the people, programs, and processes of your church. Another way of explaining structure is the who (your staff and volunteers), the what (your events and activities) and the how (your policies and systems). Your church structure answers the key question ‘what is your church building? ‘
Effective Church Structure
The structure of a church can be divided into four sections: the sanctuary, the nave (where the congregation sits), the chancel (the space around the altar), and the transept. The sanctuary is where all clergy offices are located and where worship services are conducted. The nave is where most of the congregation sits during services; it usually has pews facing a pulpit on one side and an altar on another side. The chancel is the space around an altar or communion table. It may be separated from other parts of the church building by a screen or railing. The transept is so named because it forms a cross shape in plan view when viewed from above. It often contains chapels or other sacred spaces that may be used for special services or events such as funerals or weddings.
The structure of a church consists of four parts: the foundation, the walls, the roof, and the belfry.
The foundation is the base of the building. It holds up everything else, so it must be strong and stable.
The walls are made of wood or stone, depending on what material was available in that region at the time. They have to be sturdy enough to support the weight of all other parts of the church (including people standing inside!).
The roof is often made out of wood or stone tiles; sometimes it has holes in it for light to shine through—this is called a clerestory. The roof may also contain windows that let in light from outside.
The belfry is a tower that rises above all other parts of the church and contains bells that are used to call parishioners together for services or let them know what time it is outside during daylight hours!
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Church Leadership Structure Models
Introduction
The relationship between the leaders and the members of a church is significant because it is part of how each church carries out its mission. Each church has its own style, culture and organization.
There are a number of different terms used to describe the different ministries in churches. Each church may define these terms differently, but there are some similarities.
There are a number of different terms used to describe the different ministries in churches. Each church may define these terms differently, but there are some similarities.
- Session: In most Presbyterian churches, this is the governing body that oversees the spiritual and temporal matters of the church. It is made up of elders (or ministers) who oversee deacons and other staff members.
- Deacon: These individuals serve as assistants to pastors, in areas such as finance, worship, social justice and evangelism.
- Elder: This term has many meanings across denominations; however it usually refers to an ordained minister or lay person who leads spiritual services (such as preaching). Elders may also preside over other members of their congregation or oversee certain aspects of ministry within their denomination’s structure.
The governing body of the church is called the Session which is made up of Elders who are ordained members of the congregation. Usually ministers will sit on the Session as well. The Session chooses Deacons to assist in some of its work. In some congregations, the Deacons are responsible for overseeing the finances and administration of the church
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The worship committee or other group plans worship services, organizes liturgical services such as Communion or a marriage, and assists in training ushers, musicians and others who help with services.
The worship committee or other group plans worship services, organizes liturgical services such as Communion or a marriage, and assists in training ushers, musicians and others who help with services. The worship committee plans Sunday school for adults and children as well as other educational opportunities for adults and children.
Education Committees organize Sunday school for adults and children as well as other educational opportunities for adults and children, for example Vacation Bible School.
- Education Committees organize Sunday school for adults and children as well as other educational opportunities for adults and children, for example Vacation Bible School.
- Sunday school helps children learn about the Bible.
Mission Committees oversee social outreach projects that reach out to both community members and those outside the church community.
Mission committees are responsible for social outreach projects that reach out to both community members and those outside the church. They oversee a variety of programs, including:
- The Sunday School program
- The faith formation program
- Outreach efforts within the community, such as food banks and soup kitchens
The leadership structure doesn’t matter as much as what they do to lead a congregation in Christlike living.
The structure of a church (congregation) doesn’t matter as much as what they do to lead their congregation in Christlike living. A well-structured church will help to facilitate this, but it cannot be the end all and be all. The most important thing is that the people of your faith community are being led by good examples who live their lives demonstrating love and kindness towards others, especially those who are hurting or struggling with some aspect of life.
The leadership structure should support this goal by modeling appropriate behavior that respects and supports each other so that members can better emulate these qualities themselves; but again, this is not the only way for someone to grow spiritually or become more like Christ.
Simple Church Organizational Structure
If you are starting or planting a church, you have the blessing and benefit of having a clean slate to begin with. You don’t inherit any mission, vision, values, culture, structure or issues! The Apostle Paul himself said in his letter to the Romans that he didn’t want to ‘build on someone else’s foundation.’ Whilst the immediate context is linked to preaching the gospel, I think what Paul was saying was that he valued the principle of not needing to dig up or undo anyone else’s work. He wanted to work on unbroken ground, so to speak.
Not everyone has that privilege. Perhaps you inherited a church, either internally because you were the successor on the established team, or you are an external successor who has been invited or hired in. You may have things in place and some you want to keep, some you aren’t sure about, and some you definitely don’t want to keep!
Whether you have an existing structure or nothing currently exists, this series will look at essential steps to sequentially put in place to ensure you have a church that has organisational alignment and health from the beginning of your tenure.
When I talk about structure, I’m talking about the framework. ‘Structure’ is the people, programs, and processes of your church. Another way of explaining structure is the who (your staff and volunteers), the what (your events and activities) and the how (your policies and systems). Your church structure answers the key question ‘what is your church building?’
Convictions about Church Organisational Structure
Some convictions I have regarding church structure are:
A healthy church has a structure that helps the church steward a culture – this builds in a way that will see success.
Healthy church culture is derived from values implicit and explicit in a clearly defined vision and mission.
Vision needs to be prophetic, in the sense of showing His heart and shaped by His words. That can take the form of prophetic words, aspirations or shared passions in the hearts of the leadership team.
The mission needs to be a fundamentally apostolic call to a people or a place, derived from the Great Commission, so the church is in no doubt what exactly God is calling them to do.
Church strategy is simply prioritising the activities that fulfil the mission, advance the vision, create the culture and develop the structure.
If these five aspects line up, you have organisational alignment – all aspects of the church have a shared, unified and focus aim. We can measure this through what I call the church organisational health. If the church is weak in organisational health, then one or more of these aspects will be ineffective or in opposition to what your stated purpose is.
Purpose of Church Organisational Structure
An effective church organisational structure that works is the one that helps and doesn’t hinder your efforts. Many churches have an established structure, but it isn’t fit for purpose. The structure is meant to serve your vision and culture so it needs to be organic and dynamic, ready to change when God does a new thing. Unfortunately, it can be the case that we have established a church structure that worked well in the previous season of the church, but it now no longer helps. In fact, it could even hinder God’s agenda because of its inflexibility. Without intending to, we can become ‘structure first’ in our thinking and quench the Spirit’s work that He is wanting to do through us.
Our structure needs to be like a wineskin, which is flexible according to the wine inside it. Wineskins can stretch according to the need, but make no mistake – the wineskin served the purpose of the wine, and not the other way round. That is why we need to consider our church structure only after we have determined our mission, vision, and core values.
A church organisational structure that works brings a number of things:
It provides a mission-centric framework.
It focuses the use of resources toward the vision.
It creates space for culture to grow.
It changes in line with strategic development.
If the structure is unhealthy or ineffective, resources will not be maximised, or the church will be program-driven, process-led, or politically led instead of being mission-led.
Effective Church Structure
Simply, it is the framework. ‘Structure’ is the people, programs, and processes of your church. Another way of explaining structure is the who (your staff and volunteers), the what (your events and activities) and the how (your policies and systems). Your church structure answers the key question ‘what is your church building?’
An effective church organizational structure that works is the one that helps and doesn’t hinder your efforts. Many churches have an established structure, but it isn’t fit for purpose. The structure is meant to serve your vision and culture so it needs to be organic and dynamic, ready to change when God does a new thing. Unfortunately, it can be the case that we have established a church structure that worked well in the previous season of the church, but it now no longer helps. In fact, it could even hinder God’s agenda because of its inflexibility. Without intending to, we can become ‘structure first’ in our thinking and quench the Spirit’s work that He is wanting to do through us.
Our structure needs to be like a wineskin, which is flexible according to the wine inside it. Wineskins can stretch according to the need, but make no mistake – the wineskin served the purpose of the wine, and not the other way round. That is why we need to consider our church structure only after we have determined our mission, vision, and core values.
Why is church organizational structure important?
It leads to good decision-making and governance processes, growth in individuals and ministries, and resources being maximised and used well. It creates a church structure that works.
What does healthy organizational structure bring to a church?
It provides a mission-centric framework.
It focuses the use of resources towards the vision.
It creates space for culture to grow.
It changes in line with strategic development.
What happens if church organizational structure is lacking?
Resources will not be maximised, or the church will be program-driven, process-led, or politically-led instead of being mission-led.
What helps develop church organizational structure?
The mission taking precedence over policies and procedures.
Adequate facilities, finances and leaders in place to see progress in mission, vision and culture.
Team members – volunteer and paid – clear on their roles, responsibilities, goals and expectations, and empowered to lead.
Board/trustees, the senior leader and staff working in unity over agreed mission, vision and culture.
Conclusion
The structure of a church is as varied as the people who go to church, but it often looks similar. It’s important that every congregation has a variety of people serving in different leadership capacities. Congregations and denominations need to work together to train leaders and support congregations so that they can fulfill God’s mission in their community.
