STAFFING FOR GROWTH: CAN THE ADDITION OF PROFESSIONAL STAFF IMPACT THE NUMERICAL AND SPIRITUAL GROWTH OF A CONGREGATION? A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GORDON-CONWELL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY by WAYNE KENT MAY, 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword vi Abstract ix Chapter One: The Problem and Its Setting—Pastor Ward Wants Growth 1 A Definition 6 Assumptions 7 Larger Churches Require Larger Staffing Models 7 Extending the Base of Resources 9 Spiritual Gifts 12 A Response to Good to Great 13 Format of the Project 14 Expected Outcomes 17 Chapter Two: Pastor Ward’s Theological Plan 19 Churches Should and Can Grow in Numerical Size and Spirituality 20 Numerical Growth 26 A Model from Acts 27 Faithfulness Versus Fruit 28 Spiritual Growth 32 Solid Leadership is Required to Facilitate This Growth, and, in Fact, That Leadership Must Include Paid and Trained Staff 36 Ministry specialists 36 Training? Pay? 41 iii iv Old Testament Insights 42 An Administrative Task and Model 43 The Levitical Priesthood 45 Chapter Three: Some Not-So-Light Reading 50 Jim Collins 52 Personal Humility and Tenacity 53 People Before Vision 57 Thom S. Rainer 60 Acts 6/7 Leadership 61 Who? 64 Gary L. McIntosh 65 OK, We’ll Hire, But When? 70 Alice Mann: If We Add Staff, Will We Have to Change? 73 John Piper: A Differing Voice 77 Chapter Four: Some Who Have Walked the Trail in the Past 82 Beginning Observations on the Process 83 Congregational Profiles 83 Community Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), St Louis, MO 84 Ginghamsburg Church, Tipp City, OH 85 Glad Tidings Assembly of God, Decatur, IL 86 Main Street Church of the Living God, Decatur, IL 87 Tabernacle Baptist Church, Decatur, IL 87 University Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Fort Worth, TX 88 Vineyard Christian Fellowship, Urbana, IL 89 v Chapter Five: Congregations of Issachar 90 Adding Staff Brings Growth 91 Conflict 96 Position Priorities 99 The Holy Spirit 104 Chapter Six: Square Boxes with Metal Handles: Summary, Conclusions and Evaluations 108 Observations Along the Way 108 Expected Outcomes and Results 112 Wishing Some Things Were Done Differently 114 The Main Dish Take-Away 116 Bibliography 118 Vita 121 FOREWORD A “train wreck” occurred in 2003, and the crash scene was rather ugly. Some of us had seen it coming like a slow motion movie, but like any accident, each of us seemed unable to prevent its movement toward us. I am referring to a virtual staff meltdown in the life of First Christian Church, Decatur, Illinois, the congregation I have served since January 1994. For ten years we had dreamed of building a church where all people were welcomed and where Christian spirituality could be discovered and nurtured. Along the way we had grown in size, more than four-fold in less than ten years. A single-pastorate church established in 1834 had changed after almost one hundred and seventy years of tradition. We became a large church with a contemporary ministry with many full-time employees and pastors. We relocated to a new building designed to carry us into the coming century. Then, at the height of all that wonder and newness, we wrecked. Bickering and misunderstanding in staff circles became the norm. Lay leadership teams were polarized and the church faced a crisis. Visions and plans for the future were no longer valid. Many staff members resigned in various degrees of disgust, anger, resentment, disappointment, and feelings of betrayal. Suddenly we were reduced to a limited pastoral team and one secretary, more than two hundred and fifty disillusioned people left the worshiping congregation, and those who remained were demoralized and stunned. This project flows out of that experience. It does not particularly address the issues I faced with the congregation of First Christian Church. Those issues are not vi vii public matters and should remain within our local church family. We need to demonstrate grace-filled maturity and quietness before God, before each other, and even before our brothers and sisters who are no longer part of our church or ministry team. Airing our dirty laundry is not appropriate. Besides, by God’s grace we have managed to run it through a few wash cycles at this point, three years later. The washing of the Word of God has been at work within us. Nonetheless, those struggles of years ago initiated a drive within me to discover the role of staffing within local congregations. I wanted to know how congregations integrated staff teams into their ministry. The dynamics of growth in numbers and spirituality were of particular interest. We changed not only in the size of our congregation, but in our ethos of conducting congregational business and mission. The sheer numbers of people demanded change be part of our life. Those changes were first accepted or rejected in staffing circles. Some staff members understood and embraced the necessary changes; others could not. The trouble started at a staff level, not within the congregation at large. I wanted to learn how other churches moved from a single-pastorate ministry to multi-staff teams. This project then reflects those interests and questions. At the risk of forgetting some, there are various people who need to be thanked for their participation and help throughout this project. There were many church staff members of various churches, along with members of their lay teams, who agreed to be part of the study. Their insight helped shape my conclusions. I am indebted to the present (and yes, even the former) members of the First Christian Church staff team who helped bring important aspects of this work to light. Executive Pastor Darren Embree, my right-hand in ministry, cannot be thanked enough for support, encouragement, and even the right amount of challenge. The Elders’ Team, along with members of the congregation offered much support and interest. Amy Jackson, an viii elder from the church, acted as my proofreader and “grammar consultant.” The faculty of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary proved to be extremely helpful. Ken Swetland offered valuable insight and kind advice in that regard, not only during the project, but he also wisely administered empathetic counsel to my battered soul during the events of 2003. Finally, my wife, Leslie and our children, Jacqueline and Benjamin, helped beyond what words can say. They prodded, cajoled, pleaded, and applauded through the whole learning process. You are my love. STAFFING FOR GROWTH: CAN THE ADDITION OF PROFESSIONAL STAFF IMPACT THE NUMERICAL AND SPIRITUAL GROWTH OF A CONGREGATION? ABSTRACT This project focuses on churches wanting to grow in both numbers and spirituality. It evaluates the dynamics of growth within those congregations, particularly as that growth is facilitated by the professional staff of individual churches. Most congregations indicate a desire for their ministry to move into more lives. While this may be the stated intent of most congregations, it is often not their experience. How can this be changed? The project’s conclusions are based on interviews with people of churches that have grown into multi-staff congregations. A fictional story of a solo-pastorate congregation helps move readers through the study. ix CHAPTER ONE THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING: PASTOR WARD WANTS GROWTH Pastor Jerry Ward sat in his office wondering what he could do to help move Orchard Street Community Church into the next chapter of its mission story. It was an internal debate and conversation that he had been having with himself for more than six months. From all outside observations the congregation he served appeared to be healthy. Those who made up the church’s membership were caring and generous people. The congregation’s building was watched over with great respect. The doors had first opened to the church’s charter members more than sixty years previously. Since then the roof on Orchard Street had been replaced three times, and the walls had been painted a variety of colors, each depicting the changing moods of fashion and contemporary culture. A committee of retired men faithfully labored over the grounds and landscaping, while a major remodeling project had been completed five years previously. Pastor Ward recalled when the mortgage on the remodeling project had been burned with great fanfare just a few months after his arrival in town as the church’s only pastor. That had been three years ago. The congregation was obviously made up of faithful financial stewards because the bills arriving at Orchard Street were paid within ten days of crossing the desk of the church’s volunteer bookkeeper. Pastor Ward had even recently seen the new figures showing a reasonable savings account was 1