Keep in mind that restructuring never causes a church to grow. However, it does help a church grow. Most healthy established churches back into restructuring, that is because of their growth, they reach a point where they need to change the way they do things to facilitate faster and more efficient disciple making. So don’t begin transformation or transitioning by restructuring. Wait until it is clear that your structure is getting in the way.
Don’t think that restructuring will itself turn your church around or cause it to grow. Do it only when you need to or if you know doing so will unfreeze the system so much that it will make new ministries easier to begin. Here are some reasons for doing it.
- You are running out of leaders for important ministries because everyone is too busy going to meetings.
- When you first become the pastor and the church is obviously dying.
- To reduce the layers of decision making and become a permission giving church.
- When a large church becomes a small church and still has all the structure of a large church
- Because you are wasting too much time in meetings?
Please I really need your assistance in regard to restructuring the church for which I am serving. Especially in Structure and Chart Positions.
Gabriel, get the book Effective Staffing for Vital Churches – it has a complete restructuring section. However, don’t get carried away with creating charts, etc. A loose organization that has clear expectations, specific responsibilities, the authority to make decisions and allocate resources, and is held accountable for measurable results is many times preferable to a tightly run ship that is organizationally constipated.