I've just finished reading Nelson Searcy's free ebook - 'Healthy Systems, Healthy Church'.
I like his definition of a SYSTEM: 'Saves You Stress, Time, Energy and Money'. Searcy proposes 8 systems for churches:
- Weekend Service System (How we plan, implement and evaluate your music, preaching, transitions, offertory, etc.)
- Evangelism System (How we attract people to our church)
- Assimilation System (How we take people from their first visit to fully developing members of church)
- Small Groups System (How we fill and reproduce small groups in our church)
- Volunteer System (How we mobilise people for ministry)
- Stewardship System (How we develop strong givers)
- Leadership System (How we develop staff, lay leaders and high-powered volunteers)
- Strategic System (How we evaluate the above systems for constant improvement)
He also includes a helpful diagram about the importance of good systems and good people (click to enlarge). It got me thinking about where our bad systems might be frustrating good people.
Have a read of this very short ebook, and share what you think. Do you agree with the proposed systems? Can you think of any other systems that should be included?
I wonder if there's scope to include some kind of discipleship system - how to develop members who will be constantly growing in their faith, love of God and others. But perhaps this is covered by the other systems. I also think that 'communications' needs to be integrated somehow - tying all of these systems together and communicating them effectively is key to their success.
Some people reject systems for various reasons - "the church shouldn't operate like a business" and "we shouldn't limit the Spirit" are two that I've heard recently.
However, most churches are doing something in each of these areas - the difference is that some/many haven't got a documented plan to map out their approach and measure whether it's working or not.
What systems does your church use? How do you plan, document and measure these systems and their effectiveness?
