The Pastor's Desk

Structure is an essential part of any institution.  This is no different in the church.  Church structure is what brings order and provides security to the ebb and flow of ministry.  However, as the world is rapidly changing around us, we are discovering that structures that were created years ago to fulfill the Great Commission are not as effective today as they once were.  Traditionally, churches have been structured in a way which put vocational ministers (pastors, worship leaders, youth pastors) front-and-center so that they could exercise their spiritual gifts in a way that benefited the church.  Over the years, almost imperceptibly, the laity of the church has largely become content with coming to church and hearing their ministers preach and teach.  In fact, most of the current structures of the traditional church are designed in such a way that forces the clergy to lead and the laity to listen.  Think about it.  Sunday School – one teacher, many listeners (sometimes with discussion, but overall little lay participation).  Worship – a worship leader and the pastor are central.  Sunday night – pastor teaches, laity listens.  Wednesday night – pastor teaches, laity listens.  Do you see a pattern here?  The traditional structures of many churches is set up so that the pastor does the majority of the ministry when the church is gathered.  This is not to say that the laity are not doing anything – that is certainly not true!  However, it is to say that when the church is assembled, the ministry of the pastor is prominent and the ministry of the laity is marginalized, particularly in smaller churches.  Furthermore, it emphasizes the teaching role of the pastor so much that it overwhelms the serving ministry of the saints.  We must have BOTH to have healthy churches – solid, biblical teaching (from gifted pastors and teachers) and loving, diligent service (from gifted saints).

Let’s go to the premier passage in the New Testament on church growth to see how God’s Word should shape our thinking about church structure.

Eph 4:11-16 – 11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Notice that Christ has given pastor-teachers (one group in the original Greek) FOR the equipping of the saints FOR the work of ministry. In other words, the ministry of the pastors is to equip (train, disciple, teach, etc.) SO THAT the saints can do the rest of the “work of service.”  That word “service” can be translated “ministry”.  This results in “the building up of the body of Christ” – i.e. church growth!  True church growth happens as God calls gifted men into ministry who then devote their lives “to equip the saints” so that the entire body is grown toward the fullness of Christ’s maturity.  Given this theological foundation, it is essential that our church structures are organized in such a way that allow BOTH the ministry of pastor-teachers in equipping and the ministry of the laity in working.  In Liberating the Laity, R. Paul Stevens describes how he tried to equip the people in his church for doing the church’s ministry but failed because the structure of the church required him to do the ministry.  He writes, “Structure, I discovered, is important; there is no point in saying that every member is a minister if the structure of the fellowship ‘says’ the exact opposite – by making it hard for people to discover their gifts or to exercise loving service.”  We must organize our churches in such a way that allow everyone to minister – not just vocational leaders.  Hence, structural changes are necessary for the survival of the church and vital for the growth of the church.

These are the reasons that we have ended our adult Bible study on Sunday night and Wednesday night, replacing those structures with service ministries (Awana, encouragement ministry, visitation ministry, etc.) on Wednesday night and small groups on Sunday night.  There will still be Bible study, but it will be more effective Bible study because more saints are participating in it and leading it.

Berry Road – I encourage you all to remember that the main goal of our church is to glorify Jesus Christ by making faithful disciples of all nations.  This is an institution for fulfilling the Great Commission.  The structural changes we are experiencing are biblical, Spirit-led and will help us fulfill the Great Commission BETTER than we ever have before.  That doesn’t mean that discipleship will happen automatically because these changes have been made, but that we now have a greater opportunity for lay ministry to operate within the structures of the church, which in turn will “cause the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”  I am confident that God will use these new structures to conform all of us more into the image of His Son.  More lost people will be saved, more saved people will be sanctified, and more sanctified people will serve at Berry  Road now than ever before.  Let’s remember our roots, and at the same time rejoice in the renewed vision He has given us!