Organizating a Growing Church Community - Where We Stand Today

By Fr. George Elsbett LC

How is a growing church organized? Good question. I find the reflections of the recently deceased Timothy Keller in “Church Growth Dynamics“ very helpful. One of his basic theses is that there are certain “growth barriers” of a growing church. In other words, at certain moments of growth, growth itself becomes a barrier. And this barrier is difficult to break through, because the structure no longer does justice to growth and leadership becomes a bottleneck that prevents further growth.

At the John Paul II Center we have once again reached such a point. Recent structural challenges have been:

Three Challenges

1)Work overload on the part of leadership. Our leadership team consisted of 5 people (Klemens Höfer – our „Operations Manager“, Maria Schlachter, Stephanie Lapka, Fr. Georg Rota and myself). In fact, however, only our operations manager and myself were able to implement things operationally – because the others do not work full-time in the JP2 Center and had many other commitments.

2)„Center Council“ (parish council equivalent) without operational competence nor resources. The second challenge was that the Center Council had practically become a kind of „sounding board“ that came up with many ideas but was unable to implement them operationally. This often led to frustration because good ideas were shelved as soon as they are born.

3)Paid staff and volunteer work. The third challenge was understanding the role of the volunteers. We have grown significantly in recent years, also in terms of the number of full-time employees. However, mission and service must be driven primarily by volunteerism, and the disciple must not simply delegate this essential aspect of his discipleship to paid staff, which is a danger as the number of paid staff increases. Where this happens, the church falls ill and it is one of the surest signs of decline. Staff themselves can unwittingly furhter promote an attitude of consumerism by, for example, asking another paid staff member to support a project, instead of taking the time to visioneer with volunteers, inspiring them to take on responsibility.

While the first two challenges can be solved structurally, the third is a cultural issue as well as a structural one. Our reflections on how to meet these three challenges are reflected in structural changes that we have been working on over the last few months (see organizational chart below).

Specifically, the changes look like this:

a) We have another level of leadership. The heads of the (for the time being) four major departments of the JP2 Center – mission, pastoral, education and administration – are automatically members of the leadership team. They work together with the Director of the JP2 Center to develop long-term strategic and content-related goals, consult with the advisory board, manage and supervise a department, accompany and coach the ministry and team leaders in their respective departments and also be involved in various ministries and teams.

b) Last week we had the first „All Staff“ meeting. By „staff“ we mean all people (paid or unpaid) who are involved in a leadership position in areas and ministries for a limited or unlimited time. Their time commitment and their responsibility are greater than those of the volunteers, who are involved in a team or ministry but do not assume any responsibility for a leadership position.

c) Staff develop plans and strategies for how they will collectively implement the center’s larger vision and annual goals in their ministries and/or with their teams. They are responsible for their ministries and teams and their leaders and coordinators and support them in their personal growth.

d) The latest innovation is the establishment of the six-member Advisory Board. I understand it more as a sparring partner than as a controller. Experience, qualification, integrity and loyalty are of paramount importance. The Advisory Board accompanies the work and development of the JP2 Center and is available to help think through important decisions and development steps. It’s members also observe what is happening at the Center and serves as a feedback board, addressing areas where more work is needed based on the observations.

What we hope to gain from this structural change

On the one hand, we think it will help to ensure that initiatives and ideas are primarily created where they can be implemented operationally: in the teams. In other words, we want to empower the teams and enable them to work independently. This means that the “Center Council”, which up to now has supported and shaped the work in the JP2 Center, has lost its purpose, because the „staff“ and the „staff meetings“ now assume this role.

We are also hoping for a new perspective regarding the staff. Staff are not those getting paid, but those taking on role of responsibility – most importantly taking responsibility for others and helping them to grow in discipleship. Whether they get paid for it or not is secondary.

In the org chart there are still many empty positions, „NN“. I hope this helps clarify which staff positions are open, where one can contribute ones talents and skills and grow in responsibility. In some areas there are already teams of people, but not yet that “one person” who has taken on ultimate responsibility. We have left an NN where that is the case. So, if you find an area in which you would like to get involved, we would like to encourage you to approach us.