Like many pastors, I’ve often had romantic visions of the early church as it's been described in the book of Acts, with its organic gatherings on fire to see the Kingdom of God manifested. It’s visions like these that first drew me into ministry, and it might explain why I found the operational side of church leadership to be such a burden early on. I wanted to preach the Gospel, not sort through data and budgets. But even in the early church, as people gathered, the people’s needs multiplied, it became apparent that organizational systems were necessary.
Healthy Churches Build Great Systems
Over the years, many leaders have shared with me their frustrations about not having enough volunteers or staff, and while there never seems to be quite enough laborers for the harvest, what I’ve found is that teams that feel maxed out are often only operating at about 70% capacity. How can that be? The answer is almost always the same; outdated systems. Over time, processes that were effective, evolved into a hodgepodge of inefficiency as multiple, well intentioned team members layered their own ideas on top of a once simple system. This sometimes causes leaders to fail to accurately diagnose problems in their organization, assuming the issue is with a person when, in truth, it’s the broken system causing team members to struggle. Broken systems create toxic cultures, often highlighting the very worst in our people. It’s important that we scrutinize our processes before we evaluate our people and remember that our church systems are meant to serve us, not the other way around. When a system no longer serves the mission, it’s time to rebuild.
Thematic Problems
So where do we begin? I’d recommend you start by identifying what’s called the thematic problem. The thematic problem is the problem whose "theme" appears over and over in various areas of the church. Often, the thematic problem is felt long before we have identified it, often manifesting as frustrations amongst team members, small tasks that feel unnecessarily burdensome, or repeated conflicts between team members.
Two recent examples in the church I serve come to mind.
Recently, I empowered a team to launch a new initiative. This marked the first time that I would not be directly involved in launching a ministry since our church was planted in 2020. While I was interested to watch this new dynamic play out, the process left the team feeling defeated. More than offering a simple apology from me for my failure to successfully lead, the experience gave us the opportunity to create a process for how we would launch new initiatives in the future and avoid some of the difficulties we encountered.
Another example arose when one of our generous donors accidentally bounced a check to the church. Instead of asking how she should handle that specific situation, our bookkeeper suggested that we create a policy along with template emails in case we encounter this problem again in the future. In full disclosure, I was ecstatic with her request. Our team is starting to think in terms of building systems bigger than ourselves that will ensure that the organization won’t be dependent on any one person long term
Five Practical Solutions for Building Systems
If you’re not naturally inclined to be process oriented, it can be daunting to know where to begin. Here are five practical things to get you started.
1). Leverage Existing Tools and Resources: A quick search online will reveal that there are numerous software solutions that can ease the burden of church management. Many offer a one-stop-shop solution that includes people management to scheduling and donor tracking. These tools are built to remove the guesswork for church management, even for those who aren’t “systems people.”
2). Delegate System Creation: Every church has individuals who are process oriented. Identify these individuals and invite them to work with the leadership to create solutions to your thematic problems.
3). Seek Outside Help: If you’re struggling to identify internal resources, consider bringing in an outside consultant or experienced pastor to help build your systems. You will be amazed at how helpful an outside set of eyes can be.
4). Start Small: Big changes can feel overwhelming at first so I encourage you to start small. Identify something simple like building a spreadsheet to track cafe inventory or find a software that will clean up your data rolls. Small steps can make a big difference.
5). Learn from Other Churches: Reach out to other pastors of churches of similar size. Many churches are more than willing to share what is working for them and can often provide templates, handbooks, one sheets or ideas that can be easily adapted to fit your local context.
More Ministry, Less Stress
Building systems may not be why most pastors enter ministry, but it’s essential to better serve people and imperative if we’re to scale our efforts. When done right, our organizational systems fade into the background, as second nature as our morning routines, allowing the church to tackle new challenges, reducing the risk of burnout and setting the church up for long-term sustainability. By creating systems that aren’t dependent on any one person, we build an organization that supports the mission for years to come.
*Cover photo copyright CRM; credit, Garrett Heath, Okiejoke Media
Anthony Caiola is the Lead Pastor/Planting Pastor of Awaken 514 Church. Prior to this, he served as the executive director for a county-wide chapter of Habitat for Humanity and as the pastor of Cornerstone Church, a church replant in Northern New Jersey. In addition to his pastoral role, Anthony works bivocationally as a real estate investor and property manager. He also consults for churches, nonprofits, and small businesses, focusing on theological alignment, systems development, and marketing. As a freelance writer, Anthony covers topics on organizational development and discipleship within the church. He and his wife Marlaina have two children and reside in Central, PA.
