Article: Good governance and mission

Good Governance and Mission

Sometimes in the church and Christian circles, governance as seen as a nuisance to mission and ministry, instead of being supportive to the mission and ministry God has given us.   This arises because of a misunderstanding of what good governance is about. 

One of the biggest mistakes we can make is to limit governance to simply making good financial decisions and making sure that we are meeting all our legal obligations.   Good governance for ministry and mission is more than that.   In fact, just focussing on the financial and legal matters when it comes to governance may actually lead to bad governance.   Why?  Because a key to good governance is ensuring we are focussed on living out why we actually exist.   In a practical sense this means focussing on our objectives, mission and strategic directions as a church or ministry of the church.  Our response to our financial and legal obligations should always be based on why we exist, assisting us to live out our objectives and mission in the environment God has called us to.    

As a result of Covid we have seen good and not so good governance in churches and other organisations.  Covid brought about a number of rules and restrictions for us as church.  Legally we can’t avoid these rules.  Many of the rules and restrictions were brought in to help and care for the community.   

Some churches and organisations applied these rules without considering their mission and objectives.  People relating to such organisations had a sense that all the organisation cared about was keeping out of trouble.  The attitude appeared to be here are the rules, you must do this or that, its not our fault but the governments.  In many cases there was a sense of coldness with little love or care for others.   Other churches and organisations gave some more thought to how they applied the rules and restrictions in the light of their mission and objectives.   Many of them encouraged their community to see how these rules were in place to care for and love others.  They went out of their way to greet people in a welcoming and encouraging way.  They made it easy for people to comply with the rules.  They considered the diverse opinions of their community.  They explored other ways they could serve and care for people and keep engaged with people, considering the restrictions and rules in place.  This later group was not just focussed on their legal obligations, but more importantly on the community God has placed around them to serve.    They were not just concerned about not getting in trouble, but their main focus was on living out who had God called them to be. 

So how might we develop a more missional approach to governance?

1.     Focus continually on who God has called us to be and what has God called us to do. 
2. .    Know our mission, objectives and strategic directions, and view everything through these.
3. .    Spend a significant time at each meeting in listening to God, reflecting on and sharing what God says and prayer.
4. .   Reflect on who has God placed in your organisation’s life to serve and share the Gospel with. 

2.       Understand the financial and legal responsibilities you have, then shape your response to these based on your objectives and mission.   Think about how your response can reflect your mission, objectives and strategic direction.    This may take time, prayer and much discussion. 

Pastor Richard Schwedes

Assistant Bishop LCA NSW and ACT

 This article appeared originally in The Contact magazine - LCA NSW and ACT District 

  

Christian and Church governance

Recently good governance has been the flavour of the month throughout the Western World.

Many denominations and Christian groups have been 'forced' to relook at their governance.

Unfortunately at times, some of their responses have been merely to pick up Governmental or Corporate governance models without testing to see whether they are consistent with what it means to be church, with their theology and how Christians should be living.
For Lutheran churches we say everything needs to be tested against scripture, and many Lutheran Churches go even a little further, in that, everything needs to be tested against the Confessions (Book of Concord) and scripture, with scripture having precedence.

Some Christians argue, that there is the kingdom on the left and the kingdom on the right these are separate, so we are exempt from what the scripture says when 'living and carrying out activities in the world.'  But a Lutheran and Christian understanding of scripture highlights this is not the case and it is not so clear cut, in fact we can't ignore scripture even when living in the kingdom of the left.    For a more indepth discussion on the doctrine of the two kingdoms visit LCA TWO KINGDOMS  , LCMS TWO KINGDOMS,  Biblical Training - Two Kingdoms nd Paul Althaus review of Two Kingdoms .

The complication for many congregations is that we are constantly operating in both kingdoms and so we need to consider what this means and how we respond to the various responsibilities we have.

A good starting point is to keep in mind what good governance is:

1. Making sure we are meeting and working towards meeting our objectives (Mission Statement, Vision Statement and Goals, Great Commission and Great Commandment should also be important here)
2. Making sure we are meeting our legal responsibilities
3. Making sure we are meeting our financial responsibilities

Some things to think about:

What issues are taking up most of your time, discussion and meeting....Objectives, Legal, Finances???

Are ALL the people on your board passionate about your organisation meeting its objectives?

(A good way to gauge this is listen to what people talk most about)

This is highly critical...otherwise it will become more important to meet legal and financial issues than your objectives (and in fact people may lose sight of why they are being church)...which will cause problems down the track because people will be burdened by financial and legal matters rather than their objectives....It is also important that we don't neglect the financial and legal responsibilities....but view them as things that should serve us and be viewed in the light of our objectives.

Another issue that is becoming increasingly common is the need for skill based boards. Some Christian organisations have become so obsessed with getting skill based boards that they neglect to set any minimum criteria or checking regarding who should be on this boards relating to a person's beliefs and commitment to the objectives of the organisation.  So what can and has happened is that the objectives of the organisation and therefore the reason for its existence is secondary at best as a result of people who focus on the legal expertise, financial expertise or their expertise .   Appointing people based on skill without a minimum commitment to the objectives of the organisation also seems to go against Acts 6:1-4 , which says to appoint people even for hospitality roles, who are full of the Spirit.  Check out Willowcreek's approach to appointing Board members

Some great books on governance relating to churches and Christian organisations

 

Articles on Church governance:
What the bible says?
Lutheran Church Polity in USA
Mark Connor
Theopedia article
Willowcreek article