Several years ago, the men of the church where I was pastor took a two-day canoe trip. Having enjoyed the experience the previous year, I invited my best friend along to enjoy the relaxing beauty of the river as my paddling partner. But this trip wasn’t as relaxing as the one before. I won’t go into details about what happened, except to say that our fellow travelers tagged our canoe “Titanic” before the first day was over.
So what happened? Well, I had been on only one real canoe trip before, which was one more than my friend. Working together on when to paddle, on which side either of us would paddle, and where to aim our canoe heading into rapids were problems for us. In other words, we lacked alignment. We didn’t take care to see that our actions worked together in a way that would safely carry our canoe downstream.
Something similar happens with churches. When the different aspects of ministry do not fit together for the church to fulfill it’s God given mission, the church gets stuck. At worst it’s the ecclesiastical version of Titanic.
You can assess and correct the alignment in your church by looking at three areas.
The first is alignment of your church ministry activities with the purpose of God. As noted in a previous post, God’s purpose for the New Testament church can be summarized in the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. How do your activities line up with this purpose? What would an outsider assume the purpose of your church was based only on the fruit of your ministry?
I’ve known churches whose stated purpose was making disciples, but their unspoken priority was the comfort of certain members. They claimed to want new believers in the church, but would drive them away when those new believers challenged their preferences. Another was in a community where 85% of the households spoke Spanish as their first language, yet they refused to offer ministry in Spanish. Such congregations will remain stuck until they repent and seek realignment.
The second area for alignment feeds the first, alignment among the leadership (staff and key lay leaders) and the congregation. If I asked “What is most important in your church?”, would the members’ answers resemble those of the leadership? How do you see leaders and other members working for the same goals? Do you see evidence they are not?
Misalignment here is common among stuck churches. The pastor, staff, and key leaders often discern God’s purpose, and the tactics for it’s fulfillment, ahead of others. That’s why they are leaders. The great challenge of church revitalization is bringing the remaining congregation into alignment with the leadership vision. And there are no quick fixes for this one. The answer here is genuine, biblical disciple making, by which the Lord brings His people together.
By the way, you need not wait for the church to reach perfect alignment before moving forward to God’s purpose. The high school coach doesn’t wait for all the kids to play at a top level before starting the game. He plays the varsity, while continuing to develop the JV. In the same way, pastors, while you should never abandon the sheep, engage with those who are ready. Always disciple to shepherd God’s people to His purpose.
The third important area for alignment is that among the staff, or in single-staff congregations among the pastor and key ministry leaders. Few things derail a church’s ministry like discord among senior leadership. Do the words and actions of staff show mutual support for the work of colleagues? Do staff members speak with one heart and voice before the church, or do they cast doubt on one another?
Pastors, staff, read this carefully. Each one of you has a unique call of God that has been affirmed by the congregation you serve. But God has placed you together in the same boat. You can’t just paddle at your own discretion. You must paddle together. Pastors, you are in the overall steering position. You owe your team the clearest direction for the float and support necessary to fulfill their role. Staff, you each have your place and your oar. You owe your pastor and colleagues your honest feedback about the conditions of the float and your best effort to paddle at your position. But, especially before the church body, you paddle as a team, united in your common commitment to the Lord, to His church, and to one another. And by all means never paddle against each other.
One final word on alignment. It’s not a one-time thing. Alignment is a state that we must strive to build and keep. This world will present everything possible to break the alignment among God’s people, knowing that dissonance frustrates ministry. So, embrace it, prioritize it, and give serious effort to it, for the purposes of God.
Bro. Jim