How can a congregation change its culture?
It helps to focus less on structure and instead envision the church as an organism.
Century illustration (Source images via Getty)
A woman recently told me she had been asked to be a trustee at the congregation where I am now an interim pastor. “I turned it down,” she said, “because I don’t like working with structures.”
She might benefit from a change of metaphor: congregations are living organisms. They need tender, loving care from all those concerned—pastors, lay leaders, ordinary folk serving a multitude of roles or simply showing up for worship.
Church structure is important. But church culture matters, too: it’s what makes any organization a living organism. Think of structure as the skeleton and culture as the circulatory system. In a healthy organization, the two must be compatible.
