The Outsized Influence of Church Staff
by Rev. Mark Tidsworth, Founder and Team Leader
One would think the staff team needs to be sizeable in order to influence the church much at all. But no, it’s amazing how very small staff teams (pastor plus a volunteer or two) all the way up to sixty-plus staff teams, exert influence far beyond their size.
Before describing their influence, you might notice I’ve used the word “team” in association with “staff.” This is because the staff of a church is experienced by the disciples in a church as a team, regardless of whether they function as a team or even perceive themselves to be a team. Disciples in churches often lump the people employed by a church into the same mental category, including the pastors. “They (anyone employed by the church) are our staff team.”
A primary dynamic resulting from this viewpoint is that the actions, perspectives, and ministries of staff persons combine together to take on a life of their own. They become a team (want to or not), significantly influencing the church. This particular team in the life of a church tends to influence in an outsized or an exaggerated manner.
The following three areas of church life are specific ways staff teams disproportionately impact their churches.
Spiritual Outlook – What are the theological and spiritual themes the church staff is running? Hopeful? Anticipatory? Pursuing Transformation? Angry theology? Despairing about future of the church? Their spiritual outlook as a team turns into overt and covert communication, telegraphing (to use outdated language) their beliefs directly to the church, influencing everything in church life. In addition, these themes also turn into energy… helpful and life giving or unhelpful and discouraging. Want to improve the spiritual outlook of a church? Invite the staff team to nurture their spiritual well-being, growth, and theology. This is not peripheral activity, rather directly influences in an outsized way the spiritual trajectory in churches.
Level of Functioning – As a team, are these high, medium, or low performers? Yes, I recognize we typically don’t use the language of industry when it comes to church life. Even so, there are times when the need is there. In non-religious employment, we are expected to perform, accomplishing the responsibilities of our jobs in relation to standards (hopefully excellence). Is serving in the church any less important? High functioning performers and teams influence the church in so many positive ways, indicating that what the church is about matters. Letting performance concerns linger on and on signals that church leadership doesn’t really matter.
Relational Health – How the church staff team interacts with one another is a primary example of what their church believes it looks like to be in Christian community. Some staff teams may even now be silently or even vocally objecting to the previous sentence. In no way do they want their team functioning to model what their church believes about Christian community. Well, I understand. But the reality is that we don’t get to choose on this one. It’s a given. The way staff teams relate IS an example of Christian community within our churches regardless of how we feel about this. Healthy relational functioning in staff teams adds energy to churches, multiplying healthy relating far beyond what one might expect. The reverse is also true… unresolved and ongoing unhelpful tension serves as a drag on church energy and momentum, significantly slowing forward movement.
So, where to from here? First, grasping the reality that our teaming as church staff influences in outsized ways is a first step. Second, when we realize this, there are three considerations to engage.
Regularly, we hear pastors and personnel teams surprised at the energy required to develop staff teams. This makes sense, given the lack of focus on teamworking in our clergy educational processes. But fortunately, the action doesn’t stop there, beginning instead. There is help to be had and progress to be made.
I’m looking forward to continuing this focus on church staff teams in next week’s E-News.