Ministry Dichotomy Essay

1505 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effective leadership in the church

Ministry is messy, filled with many dichotomies that that can sabotage a minister’s effectiveness. Can a minister be entrepreneurial while being a good steward? Can a ministry grow and still be healthy? How does the business of ministry and culture of the church coexist? How do ministries remain ethical while maintain the business of ministry? These are the questions that pastors face and must answer correctly in order to be effective.
Ministry Dichotomy #1
The first dichotomy is between an entrepreneurial spirit and stewardship. Entrepreneurial leadership influences others by setting the example to be creative, passionate, and experiential seeking to go beyond the normal (Renko, El Tarabishy, Carsrud, and Braennback, 2015). Entrepreneurial …show more content…

Not all-church growth is beneficial. Churches tend to take on the persona of their pastor. If the pastor is an evangelist then they church will produce evangelists, if they are a deeper teacher then the it will produce deep thinkers. Because of this, churches need a team to lead them so they do not become one dimensional, placing the fate of the church on one persons shoulders (Reimer, 2016). A church can experience rapid growth in a specific area but if it can’t compliment that area to make the discipleship process well rounded then cripples the people. A church can’t be so focused on evangelism that it doesn’t spend time making sure that proper discipleship is taking place with the people that they are …show more content…

In business the focus is on profit and growth not always sustainability. Growth can be good for the church as discussed earlier but it cannot overpower the culture of the church. Stonebraker (1993) in his research about the optimal church size acknowledges that larger churches take less money to operate on per congregate, however he also acknowledges that more congregates are engaged in serving per congregate. Business and ministry can get focused on programing and systems that they loose site of the individuals, which are the church. Businesses tend to operate from a leadership down standpoint, with the leadership answering to the shareholders. Church leaders answer to the stakeholders, so they must find a way to work together in ways that business leaders do not. Businesses have paid employees; volunteers mostly do the business of the

Show More
Related

  • Ministry Staff Member Summary

    2033 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Ministry Staff Member by Douglas Fagerstrom, is an excellent book that is designed to help create a clear picture on the role and responsibilities of ministry leaders and volunteers (paid and not paid). The book is practical and relevant to every single person wanting to be involved in a church. I am currently a children’s pastor, and I found valuable information under every part and page of the book that I wish I had known about a year ago. Not only does this book contain content that is valuable and relevant, but it also highlights the importance of financial and personal integrity in ministry relationships.

    Read More

  • The State of Southeastern Conference and Seventh-day Adventist within the Church and Religious Group Industry

    705 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The size of individual congregations varies. Catholic congregations, on average, have 2,400 members; Jewish congregations, 1,500; Baptist congregations, 580; Methodist congregations, 300; and fundamentalist Christian congregations, 180. About 50,000 congregations have 1,000 or more members, including about 25,000 Catholic congregations. Congregations are usually limited in size because of the practical necessity of meeting for religious services. Geographical proximity and the physical size of a church building are limiting factors, as is the desire of members to be personally known to clergy. Many congregations can co-exist in the same geographical area because of the diversity of religious beliefs in most US communities.” (Hoover’s 2008)

    Read More

  • The Church in the Postmodern World

    1619 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mead, Loren B. The Once and Future Church Reinventing the Congregation for a New Mission Frontier . The Alban Institute, Inc., 1991. Kindle eBook file.

    Read More

  • Personal Philosophy of a Christian Ministry

    1841 Words  | 4 Pages

    Philosophy of Ministry: God's desires come first, I must always live my ministry God's way. I must live as a Christian (1 Corinthians 9:27) I must have a proper relationship of surrender to the Leader. In my personal life or in the Church I must understand that Christ is Head and Chief Shepherd (Ephesians 1:22, Hebrews 13:20). The “management” of Church is about relationships with God and Man, not just maintaining a social organization.

    Read More

  • Danial Payne's Ministry Analysis

    509 Words  | 2 Pages

    In section two Anyabwile highlights the ministry of Bishop Danial Alexander Payne (1811- 1893). Payne was born a free black in Charleston, South Carolina doing the zenith of slavery in this country. As a free black Payne took advantage of his freedom and submerge himself into his studies. After his call into the ministry, Danial Payne was inspired not only to educate himself however to be an educator of colored people. From 1830 to 1835 Danial Payne had one of the fastest growing and most influential schools in the south. (76) Until a law was passed in 1835 prohibiting any person white or black from teaching slaves to read and write. Therefore, Payne closed his school and moved north. Danial Payne not only believed in an educated pastorate

    Read More

  • The Scriptures Views on Places of Gathering

    1074 Words  | 3 Pages

    I can see the point that having a church building is a better evangelistic tool because when an unbeliever is wanting to know about God, they usually try to find a church (if they don’t know anyone who’s a Christian). Churches usually have the times of their services posted somewhere so if someone wanted to come they know what time to be there. If a person wants to know more about God, the church usually has people there ready to share the gospel with them, whether it’s the pastor, deacons, or other laymen. True believers want to have people get saved, and the modern day church makes provision for that. The world doesn’t understand that the church isn’t a building, so having one does help in reaching unsaved people because that’s where they instinctively would know to go.

    Read More

  • Scientology Case Study

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    To keep the majority at the bottom they must be suppressed and poorly educated with lack of any knowledge that could hurt the few at the top. This style of running the church is a very tyrant system and should be a red flag indicator to anyone in and outside the community.

    Read More

  • I’ve Got A Reason to Praise the Lord

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    All of us have encountered someone in our lifetime – a family member, a co-worker, a neighbor, or an acquaintance – who asked us WHY? Why do we pour all of our talents, all of our gifts, and all of our service into church?

    Read More

  • Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down

    1370 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although written for church leadership, everyday church members would also benefit from understanding the concepts that Dawn is directing at God-empowered leaders. Ms. Dawn's work is predominantly scholarly, and she cites several other works at great length.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Stand at the Crossroads Ministry Run by Deborah Lamb Reaches Out

    679 Words  | 2 Pages

    As with any ministry, it takes a person who to be selfless and willing to make the sacrifices that have to be made daily as Ms. Lamb does. For example, she quit a f...

    Read More

  • Megachurches Pros And Cons

    1442 Words  | 3 Pages

    Looking at it through Christian eyes, one could see that the following quote from gotquestions.org could be considered a pro for megachurches; (referring to the people of megachurches)”...Study the Scriptures on their own, and believe in the importance of sharing their faith. Megachurches also tend to be the most multi-ethnic of all congregations.” One could also say that the opportunity to pick and choose your own ministries and small groups to be a part of would be considered a pro as well. Another pro would be that megachurches deliver recovery and addiction groups for people, licensed counselors for individual and marital issues for couples as well as preschools for the children. Having all of these programs and helping hands megachurches tend to attract younger families as well as younger singles, and with this, one could believe that this is a huge pro bringing in the young new era of Christians. According to christianpost.com 55% of the people that attend megachurches volunteer at church while the percentage of volunteers at smaller churches is much lower. However what could be considered a con is that not everyone decides to join the provided small groups and communities outside of Church. So their tends to be some difficulty establishing friendship and family if one just goes to the service with the 3,000 person attendance compared to a small church where you are more likely to be able to establish friendship and family from going to service with an attendance of 200

    Read More

  • Religion Chapter 1 Summary

    883 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chapter 1: Culture is a set of shared meanings, values and principles. The church finds itself in a culture that seems to have shifting values, however the church is not without hope. We must ask ourselves important questions about our principles and our competences. What does it look like for a church to be competent? What are the principles demanded by the gospel for a church to be competent?

    Read More

  • Small Pastors

    824 Words  | 2 Pages

    This means “most” churches in America would be considered small or medium in size at the most. Therefore, looking at the issue faced by these churches and how to remedy them is wise. Common Problems Pastors Face When Leading Small Congregations Discouragement

    Read More

  • Personal Ministry Work Plan

    1230 Words  | 3 Pages

    PERSONAL MINISTRY PLAN Rhonda Allen PLED_450_D01 April 15, 2015 Have a mentor: Pastors should seek out a mentor, every member of the body of Christ needs the ministry of the body of Christ, including the pastor. Tripp encourages 1Pastor, make sure you are being pastored the entire time you are pastoring others. Seek out a mature and reliable person with whom you can share your heart. Work to build with that person a sturdy bond of trust. Refuse to live without this kind of person in your life.

    Read More

  • People Are Not Leaving The Church Because It Isn T Fun Enough Analysis

    503 Words  | 2 Pages

    People Are Not Leaving the Church Because It Isn't Fun Enough "And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God" (1 Cor. 2:4-5). The power of God is not found on a fancy stage, under bright lights, working through cool bands, or streaming across video screens. The power of God is found through the Holy Spirit who appears through holy fire. That's not to say that God cannot work in a place that has a nice band or tech savvy production team, but when your church depends on you to draw the people in instead of God, there is a good chance you won't find the Spirit there.

    Read More

More about Ministry Dichotomy Essay

Open Document