Growing Your Ministry Through…Structure

I define a ministry’s structure as the combination of the organization, procedures, and execution that helps a team achieve their purpose. A documented ministry structure should include the following artifacts: an organizational chart, team definitions, and job role requirements.

Organizational Charts

The org chart depicts the reporting structure for the ministry and helps volunteers understand who to raise issues, should the need arise. I have seen more than one ministry fail because it lacked a clear understanding of the functional structure and who had the authority to alter job assignments and responsibilities. Here is an example (click the image to view the full size):

If you need help or want to learn more about org charts, Microsoft has a great article on how to use Microsoft Word to create an org chart.

Team Definitions

If your ministry has more than one specific goal in mind, then you probably have the concept of teams. Teams are commonly divided by skillset, location, and/or type. Whenever you are trying to grow your ministry by recruiting volunteers, you need to help that volunteer figure out where they fit best. For a web ministry, some volunteers may be good at graphic design, others with HTML and Javascript, while others are best at writing copy. Take the time to define your teams, what they do, and (more importantly) what they don’t do. The definitions you create here will lead into the next step, defining job roles.

Job Roles

The final step is to define the job roles for each of your teams. These definitions should be simple, probably about a page in length, and should define the job title, a description, any physical or skill requirements, team name, and how many hours are required per week/month to serve. This description helps ensure someone understands what they are signing up for, as well as potential recruits to understand what opportunities may exist.

So, does your ministry have a documented structure? How would you rate the structure of your ministry? How are you going to improve on it to improve the health of your ministry and produce ministry growth?

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