Within the church we will find groups of people who meet together to brainstorm, strategize, make recommendations or decisions and plans on how to effectively do ministry in a certain area of church life.
Church Board (called by varying names in different churches but composed of those who provide broad oversight of the church)
Long Standing Committees or Ministry Teams (composed of leaders of a department or ministry area, i.e., Christian Education Commission)
Short Term or Temporary Committees or Ministry Teams (composed of select individuals to work on strategic planning for a seasonal ministry i.e., VBS, task i.e., Budget Committee, or what we might call a steering committee to help with new ministry initiatives)
While these groups may have different functions, the church’s purpose should provide the common thread.
Bring Boards, Committees, and Ministry Teams Under the Umbrella of Your Church Purpose
- The Church’s Purpose determines their reason for existence.
You should be able to provide a rational for why this group is needed to help the church fulfill it’s purpose. If not, it is possibly wasting precious time and resources.
- The Church’s Purpose is the end toward which all work.
The church purpose should be used as a grid through which all decisions are made. If not, it is possibly fragmenting rather than unifying the church.
The Church Purpose is what helps all the various ministries remain coordinated within the church. No committee, board, department, or team should be an end to itself. Yet, within the framework of the church’s purpose, great freedom can be given.
Get some suggestions for how you can make sure the church board, committees, and ministry teams come under the umbrella of your church purpose in the Steering the Church Toward God’s Purposes Leadership Guide.
All Posts about Boards, Committees, Ministry Teams:
- Purpose in Boards, Committees & Ministry Teams
- Healthy Church Boards Exercise Body Life
- Agendas Versus Relationships
- Contributing in Committees, Boards, Ministry Teams
- Differences of Opinion Don’t Have to Divide
- Division of Responsibilities
- Boards, Committees & Ministry Teams Need Focus
- Boards, Committees & Ministry Teams Need Accountability
- Christ-like Boards, Committees, Ministry Teams: Purposeful
- Christ-like Boards, Committees, Ministry Teams: Servant-Oriented
- Christ-like Boards, Committees, Ministry Teams: Team-Oriented
- Christ-like Boards, Committees, Ministry Teams: Upward-Focused
- Christ-like Boards, Committees, Ministry Teams: Process-Oriented
- Effective Church Committees or Ministry Teams
- Understanding Needed about Team Members Contributing
- Christ-like Boards & Committees Possible Due to the Gospel
- Christ-like Boards & Committees Because of the Holy Spirit
- Pulling on Spiritual Gifts of Board, Committee, Team Members?
- Spiritual Gifts of a Board or Committee Chairperson
- Christ-like Boards & Committees a Result of Grace
- Coming Together Because of the Name of the Lord
- Christ-like Boards & Committees Keep His Word Central
- Overcoming Power for Church Boards and Committees
You’re interchanging committees & ministry teams. Seems to me ministry teams is the more biblical way to go.
I hear what you are saying, Chet. The interchange is made because this goes out to a broad base, some having what they call committees and others ministry teams. Let me steer you to an article, Ministry Teams, that gives some perspective. The biblical route is that which functions more as a life-giving organism in which members relate interdependently with everyone’s contribution valued and needed. While calling a group a ministry “team” sounds like it fits that description, it doesn’t guarantee that it will function that way. “Ministry teams” can be as lifeless, hierarchical, and institutional as “committees.” I’m all for making what we do in the Church sound like what we are supposed to be but if it’s just semantics, we have gained little. We need to make sure we are truly functioning in accordance with God’s design. Upcoming posts will look at board, committees and ministry teams in light of God’s design for the church.
I am a Christian and a firm believer in the gospel of our lord Jesus Christ. i want to know whether formation of Standing committees in church is scriptural or biblical and if so, which portion of the bible provides for that. Bear in mind that bible say we should not add or subtract. What happens to the three works/committees of evangelism, Benevolence and Edification given by God to man?
Greetings in the Lord, Okirigwe Godfrey James. The Bible doesn’t specifically mention standing committees, but neither does the Bible mention many things we use in the Church to help facilitate ministry. There are many modern amenities the Bible doesn’t address like using cars or computers, electricity, phones, etc. Yet, we use them in our personal lives and in our churches. Then there are things like worship styles, types of music, curriculum, Sunday School, children’s church, and many other kinds of programs, strategies, and methodology not mentioned in the Bible.
If something isn’t mentioned in the Bible, God isn’t necessarily prohibiting it. And, using it isn’t necessarily adding to or subtracting from what God commands (Deut. 4:2). Where the Bible is silent, we need to look at the whole of Scripture to determine if something is biblically appropriate or not. God’s Word provides us with broad principles that can guide us in the specifics not mentioned in the Bible. Certainly if what we want to do goes against a direct command in Scripture, we immediately know we shouldn’t do it.
And, yes, God wants us to engage in evangelism, benevolence, and edification as well as worship, prayer, and fellowship. But, we don’t need committees to do it or plan for it. Yet, committees or ministry teams could help, whether they’re standing committees or short-term. Such a team effort certainly does promote or facilitate the interdependence with which God designed the Body to function. Groups of people working together, whatever we might call them or for however long they might meet, does fit within God’s design for the Church (1 Cor. 12).