Article by Charles Jarman
I like the statement that “culture is to a community as habit is to an individual”. To me this means that you can actually know the community by its quirks, tells and personality. For example, when I‘m playing cards with my wife I’m somewhat at a disadvantage because she knows me so well that by a certain look on my face or mannerism, she can tell if I have a good hand or how I feel about a play she made. This wouldn’t happen without relationship. In the same way, you can predict what an organization is going to do simply by observing its culture.
Culture is absolutely key to overall church health! As defined by Michael Brodeur, “Culture consists of our values, priorities and practices in combination with our symbols, expressions and traditions that tie us to our past, identify us in the present and propel us into the future.” Values, priorities and practices are the three basic ingredients of culture.
- Values according to Michael Brodeur, are the intangible basis by which we judge the relative worth of one thing compared to another. John Wimber considered common shared values as the key to the success of any ministry. Without them your ministry will ultimately fail.
- Priorities deal with how you manage or steward limited available resources: finances, energy, time and people. When dealing with people you’re not just guiding them one to two hours on a Sunday, you’re actually trying to guide them for the entire 168 hours in the week to maximize effort by having them not just consume, but also produce.
- Practices are what your people naturally do without being led. Whether healthy or unhealthy, positive or negative, people will naturally begin to practice what you have instilled in them through application of values and priorities. There’s a saying, What you do is what you get.” So, as a pastor, be diligent to set your course and let your practices be that which are life-giving.
As a leader you have the responsibility of taking the culture of the church to a place where you get the most out of what you have. You have to steward it well, which means that it requires ongoing assessment. And, if you find that something is no longer effective, stop doing it. The building of culture is inevitable. The establishment of your ministry’s culture will happen whether intentional or not. Building purposefully will take you in the direction you desire and envision. An undirected or accidental establishment of culture will pull you in directions you never intended, and at best, leaving you far from your goal.
Culture is the most undervalued yet essential element of any successful ministry endeavor. Your church’s culture is key! Proceed with intention and build well!
