Church Health – Vision for Administrative Excellence

Article by Teresa Chang

God is an administrator. He runs a universe of a hundred billion planets and He’s good at it. There is order and structure, growth and purpose. Organizational excellence depends on wise administration and strategic planning. Simply stated, the vision for administration is excellence in everything we do. We are a people of high quality who reflect the excellence of our Father and the Kingdom of Heaven. The quality of our work and lives as church leaders should be in a continual process of improvement because we are moving from “glory to glory” even in practical matters.

As church leaders, we want to promote a vision for excellence in our congregations. We should never do anything halfway. Why not? Because we know the Creator of the universe! We are tied into the heart, mind and Word of God; therefore, we should be so clearly gifted in administration and planning that we are always one step ahead of the world in terms of the implementation of excellence. We can be leaders in the spheres to which God has called us. The world should look to us for the best songs, the best movies, the best political solutions, the best societal and economic solutions. We don’t mimic the world—we lead the world.

How to Promote a Vision for Excellence in Your Church

1. Make the vision practical.

Why is it important to promote excellence in everything you do? What is your own personal vision for excellence?

Show the church why you love doing things well, how it has affected your life and how it can change theirs. What are some practical steps you can take to promote a vision for administration and the spirit of excellence in your church? Begin by preaching about a high vision for excellence. Let people hear about the vision in regular church services, and also let them see the vision in action in every possible area within the church. For example, proof your weekly bulletin and overheads for typos and missing words. When you hand out sermon notes or other publications, make sure they are in order. Everything from public relations to the church’s website to the way you run Sunday mornings and the greeting ministries—every aspect of ministry should reflect your administrative values for excellence, effectiveness and efficiency of use.

2. Make your vision for excellence a priority for your staff and church.

In order to make excellence a deep, core value in your congregation, it first needs to be a deep, core value to you and your leadership team. Celebrate excellence in your leadership group in such a way that your vision for it extends to the rest of the church. As people see the importance of excellence, they will naturally begin to adopt it as a value in their own lives.

3. As a church, be excellent stewards.

Be a good steward with what you’ve been given. A crucial issue, money is a point where the world is offended with the Body of Christ, when it could be a point where we are examples of wise stewardship. Most churches tend to consume 80-90 percent of their income just to keep afloat and then provide subpar services for their congregations. The world’s non-profit organizations, meanwhile, tend to pour about 90 percent of their resources back into the community to help bring change and improvement. How are you giving back to your community? How are you blessing and being generous with your neighbors, even those who don’t attend your church or don’t agree with you? It is vital that your church is excellent in matters of generosity.

The more the Body of Christ becomes an apostolic resource center, the more we will find ourselves able to promote Kingdom reality in efficient and effective ways.