ADMINSTRATIVE CHURCH LEADERS
Administration Is a Gift of The Spirit And an Important, Powerful Part of Kingdom Reality
It is spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12:28 and Romans 12:7-8, administration and those gifted to be administrators had a high value throughout Scripture. They were people who could coordinate, mobilize and move things forward for the nation of Israel and the Body of Christ as a whole.
Those who manage the logistics and tactics of an army are vital, and unfortunately, many churches have experienced various kinds of failures because of poor administration and the unwise allocation of resources. Administrators steer entire groups toward a goal and allow resources to be channeled in such a way that maximum impact is achieved.
Jesus depended on administrators while He walked earth. Certain women traveled with Him and helped administrate His group in practical, logistical ways (see Luke 8). Later in the book of Acts, Greek widows were not being served well, and the apostles realized the need for administrators, so in Acts 6 they set aside servants who helped administrate practical matters. The word deacon isn’t used in Acts 6, but this even with the Greek widows was the emergence of the deaconal role.
Deacons and Elders
Many churches don’t use the word deacon anymore, but in the local church structure of the New Testament, elder and deacon were the two primary job descriptions. The elder is called pastor and oversee people, while the deacon oversees projects and functions. Diakonos, which we translate as “deacon,” means the ability to serve and administrate on someone else’s behalf–it is the person who is good the numbers, details and keeping and organization running smoothly.
The realm of the administrator is vast and significant, because every gift has an administrative dimension. Pastors, evangelists, prophets, teachers and apostles need to mobilize others and send people to do certain tasks. They need help writing budgets; allocating resources of time, energy and money; keeping calendars and schedules; and a host of other details. Some people look at everything that needs to be done and panic–but administrators are gifted in seeing the details and orchestrating them in a way that lets the ship sail forward smoothly.
In essence, the realm of the administrator is the ministry of excellence working within the quality of how we manage our resources and accomplish our goals in the most effective, efficient way.
What Lies Ahead
Not only do administrators help a church with its present needs, but they are also able to look into the future. They see the steps that need to be taken so the end goal can be reached, and they plan accordingly.
God has called us to go out and change the world. This requires us to move beyond just managing what we have right now and begin to perceive what lies ahead. We can marshal our resources for future management. Strategic planning is a process of investigating the present (understanding what we are doing in the here and now) and mapping the journey into the future. It is the ability to mobilize human resources, financial resources, and calendar and organizational Resources in such a way that we accomplish al God has directed us to accomplish.
Some down-to-earth administrative priorities that should be true in every church are:
- We encourage and practice wise and faith-filled financial stewardship.
- Our facilities are functional and well suited to fulfill our mission and vision.
- We manage our calendar effectively in light of our purpose and priorities.
- We effectively share our message through various forms of media.
- Our website is creative, accurate, comprehensive, current and well used.
