church administration is ministry
“[As a church leader] I did not take any great delight in administrative work, though I knew it had to be done." ― Eugene Peterson
In the church there is often a tension between ministry and administration.
Ministry is the 'spiritual' work of the church. It is preaching and teaching. It is leading worship. It is discipleship and hosting Bible studies. It is evangelism and outreach. It is mission trips. It is congregational care. It is all the ‘pastoral’ work that makes someone want to lead a church in the first place.
Administration on the other hand is all of the day-to-day behind the scenes work of the church. It is strategizing and planning. It is budgeting. It is hosting events. It is coordinating staff and volunteers. Or as Eugene Peterson writes in The Pastor: A Memoir, “running a damn church.”
In my experience, church leaders are frustrated by the amount of administrative work they have to do. There is too much to do, not enough time to do it all, and church leaders would rather be focused on ministry. Church leaders are afraid of being too focused on administration, and rightfully so. They want to help people grow in their faith, not spend all of their time on administrative tasks. This may sound like:
“I want to start a new young adult ministry, but we do not have the money.”
“I want to do more hospital and care visits, but we do not have the time.”
“I want to build our discipleship program; I cannot spend all my time on administrative work.”
“I do not want to go to this meeting.”
As a result, administration is viewed in competition to ministry. Ministry is viewed as the work of God, where administration is all the work church leaders “have” to do but do not enjoy. Ministry is more important than administration.
Yet, there is no ministry without administration.
The problem is not administrative work. The problem is not that there is not enough time. The problem is not that there is too much administrative work. The problem is our perspective, that we have not invited God into our administrative work.
Yes, there is a lot of administrative work in the church. On average, pastors and church leaders spend roughly fifty percent of their time (often more) on administrative functions. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by administrative work. Often the solution is to neglect or delegate administrative work to staff, interns, or volunteers. But you cannot solve the problem by hiring someone with business experience to help 'run the church', or by ignoring it.
The solution should be to invite God into church administration, to see how He is working in and through church administration to build His Kingdom. What we need is a redemptive perspective of church administration.
Not all ministry is preaching, worshiping, discipling, evangelism, missions, or care ministry. Ministry is the work of the church. Ministry encompasses all the church does to serve the congregation and the community. And that includes administration.
Administration is the work that enables the church to preach the gospel, provide a place to worship, care for those in need, help people grow their faith, and spread the gospel. Without administration there is no ministry.
