Continous Discipleship - Administration

Prayer: God you trust us with discerning your will as we make decisions in the church. Help us trust you so that all that is done reflects your grace and all that is accomplished is to your glory. Amen.

Administration is the process by which
    a governing body implements decisions.

It involves working with
    and through persons
        to accomplish goals and includes:
developing leadership,
planning,
communicating,
organizing,
budgeting,
supervising, and
evaluating.              
        Book of Order  G-9.0401

Mission determines the form of structure and administration. All structures should enable the church to give effective witness to the Lordship of Christ in the contemporary world.                                                               Book of Order  G-9.0402

Have you ever decided that you wanted to do something but then never got around to doing it? The process of doing can come in two steps. The first step is deciding what to do. The church makes decision in community trying to discern God’s will. Then the second step is to implement those decisions.

Administration has two parts -  management and leadership. In Summoned to Lead, Leonard Sweet used the words priestly and prophets to describe the leadership roles of Shackelton the ship captain of the Endurance who successful got his entire crew to safety after being trapped in the ice of Antarctica.

“He combined the prophetic and priestly functions of leadership. He reached out to where his crew was (priest) and reached out to where his crew was not but needed to go (prophetic). He could “tell it like it is,” but was willing to tell it like it is not but ought to be. Reaching people where they are is how leaders form relationships. But reaching people where they are not is how leaders form hope for “what you can be” and help construct an imaginary future toward which people can direct their steps.”
The abiding with and sending forth are parts of leadership that are useful in church administration.

Prayer: We know that Christ is beside us and Christ is in front of us. We pray to see where Christ is and give us the courage to go there.