+ Why Clarifying Roles is a Critical Issue for Church Health & Growth

I’ve spent a lot of time with a lot of church teams at this point, and I’ve noticed some common themes adding complexity to teams and ultimately getting them stuck. Tell me if you see any of these in your church:

1. Roles Overlap.

Every team will at times need to take on the other roles listed. Problems begin develop, though, when a team spends the majority of their team assuming a role that belongs to another team. Create an effective internal communications system to ensure the right people are being communicated to.

2. Leadership Vacuums Develop When a Team Doesn’t Embrace Their Role.

Organizations get out of whack when a team abdicates its responsibility and no one carries out that function. When that happens, people will try to fill the vacuum and it can pull the church in an unhealthy direction.

Lack of role clarity contributes to this. If a team member isn’t certain of their responsibilities, not only does something significant fall through the cracks, but it prevents someone else from being able to do their job well.

3. We “Do” Rather Than “Equip To Do.”

This is something that I see far too often. The comfortable place to live is in “doing” the work. It’s what we know. God’s design for the church is that those of us in leadership would equip God’s people to do the work of God. (See Ephesians 4:12)

When we don’t follow God’s design, we won’t experience God’s fruit.
When we don’t follow God’s design, we won’t experience God’s fruit. @tonymorganlive Click To Tweet

4. We Spend More Time Investing in Tasks Than People.

There needs to be a balance of both. We prioritize time and systems to complete the tasks. We also need to prioritize the time and systems to care for people with whom we have influence. This is where discipleship and leadership development happens (I actually wrote a post about this you should check out).

Truthfully, this is why #3 carries so much weight. We can’t execute every task and care for every person. We have to build teams that create room for both. Both are required for a healthy, growing ministry.

Defining role clarity as a priority creates systems that will help you lead your team to health, ultimately helping your team lead more people to Jesus.
Defining role clarity as a priority creates systems that will help you lead your team to health, ultimately helping your team lead more people to Jesus. Click To Tweet

If complexity is getting your staff team stuck check out the Staffing & Structure Review portion of the Unstuck Process. Through a variety of assessments, exercises, conversations and work sessions, we help you and your team develop a customized structure based on your church’s vision and strategy.