Ministry Journey Blog

Thoughts on Ministry

10 Oct

Process

Posted in Uncategorized on 10.10.13 by Merlyn

Process is very important, especially in the church. In fact, I would argue that process is the most important practical matter in the church. Process is more important than results. Healthy process allows room for so much more and a lack of process often yields a less helpful result and can lead to additional conflict, resentment and other challenges. The problem is that many churches tend to over process conflict and under process everything else. Process allows for multiple voices and perspectives. Process allows for greater ownership and creativity. More often than not, the process itself teaches us far more than we gain from the result. We stand a much better chance of obtaining an ideal result when we use consistent, transparent and healthy process.

I have not quite figured out why the church struggles so much with process, but there is no question that most churches do. Whether a complete lack of process, unhealthy process, outdated process or most often a combination of the three, churches continue to struggle with process and there is an impact on the fruit that they bear. Whether fear, insecurity, lack of theological reflection or a variety of other motivators, it seems as though we are not even interested in wrestling with the question about process. This has caused the church to wander and increased the identity crisis that we face.

Process is more important than results. If we gave as much attention to process as we do marketing, metrics and programs, I suspect we would see a very different church than exists today in the world.

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