Contrarian View From the Pew: Church Stakeholders

In a previous post, I wrote about the stakeholders in business. Then I described the conflicting desires of business stakeholders and how each stakeholder can't possibly get everyting they want. Today, I'm going to apply this concept to the Church.

Stakeholders in a Church are not as easy to delineate as stakeholders in a business. Churches always have leaders and usually have some sort of formal leadership structure, but the leaders of a Church are not the same as the owners of a business and the leaders of a Church should not have the same objectives as the owners of a business.

Churches also have employees, committed members, involved members, attendees, participants, visitors, uncommitted members, potential members, and potential visitors. Each set, sub-set, and individual person, usually have their own unique beliefs, needs, and desires, but each is still a stakeholder in the welfare and success of the Church.

Even without a formal business plan, it’s fairly easy to know the objective of most businesses. There are many different strategies, but every business tries to grow by increasing profits and reducing costs. Even with a formal ministry plan, it is almost impossible to know the goals of most Churches and there is almost never an agreement on the methods. The Churches that measure results measure what is easy to count; mainly heads.

A Church is definitely not a business. However, the root problem with most Churches nowadays is the same as the root problem with most businesses nowadays. Everyone in Church is looking out and advocating their own interests from their own perspective without much concern for the interests and needs of the other stakeholders. The place where the Golden Rule is taught is missing the practice of the Golden Rule.

Purpose Driven Pastors are demanding more commitment from sleep deprived members, attendees are expecting the Pastor to preach like Swindoll, leaders are expecting the Pastor to promote like Warren, everyone in Church is wanting more services, better music, and more social programs to meet their individual needs, and visitors are expecting to be catered to and pampered.

Just as a healthy business can’t possibly have the lowest prices, the highest salaries, and the greatest return on investment all at the same time, a Church can’t possibly have the commitment the Purpose Driven Pastor demands, the programs the members’ desire, and the care and concern visitors expect all at the same time.

When I observe Churches nowadays, I observe a lot of selfishness, similar to the “all about me” attitude in business. Quite frankly, even organizations as small as the family are suffering from this same problem. Possibly, the smaller family sizes nowadays is one of the reasons people are so selfish. With four brothers and four sisters growing up together, it never occurred to me that my family should ever do anything just for me. My brothers and sisters all seemed to feel the same way. We did most of what we did as a family.

Churches need to get back to being a family where the interests of all of the stakeholders are understood and balanced without having a goal of being the best at anything. A little more grace, a little more patience, a little more understanding, a little more humility, and a lot more walking in the footsteps of others will go a long way towards practicing the Golden Rule.