Church Risk Paper
LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAM
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION ASSIGNMENT
PRESENTED TO DR. FRANK SCHMITT
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE COURSE
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
DSMN 505
BY
March 9, 2012
Introduction
Examining the Essential Need for Administration
Administration in the church is an essential part of creating order, it allows the pastoral ministries, to take place. Without some organized form of administration, ministry or pastoral work, as we know it, would be very difficult to achieve. For a church to try to make a determination for or against having an active administration should only serve as a formality. For a church to function without an active administrative role in the 21st century would be quite difficult indeed. As Welch points out in Church Administration: Creating Efficiency for Effective Ministry, administration (or management of the church) is not an optional piece we can choose to include or not include, it exists whether we as church staff decide to acknowledge it or not.[1] Welch examines this in detail, from scripture, which includes 1 Corinthians 12:28 where it clearly states that “God has placed these in the church” as a necessary element of the church body.[2]
Welch points out many other biblical examples of why administration is an important element of the church, but he clearly states why when he says that administration is “to define and set forth the purposes, aims, objectives, and goals of the church.”[3] It would be hard to imagine a church in our current day, culture, and times, without a proper administrative setup. Administrative roles have become specialized today, especially in larger churches, where individuals can, and do, carry out a selective administrative duty such as information technology, communications, or marketing. It is no longer the sole task of the “Church Administrator”
DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAM
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION ASSIGNMENT
PRESENTED TO DR. FRANK SCHMITT
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE COURSE
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
DSMN 505
BY
March 9, 2012
Introduction
Examining the Essential Need for Administration
Administration in the church is an essential part of creating order, it allows the pastoral ministries, to take place. Without some organized form of administration, ministry or pastoral work, as we know it, would be very difficult to achieve. For a church to try to make a determination for or against having an active administration should only serve as a formality. For a church to function without an active administrative role in the 21st century would be quite difficult indeed. As Welch points out in Church Administration: Creating Efficiency for Effective Ministry, administration (or management of the church) is not an optional piece we can choose to include or not include, it exists whether we as church staff decide to acknowledge it or not.[1] Welch examines this in detail, from scripture, which includes 1 Corinthians 12:28 where it clearly states that “God has placed these in the church” as a necessary element of the church body.[2]
Welch points out many other biblical examples of why administration is an important element of the church, but he clearly states why when he says that administration is “to define and set forth the purposes, aims, objectives, and goals of the church.”[3] It would be hard to imagine a church in our current day, culture, and times, without a proper administrative setup. Administrative roles have become specialized today, especially in larger churches, where individuals can, and do, carry out a selective administrative duty such as information technology, communications, or marketing. It is no longer the sole task of the “Church Administrator”
Bibliography: Akin, Daniel, James Leo Garrett Jr., Robert L. Reymond, James R. White, and Paul F. M. Zahl. Perspectives on Church Government: 5 Views. 1st Edition. Edited by Chad Owen Brand and R. Stanton Norman. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004. McClintock, Karen A. Preventing Sexual Abuse in Congregations; A Resource for Leaders. 1st Edition. Herndon, VA: The Alban Institute, 2004. Welch, Robert H. Church Administration; Creating Efficiency for Effective Ministry. 1st Edition. Vol. I. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2005. [4] Welch, Robert H. Welch, Church Administration: Creating Efficiency for Effective Ministry, Kindle Edition (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005), 47-48. [8] Daniel Akin, James Leo Garrett Jr., Robert L. Reymond, James R. White and Paul F. M. Zahl, Perspectives on Church Government: 5 Views, 1st Edition, ed. Chad Owen Brand and R. Stanton Norman (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004), 3. [9] Robert H. Welch, Church Administration; Creating Efficiency for Effective Ministry, 1st Edition, Vol. I (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2005), 260.