LEAD 505: Discussion Thread: "Changing the Perception of Church Administration", Submitted on Oct. 29, 2026
It is interesting that they think of Church Administration being “necessary evil”; obviously, it is understandable that many pastors and preachers would naturally feel church administration might go against the vocation of their first love and choosing, a mandate by heaven, which is to evangelize, preach the gospel unto the world, and save the lost souls as they get engaged in doing the God’s works as fishers of men (cf. Matt. 4:19).” The Great Commission (Matt. 28), and the Two Greatest Commandments (cf. Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18; Mark 12:25-28) all do seemingly tell the story of missionary responsibilities toward our (unsaved) neighbors, not of Church Administration, on the surface.
However, as the world has become increasingly complex in 21st century contemporary world we live in, and one person cannot possibly take on and complete all the works in church offices by oneself as different departments encompassing many important tasks and talented individuals pose advanced technical, knowledge, and management skill challenges, which could have a direct effect on the Great Commissions tasks and the accomplishments of the two great commandments themselves, sometimes bearing dire consequences, church administration in this day and age takes a special unprecedented significance—perhaps more than when Jethro showed Moses the importance of delegation nearly three thousand five hundred years ago (Exodus 18).
There are many important passages and directly relevant verses regarding church administration; however, as the author Robert Welch points out, the following are some of the most important verses in my opinion:
“How this philosophy relates to the local church is found in several passages in the New Testament. This comes about with an understanding of the term church. The church is a living organism. • In 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19, the believers are the sanctuary or temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells and the sanctuary of the living God in 2 Corinthians 6:16. • In 1 Peter 2:5 the believer is the priest of that temple. • The church is described as a building with Christ as the cornerstone in Ephesians 2:20. The church is also an organized organism. • In Romans 12:3–8 and in 1 Corinthians 12:4–11, all individuals who make up the body of Christ (the church) have spiritual gifts. • In 1 Corinthians 12:12–26 the body parts are interdependent; and in Romans 12:4, they have different functions.
• In Ephesians 4:11–12; 1 Corinthians 12:27–28, and Romans 12:6–8 certain gifted individuals are to take leadership roles in the church. • Paul identifies certain titled individuals in 1 Timothy 3 who are to carry out the role function of providing leadership to the church.”[1] Obviously, at the local church level the most important leadership in church administration is the senior pastor who should take on a leading role in organizing, managing, and making the final administrative decisions at the end of day; there is nothing like having a wise, patient, kind-hearted, considerate, loving, and fair-minded leader in the senior pastorship to have all the departments and affairs in church administration to click at the ideal tempo and levels considering everything. Prayerful and thankful leader in the mold of suffering servant our Lord Jesus is the perfect ideal.
As the author Robert Welch mentions even the early church father figures such as Clement of Rome realized the importance of church administration, “(Clement of Rome) draws the analogy of the Jewish ministry of high priests, priests, and Levites to illustrate the orderly differentiation in the church between the order of the ministry and the laity in general. Ignatius states that it was the privilege of the membership to share the communion of the Eucharist, but it was the bishop who represented Christ in that celebration.”[2] More often than not, the senior leadership’s main job is finding, and identifying the right person to delegate the given task(s) to or the whole department itself to have a good church administration at work and be functional; good delegation with right persons does wonders and goes a long way in establishing a stress-free, bureaucracy-devoid church administration which puts forward God’s Love and love for neighbors first and foremost as to make the church administrative works feel even enjoyable and worthy chores to do. As the author Welch says, “By delegating portions of the job, a leader can focus on the main issues. • Delegation does not relieve leaders of responsibility, but it does keep them from carrying out the mundane and routine issues.”[3]
Then, when done right with biblically sound principles, good intentions and right directions, the church administration could be enthusiastically embraced and be looked at as a tool to glorify our God and lift the name of Lord Jesus, not only in local church community, but over a district, a region, and eventually at the global platform since in this day and age, church administration can accomplish and influence many wonderful missionary works beyond the local level with much ease, speed, and convenience with its far-reaching tentacles in several dimensions. As the author Daniel Akin notes, “Polity thus becomes a means of manifesting the lordship of Christ within his people. As the church functions and ministers in Christ’s name, it attempts to do so in submission to his presence (vis-à-vis the Holy Spirit) and his written Word.” [4]
To do it with the empathetic heart of a disciple of Jesus, as to serve others, but also with the keen eye and wise head of an efficient professional equipped for complex task at hand befitting the challenging world we live in is the key to the success of having a good church administration at church level in my opinion.
[1] Robert H. Welch, Church AdministrationLinks to an external site. (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2005), 14.
[2] Ibid., 15.
[3] Ibid., 2.
[4] Daniel Akin et al., Perspectives on Church Government: Five Views of Church PolityLinks to an external site. (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004), 5.
** My reply to someone named Ramsden:
Dear Ramsden,
Thanks for your well-summarized and -written post; I’d just like to say a few things off your comment, “One of the Biblical examples of this type of administration is seen in the book of Acts 6:1-7 where the early church elected the first deacons for ministry work. In this passage the disciples are confronted with an issue where a group of widows are being neglected. Instead of trying to address the issue themselves, and in result missing out on opportunities for preaching the gospel, the disciples encouraged the congregation to elect deacons to serve so that they could focus on the role of preaching,” to which I sort of could relate to having been a student pastor on a couple different occasions in my ministry role (at local churches) in recent years.
The best example of church administration where things were “rolling” fine, and department heads or specific ministers or the volunteer deacons as in the excerpted quote were happy doing what they were doing was when the senior pastor’s role was minimized to that of delegation. The departments by themselves under capable management and dedication of assigned ministers did fine. However, when a senior pastor (being a control freak or nervous jerk?!) intervened and tried to micromanage them to much chagrin of everyone involved, not only the departments by themselves but the whole church suffered and lost out as a result. If these senior pastors learned to be a graceful and patient CEO instead of malicious tyrants, the church would have been much better off. (Please read with my post with a grain of salt kind of objectivity since the two stints I had had were at the traditional ethnic Korean congregations where historically-speaking the influence and authority of the senior pastorship has been dominant over everyone else—notwithstanding numerous documented cases from jr/associate pastors or student pastors who have filed complaints against the tyrannical administrative management styles over the years…To this day I still hold an overwhelmingly negative view of the ethnic Korean church’s administration and its overall working environment..)
If only a fraction of the Lordship of Jesus is manifested in many troubled church administration as I have witnessed over the years, the pastorate as a whole would be a lot better off as Daniel Akin alludes to, “The issue of governance is most visibly seen in the lordship of Christ. The church exists by and under his lordship. He builds the church and calls it “my church” (Matt. 16:18). Christ claims all authority for himself, both in “heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18), and he commissions the church to make disciples in all the world in light of his authority (Matt. 28:19–20). Further, Christ instructs the church that its task is to observe all that he has instructed. His lordship is further evidenced in that he appoints those who are to minister within the church and gives gifts for ministry to the church (Eph. 4:7, 11; 1 Cor. 12:5–6).”[1] As I had noted numerous times to people close to me, “As long as we put Christ and the Cross at the center of our sermons, then our delivery would be find,”—we ought to do the same in church administration as our Lordship of Jesus at the dead center. However, it has proven to be much easier said than done over the years from my (unbiased objective) observation.
[1] Daniel Akin et al., Perspectives on Church Government: Five Views of Church PolityLinks to an external site. (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004), 4. **
** My reply to someone named Noelle:
Dear Noelle,
I’d just like to say a few things off your comment, “Ultimately, I believe church administration should be viewed as a form of ministry rather than something that gets in the way of ministry. Acts 6:1–7 demonstrates that when leaders recognize problems, delegate responsibilities, and create effective systems, the church is better equipped to fulfill its purpose.” As you said it was all about ministry, the people.
To me what can be gleaned from the specific Acts passage of 6:1-7 is the wisdom/prudence of the apostles who knew exactly what to do in the situation as they acted accordingly with no hesitance or quarrel/argument. Secondly, the convcition & humility of the twelve apostles also shine through as they knew their primary responsibility and their limitation as well; thirdly, the obedience and cooperation of the whole church appears impressive as they were able to find an able person in Stephens, who was full of the holy spirit, and was capable of handling the given tasks. (As can be seen from his martyrdom testimony in Acts 7, Stephen was very well-versed in scripture as well, to which “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit,” the angry Jews ground their teeth and stoned him to death in retaliation.)
Recognizing the (needed) talent (in proper place for special purpose) is also a special skill, which does not always come naturally nor easily for a lot of people: it requires the training/apprenticeship and professionalism/maturity of someone who’s been there and done that at the caliber of someone who’s special and talented; however, also, more often that not, that discernment can be a gift from the Holy Spirit, who exactly knows what each church needs in enhancement of God’s kingdom to evangelize the gospel unto the whole world boldly and efficiently with as little waste left on its trail as possible.
As the author Daniel Akin notes that no other important humility and declaration is needed than the fact the Lord Jesus is the master of our all our church activities including administration, and He is the sole reason that church and everything else exist in first place as in “The issue of governance is most visibly seen in the lordship of Christ. The church exists by and under his lordship. He builds the church and calls it “my church” (Matt. 16:18). Christ claims all authority for himself, both in “heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18), and he commissions the church to make disciples in all the world in light of his authority (Matt. 28:19–20).”[1] After Jesus, everything else becomes secondary and supplemental, but He calls us “Hi friend.” What a wonderful Savior we all have in JC. Amen.
[1] Daniel Akin et al., Perspectives on Church Government: Five Views of Church PolityLinks to an external site. (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004), 4. **
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