80-20 and Organic church, pt 2

(pt 1 here)

For me, I'm finding great freedom in re-organizing how I do my people work. I'm coming to realize that for us to get to where I ultimately see us (one community spread out across the city, planting churches out of a base of 3-4 sites), we're going to need to not only grow past that 120 mark, but learn how to effectively develop and nurture leadership. The freedom has come, not in giving myself permission not to pastor/shepherd people, but in giving myself the freedom to refocus from spending 20% of my "people time" on leadership and 80% on very nice and very dependent people to focusing primarily on leadership, that is, spending 80% of my people time on those 20% who either do or will do (with a bit of investment) 80% of the work of ministry and 20% on the remaining 80% of people.

There's also freedom in the realization that really, 80% of the "results" I get in ministry come from 20% of my efforts. In other words, I'm doing a bunch of stuff that while yielding some results, in the bigger picture, don't yield much.

There's a lot I'm doing that I need  either to quit doing or give to someone else to do. Ferris' hypothesis is that with a little tweaking, one can earn 80% as much in 20% of the time. He proposes living a bit more cheaply/simply and "pocketing" the rest of the time with travel/vacations/side projects etc.

For the pastor, the idea isn't to work less (well, maybe for some it is- particularly those whose families have begun to have a hard time recognizing them), but rather to ask "What 20% of my effort yields most of my results?" and then "How can I restructure and reprioritize so as to spend most of my time doing that, and either stop doing or delegate the rest?"

Two dangers here. The first is that we would become completely mercenary with how we view people- and rather than seeing them as a shepherd does (occasionally leaving the ninety-nine for the one), we would view them as widgets who either produce or don't, and we would show them love and concern based solely on what they could do for us. May it never be. While I do need to reprioritize how I spend my time, and refer, delegate, etc. when people are in general need, even if I'm not personally moving to fill that need, I should make sure someone is. And occasionally, that someone is me. I think 20% of my people time needs to go to 80% of our folks, and since the very nice people don't need/want it, that leaves me with at least a couple spots on my dance card for some of those folks who always seem to need me and while not getting as much of me as they might want, nonetheless should still get something.

The other danger is that we'd see that vast number of people who are nice, but not really doing much in our church community as somehow spiritually immature or some kind of slacker. Now, that may be true in some cases. Maybe they really don't care much and are happy, in effect, to mooch spiritually off the hard work, sweat and sacrificial giving of others.

But I suspect that's not most people's issue.

What I'm coming to see is that many people are someone's 20%. That is, they may be in the 80% of folks in our community who don't make much happen, but that's probably not true in every area of their lives. Whether at work, in their extended family, in school or civic organizations, these folks are doing a lot that matters there. And that means they can't do it here.

I'm not sure what the solution is, or even if there is one. Maybe we encourage people to do seasons in their lives where they become more and then less involved. Maybe we  encourage people, rather than the usual church mode of ever-increasing involvement ("Something every night of the week!") to turn that around- get discipleship and training in missional living and then, as they grow, taper off involvement in church activities in favor of missional living in the larger community, with neighbors and non-Christian friends, seeking a good balance of time with people in the church who are Christ followers and time with people who aren't.

All in all, I'm still ardently set on organic ministry. I want to avoid doing the work of ministry that people should be doing for themselves, give them the freedom and responsibility to shape and form their community, and see more and more people live out their passions in advancing God's kingdom. I also still believe the staff-heavy, program-driven church is a failure and am happy to see churches like Willow Creek admit as much.

But somewhere between a laissez-faire, completely hands-off style of leadership and the visioneering, CEO, top-down style is a middle ground where the pastor is free to focus on developing leadership in a organic environment that encourages those 20% of folks who are ready, willing and able to work out their passions in terms of ministry, shape, guide and so own the ministry of the church. In this model, the pastor is a coach, who isn't calling all the plays, but who is, in a sense, recruiting the players- calling people to name their passions, encouraging them to live them out in and for the community, and resourcing them along the way.

Comments

[david]

i was thinking some of this stuff a while back. http://dumbjock.blogspot.com/2006/10/fern-church.html

on a completely unrelated issue. i dug into some of your old archives on your journey through the women as elders issues. i even bought a book you recommended. if you ever have time, i'd love to get an email from you letting me know all the resources you guys looked at then.

of course, i know i'm not your 80 or your 20, so don't kill yourself to get it done!

[ken]

I liked your point about most people being "someone's 20%". I am a little confused by the here vs. there dichotomy you set up. I mean, I think understand it. But what exactly distinguishes here from there? What does "here" look like for Evergreen? I assume more than just church gatherings? Just seemed a little us vs. them to me, that's all. Get busy doing church stuff. That sort of thing. I'm sure you didn't mean it that way.

So how far past 120 do you want to go? Yes, that's a set up. :-)