Right Sizing 08/22/2011
 
Downsizing has been in the news for the last few years. Companies are letting people go because they don’t have enough work.  Unless jobs are lost, business will survive. Downsizing is about accepting a future with fewer  accomplishments and results. It is about survival. We at Bethany are not focused on downsizing. We are not here to survive. We are here to do great things for God. I believe that God has an incredible future planned for our church and that we will be a transforming presence in the lives of many people to come.

Last month, when I met with the Elders, Deacons and Trustees for our joint meeting, we talked about our future and God’s plans for Bethany. We also talked about the challenges we face. Have you ever noticed that in life we tend to be our own biggest impediment? In our efforts to do more, we at Bethany have recruited more. But as the profile of Bethany has naturally evolved over the years, our way of carrying out ministries has not and, as a result, we have become in some ways, an obstacle to ourselves.

At our joint meeting we agreed that we have too many people serving on boards based on the size of our congregation. In order to fill every seat and every position, we need to grow by over 20 people. Because of this environment, our energy tends to be more focused on filling “chairs” and less focused on filling the pews. We have made the decision to rightsize our church.

Rightsizing is the method of reducing a workforce to an optimal size. Trying to elect 24 officers* for a church of less than 100 people has been counterproductive. This year, our average attendance has been 79. It was time to examine ways to optimize our ministry force.

We have agreed that we will work toward a Deacon board of 10 people. This amount will enable the Deacons to carry out the ministries for which they have been ordained. Other hospitality services will be carried out in ways that don’t require as many people or take the focus off ordained ministries. The Elders and Trustees have reexamined their purposes. Our constitution has defined the work of the Trustees to be that of  administering to the financial needs of the church; ie; buying, selling, leasing property, insurance, etc. In other words, it is not necessary to elect people to carry out building maintenance. (We don’t elect people to serve on teams such as worship, mission, or Christian Ed., why are we electing people to oversee the upkeep of our building?) Because our Elders have already been doing the work of Trustees (as defined by our polity) the two committees have  determined to follow the steps that many other church have been doing for a while now. That is, they will become one board so that those who are elected to be Elders will simultaneously serve as Trustees. We will continue our building maintenance through a Building and Grounds team.

I want to be clear about some things. First, I have always been impressed by the people of Bethany. Your commitment and care to service is one of the attributes that inspired me during my interview process. Rightsizing the church has nothing to do with disappointment. It is about maximizing our resources. Second, nothing is being taken away from anyone. Those who have been elected to serve will have the opportunity to carry out their terms. We have entrusted you with certain privileges and I as your pastor and we as a congregation have faith in your leadership. Finally, I don’t want ministries to think that things are being taken away from them. I do want our ministries to understand that we have been ordained to carry out particular responsibilities based on the purposes of our committees. By focusing on our purpose we will be able to accomplish more. Ultimately, we know it’s about God and when we serve Him first, God always makes a way for everything else to come together.


Blessings,

Pastor Eric

* 9 Elders, 7 Trustees, and 18 Deacons
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